Awardee

Ron Brockmeyer
St. Johns River Water Management District
Palatka, Florida

Ron Brockmeyer, coastal wetland program manager for St. Johns River Water Management District, has led efforts with federal, state, and local partners over the past 18 years to rehabilitate more than 20,000 acres of severely impacted coastal wetlands in East Central Florida. His work has focused on restoring the impacts of decades of salt marsh mosquito control dragline ditching and impoundments, working to reconnect wetlands and remove hydrologic restrictions like dikes and spoil. Ron has also led the development of a monitoring program to determine the effectiveness of this restoration work. In addition, Ron has a leading role in developing the regional coastal habitat restoration plan for northeast Florida and has served as the project coordinator for a multiagency, interdisciplinary wetlands research effort, which is designed to evaluate restoration and management options for coastal wetlands. Ron’s coastal wetlands rehabilitation work is considered the most beneficial natural resource restoration activity in the Indian River Lagoon ecosystem, an Estuary of National Significance.