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Shari Anker, President
Ms. Anker, M.S.W., is a native Floridian who feels most at home in the woods or on the water. While teaching sociology at Broward College in the 1990s she created a novel course, "Society & the Environment." She had to interrupt her Ph.D. program in Environmental Studies due to developing severe environmental illness. Her lived experience as a "canary in the coal mine" further instructed her that what we do to the earth we do to ourselves. In 2008 she published her book on the paradigm shift she feels must occur so we can save our planet: The Life World: Herman's Adventures in Sustainability. Her next goal was to create a Paradigm Shifting" cartoon documentary series. She has served as mentor for the college summer intern program at the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, and represents that organization and the CASLC at the Rivers Coalition. |
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Billy Gibson – Vice President
Mr. Gibson is a native Floridian and longtime Saint Lucie County resident. He is a Florida State University graduate, Florida Master Naturalist and along with his wife Cathy operates a kayak eco tour business. An avid nature lover, he actively promotes conservation by getting others out and close to nature and encouraging everyone to become involved in preserving it. Mr. Gibson is also, President and Chairman of the Friends of the Spoil Islands, Inc., (FOSI). FOSI is a state sponsored Citizen Service Organization( CSO) that organizes volunteers to help clean, protect, restore, and enhance the spoil islands of the Indian River Lagoon and to assist the state with all aspects of preserving the lagoon. |
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Sheryl Paul — Treasurer
Sheryl Paul was born and raised and resides in Ft Pierce, FL. She comes from a long line of Floridians making her the 5th generation on both sides of her family. Sheryl is married with 3 children and 6 grandchildren, all living in Florida. Having grown up in Ft Pierce and St Lucie County, Sheryl has always felt very strongly about the beaches, rivers and natural lands in this piece of paradise. When a developer purchased the land at the North Jetty as the locals call it, she along with her friends were outraged, and she joined the protest along with her three children from age 7 to 11, against destroying this beautiful spot. All three of her children have memories of this beautiful area. Sheryl has lobbied for recycling, protested the power plant of South Beach, and fought against adding a bridge to South Beach, along with the current fight to add a bridge at two State Preserve. Sheryl is a certified herbalist, Homoeopathist, has a degree in Business Administration.
Sheryl is currently interested in preserving agriculture lands along with introducing sustainable growing methods. |
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Lace Vitunac – A Founding Board member and past President
Lace K. Vitunac. M.A., is a founding member of the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County, and has been active in the organization since its inception in 1972. She is a former president of the Alliance, and was instrumental in the successful citizen effort to enable the State of Florida to acquire a large tract of land on the ocean for the park now known as the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. Lace is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, and her master’s degree in English is from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio. Lace first came to St. Lucie County in 1924. Ms. Vitunac has always been drawn to take action to save our environment, for example, she worked on the first St. Lucie County tree ordinance and started the first newspaper recycling program in the area. |
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Liberta Scotto – Board member
A Fort Pierce, Florida native, Ms. Scotto was raised around the water and began her career path at an early age. She received a B.S. degree from the University of West Florida in Marine Science and M.S. from Louisiana State University in Fisheries Biology. Her career started with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and Smithsonian Institute Marine Station where she assisted with the initial inventory of plants and animals in the Indian River Lagoon. For ten years, she collected, identified and catalogued into the new museum, the decapods crustaceans found in these waters. The object of this inventory was to track differences in species diversity through time to determine the ecological health of the system. |
She went on to a ten-year management position with the State of Florida as the first Aquatic Preserves Manager for the Indian River Lagoon, North Fork of the St. Lucie River, Loxahatchee River, Mosquito Lagoon and Banana River. Although the aquatic preserves were established in the 1960’s, the local program wasn't funded until 1984. The St. Lucie County Conservation Alliance played a large role in the success of the program by seeking and acquiring the state appropriations needed to fund five permanent positions. With the Alliance’s continued support, the program grew to include an environmental education component. The Aquatic Preserves (AP) program was the first to conduct guided tours on the North Fork St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon as part of “American Rivers Month” national program. The AP program also established the first Earth Day celebration in the area. With grant funds from water management districts, a curriculum was written and classes were conducted for fifth grade students in St. Lucie and Brevard Counties. Children and teachers learned the concepts of conservation and connectivity through the marine food web as well as the value of sea grass and mangrove communities. Finally, the AP produced the Indian River Lagoon coloring book for younger children and a video for the public-at-large. After successfully receiving grant monies from the Florida Inland Navigation District, the AP wrote the Indian River Lagoon Spoil Island Management Plan.
