Water For Fighting

In this special episode, released under the Water for Fighting as well as the Florida Specifier banner, Brett gets to sit down with Bartow’s favorite son, Adam Putnam.  At the time he served, Putnam was the youngest person ever to be elected to the Florida House of Representatives at barely twenty-two years old. He would go on to serve as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms, becoming the 3rd ranking me...

In this episode, Brett sat down with his friend and fellow Southwest Florida Water Management District alum, Eric Sutton.  Before his current role, Eric has spent his entire career in public service.   He’s worked for Sarasota County; the water management district where he and Brett met; and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where he would eventually get to serve as the organization’s Executive Direct...

For this episode, Brett sat down with his friend, colleague, and fellow DEP alum Andrew Ketchel as Hurricane Helene barreled toward its collision with the Southeast United States.  Andrew is a former Legislative Affairs Director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; college football player for the University of South Florida; and an Eagle Scout.  He’s currently a partner with Capital City Consulting, one...

In this episode, Brett has a conversation with Mark Merkelbach, the CEO of Green Earth Operations and COO of Sustainable Water Infrastructure Group (SWIG).  Mark has dedicated his career to water quality improvement all over the world including India, Mexico, Haiti, and China.  He’s now using his creativity and experience to solve water quality problems right here in Florida. 

They discuss growing up around the Jersey Shore...

The Season 4 kickoff features Brett sitting down with his friend and former boss, David Rathke.  David is currently the Executive Director of Resiliency Florida and Executive Director of Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers, but he has decades of experience working in many facets of state government.  That experience includes working for former Congressman, Dan Miller; working as an aide for former Senate President, John McKa...

In this episode, Brett closes out Season 3 with former Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and current Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District – Drew Bartlett.

While Drew was born and raised in Georgia, he has made a real name for himself in the water management and environmental restoration world here in the far superior state of Florida.  He was pivotal in the cre...

In this episode, Brett sits down with former four-term member of the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Keys champion, and current mayor of Monroe County – Holly Raschein.

Holly was born and raised in Alaska, but she has ultimately made her home over 5,000 miles away in the Florida Keys.  Holly got her start in the legislative process working for lobbying legend Bob Levy, working with now-Florida Senator, Ana Maria Rodriguez....

This week, Brett sits down with professor, researcher, and award-winning author, David Sedlak to talk about his latest book, Water for All – Global Solutions for a Changing Climate.  David started his career as a researcher looking to solve our world’s water quality challenges but eventually shifted his focus to working on how to cope with, or even prevent, water scarcity in the United States and throughout the world.  

T...

This week, Brett had the privilege of sharing some time with Tampa and Florida legend – Governor Bob Martinez.  He was Tampa’s 54th mayor and Florida’s 40th governor; both positions held as the first of Spanish descent.  He also has deep roots in Tampa, his grandparents having immigrated from Spain at the turn of the 20th Century during a great boom in the cigar industry there.  His father worked in the restaurant business, includi...

This week, Brett got to share some time with a true gentleman, friend, and public servant – Hugh Thomas.  Hugh has been the Executive Director of the Suwannee River Water Management District for over seven years, and he has brought a wealth of experience to that role which was earned in the private sector as well as his various roles at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  

He’s a big believ...

This week, Brett goes on a deep dive with a friend who exemplifies what this podcast is all about – Ansley Tilley.  Ansley is one of the most talented engineers in Florida who has a wide array of experience from her time with the United States Air Force, the City of Palm Beach Gardens, and the South Florida Water Management District.  But her real talent and passion is for service and problem-solving, so they discuss how ...

This week, Brett sits down with his friend and Executive Director of the Florida Land Council, Ernie Barnett.  Ernie has a wealth of experience from his days in leadership positions at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as well as the South Florida Water Management District.  

They discuss his long and consequential public service career; how a scientist ends up as an effective communicator and policy expert; his ev...

This week, Brett shares some time with friend and Florida’s Environmental Curmudgeon-in-Chief, Estus Whitfield. Estus has a wealth of experience working for SIX Florida governors where he played an integral role in the creation of the Save Our Everglades, Save Our Rivers, and Preservation 2000 programs – just to name a few. In addition to his service to Florida, he also spent over thirty years serving his country in the Florida Nat...

In this episode, Brett sits down with his good friend and Anfield alumnus, Pepper Uchino. Pepper is now the President of the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association, but he has a wealth of experience from his days as the staff attorney, and then Staff Director, of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Pepper is unique in that he’s the direct descendant of Japanese Samurai as well as Mayflower passengers w...

The long-awaited return of Water for Fighting is here!

In the first episode of Season 3, Brett travels to Tampa to record live in front of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary’s (NAALJ) National Conference.  His conversation partners were Elizabeth Fernandez and Doug Manson.  Elizabeth is the Deputy General Counsel at the Southwest Florida Water Management District.  Doug is President of the Ma...

In this episode, Brett gets to talk with Mary Szafraniec, a Florida scientist with a remarkable personal story.  They talk about her grandparents’ survival in Nazi work camps during World War II and her parents’ eventual escape from communism in Europe to arrive in the United States, ready to start a new life; how a chance meeting at a music festival changed her career path toward environmental issues and the Florida Departmen...

In this episode, Brett heads to the empire headquarters of Florida’s most prolific environmental professional, Jeff Littlejohn. Jeff is a principal at the National Stormwater Trust, OnSyte Performance, and the Florida Environmental Network (host of the Environmental Permitting Summer School in Marco Island); a Senior Advisor with the Adams and Reese Law Firm; and the Founding Editor of the newly revamped Florida Specifier.

They tal...

In this episode, Brett gets a visit from his friend and President of Sea & Shoreline – Carter Henne. They talk about growing up outdoors and on the water in Polk County; how his desire to create sustainable marine ecosystems drew him first to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and then Sea & Shoreline founder Jim Anderson; the things we’ve been getting wrong about seagrass restoration in the past and how...

In this episode, Brett gets to spend some time with the former top attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Matt Leopold.  In addition to his time at the EPA, Matt served as General Counsel at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; handled environmental issues for Governor Jeb Bush; and was an environmental attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.  

They talk about growing up in West-Central ...