Ms. Scotto went on to become the first Curator of the Manatee Observation and Education Center (MOEC) in Ft. Pierce. The release of warm water from the Ft. Pierce Utilities Authority power plant on Moore’s Creek attracted manatee during their winter migration. Fort Pierce Main Street successfully received funds to build the first environmental education center in St. Lucie County. Its doors opened in October 1996 and programs continue to educate about the Indian River Lagoon and its inhabitants. Through many successful grants and partnerships, the MOEC is filled with learning opportunities for all ages. One of her first tasks as curator was to establish a volunteer program which enabled the facility to be open to the public to this day.
Next, under the Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences/University of Florida, Ms. Scotto conducted the initial research to document the reproductive cycle of the Eastern oyster, Crassostrea viginica, in the St. Lucie River and estuary. The oyster was considered the species to represent a larger group of estuarine dependent fauna in setting salinity targets. This research assisted water managers in determining the appropriate times and amount of freshwater discharges that could be released from Lake Okeechobee without environmental damage.
Her final career position was with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Vero Beach, Florida. For eleven years, she worked on the Central Everglades Restoration Plan in partnership with innumerable local, regional, state, and federal agencies and environmental groups. Her efforts concentrated on major projects including: the Broward County Water Preserves Areas; Water Conservation Area 3 DE compartmentalization; and Central Everglades Planning Project (CEEP). One of CEEP’s goals was the reduction of damaging freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
Ms. Scotto went on to become the first Curator of the Manatee Observation and Education Center (MOEC) in Ft. Pierce. The release of warm water from the Ft. Pierce Utilities Authority power plant on Moore’s Creek attracted manatee during their winter migration. Fort Pierce Main Street successfully received funds to build the first environmental education center in St. Lucie County. Its doors opened in October 1996 and programs continue to educate about the Indian River Lagoon and its inhabitants. Through many successful grants and partnerships, the MOEC is filled with learning opportunities for all ages. One of her first tasks as curator was to establish a volunteer program which enabled the facility to be open to the public to this day.
Next, under the Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences/University of Florida, Ms. Scotto conducted the initial research to document the reproductive cycle of the Eastern oyster, Crassostrea viginica, in the St. Lucie River and estuary. The oyster was considered the species to represent a larger group of estuarine dependent fauna in setting salinity targets. This research assisted water managers in determining the appropriate times and amount of freshwater discharges that could be released from Lake Okeechobee without environmental damage.
Her final career position was with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Vero Beach, Florida. For eleven years, she worked on the Central Everglades Restoration Plan in partnership with innumerable local, regional, state, and federal agencies and environmental groups. Her efforts concentrated on major projects including: the Broward County Water Preserves Areas; Water Conservation Area 3 DE compartmentalization; and Central Everglades Planning Project (CEEP). One of CEEP’s goals was the reduction of damaging freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
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Dr. Grant Gilmore – Board member
Dr. Gilmore is a senior scientist with Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science, Inc. (ECOS). He founded ECOS in 2004 after spending 32 years with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce and Dynamac Corp. at the Kennedy Space Center. He has been studying the fish communities and ecology of Florida and the Caribbean Sea for the past 35 years, and is uniquely well-versed on the biodiversity of the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon fish communities. He has published more than 70 technical and popular papers on fish ecology and life histories and has appeared on 16 nationally and internationally televised programs. Dr. Gilmore received his Ph.D. from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1988. |
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Charles Grande – Board member
Mr.Grande is a long time resident of Saint Lucie County who studied Economics and System Design and Programming at Lehman College. He is married with 2 children and 5 grandchildren. He has had a long and distinguished career in public service. He has served as a Saint Lucie County Commissioner, and on the Boards of the county Fire Dept., Planning and Zoning, Hibiscus Children’s Center, Marine Resources Council and is a current board member of the Conservation Alliance and Rivers Coalition Defense Fund, and the Spay and Neuter Alliance Advisory Board. Mr. Grande served in the Navy and is a member of the American Legion and MENSA. |
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