President

Rusty Chinnis

Rusty Chinnis is a State Certified Contractor who has been living and working on Longboat Key (Manatee County) for the past 28 years. Rusty is also an avid angler who has been enjoying the waters of Sarasota Bay for close to three decades and is dedicated to applying his business acumen to protecting and enhancing the Bay for future generations.

Rusty is also a Photojournalist and President of Outdoor Travel Productions Inc. He was a founder and first President of the Manatee Chapter of the Florida Conservation Association, and Co-Chairmen of the Sister Keys Conservancy. The Conservancy was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award in Washington for its work.

Rusty served as President and Chairman of the Board of The Florida Outdoor Writers Association and is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Rusty is a Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Fly Casting Instructor. Rusty is a Contributing Editor of Fly Fishing in Saltwaters Magazine and the Outdoors Editor of the Anna Maria Island Sun. 


Secretary

John M. Ryan Jr. 

John Ryan Jr. is an environmental professional who specializes in water quality.  Trained as a chemist, he has worked as a pollution regulator and had notable success in ending a significant illegal discharge to Blackburn Bay from an Osprey wastewater treatment plant that went undetected for 25 years.  

John's projects for Sarasota County Government have also included investigating Hudson Bayou metal pollution, expanding the Water Atlas website into Sarasota, monitoring water quality, as well as a myriad of other projects.  John worked  at Mote Marine Laboratory before joining County Government. Before moving to the Sarasota area John was a backpacker and student in the hills of southwestern Colorado.  

The good life is spending the day fishing and snorkeling with his wife and 2 sons out on the bays and taking regular trips to Big Pine Key, Charlotte Harbor, and Ginnie Springs to recharge their spirits.

Treasurer

G. Lowe Morrison, CFA 

Lowe Morrison is a Principal of Sabal Trust Company where his responsibilities include leading the Sarasota office and serving on the Investment Committee.   Prior to Sabal Trust he held senior investment positions with Northern Trust Bank and First Florida Bank.

 Lowe is a seventh generation Floridian who was born and raised in Tampa and now resides in Sarasota.   He graduated from the University of South Florida’s College of Business and achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst Designation in 1987.

 In addition to serving on the Board of Sarasota Bay Watch, he is active with a number of other non-profit organizations including being a Trustee of Mote Marine Lab, Board member of Tampa Bay Watch, Treasurer of the Sarasota Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association and Trust Officer of the Pope & Young Club Trust Fund.

 Lowe has two daughters, Ashley, a senior at USF and Lindsey, a sophomore at FSU.

 In his free time Lowe enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including saltwater fishing and bow hunting.

Ed Chiles

Ed Chiles is a graduate of the University of Florida. While in college Chiles helped open the Great Adventure safari park in Jackson New Jersey. He was raised in Lakeland Florida, and moved to Manatee County after completing college. Chiles worked at Joe's Stone Crab, the venerable Miami Beach restaurant institution, before joining a partnership that included Lawton Chiles, Wilbur Boyd and Dennis Fecteau in buying The Sandbar restaurant.

Chiles currently owns the Sandbar in Anna Maria, as well as the Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant and Pub, located in Longboat Key and the BeachHouse  Restaurant located in Bradenton Beach.

Chiles is a former board member of the Manatee County YMCA and Manatee County Chamber of Commerce. He is the former Chairman of CALM, the community alliance for leadership in Manatee. He is past president of the Manatee Community Foundation whose assets have grown to 16 million dollars. He is a founding member and served as the Chairman of START for 10 years.

Chiles is a founding member of the Library Foundation in Manatee County where he served for a number of years on the board of directors. He is on the board of directors of Goodwill Industries Manasota as well as being its Chairman for 2004 through 2006. He is a former member of the University of South Florida Community Leadership Council. He is a member of the Island Chamber of Commerce, the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce, and the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce as well as a long standing member of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council. Chiles also serves a Vice Chairman of the Lawton Chiles Foundation.

Ed Chiles was named, Man of the Year in 2000 by the Anna Maria Island Sun newspaper. He was named the business person of the year in 2002 by the Anna Maria Rotary Club, and he was awarded the business partner of the year by the manatee County School Board in 2000. He is actively involved in many civic issues including the Anna Maria Island Community Center. He is a past recipient of the Palmetto Youth Centers, Senator Ed Price Humanitarian of the Year Award. Chiles and his flag ship restaurant, The Sandbar, were named Manatee County Small Business of the year for 2008 by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.

Chiles has two teenage daughters, Ashley and Christin and resides in Anna Maria. He is an avid fly-fisherman and hunter who also enjoys surfing and kayaking.

Sandy Gilbert

Sandy grew up on the Southshore of Long Island where his favorite pastime was riding waves at Jones Beach.  He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in economics. His experience in the magazine publishing business includes 26 years at Time Magazine where he rose to Associate Advertising Director and 8 years at Smithsonian Magazine where he was Director of Advertising Services.  During his career he was a member of a number of trade associations including ASTA, the MPA and a board member of the Travel Research Association.  Sandy is also listed in Who’s Who in America and the World.

Since moving to Longboat Key in 2000 from New Canaan, CT, he has been active in a variety of town activities.  He is Chairman of START (Solutions to Avoid Red Tide), a member of the Planning and Zoning Board, past President of the Public Interest Committee (PIC), founder of the Water Wise Conservation Team, a member of the Water Advisory Committee, a consultant to the town on the Building Department and Community Center, and a member on the Scholarship Committee of he Garden Club.

His personal interests include golf, tennis, boating, gardening and painting with acrylics.  He also likes to cook and play the guitar. Sandy lives with his wife, Emmy Lou, in the Sleepy Lagoon neighborhood on the North end of the Key.  They have two grown children; Brad, who is a Marketing Operations Manager with Yahoo in Pasadena, CA and Kim, who is a property manager with Casey Management in Sarasota and lives with her husband, John, and daughter, Emma in Bradenton.

J. Ryan Denton, CFP®

Charlotte Richardson

Charlotte Richardson is the Outreach Coordinator for Solutions To Avoid Red Tide (S.T.A.R.T.) and lives on Siesta Key, Sarasota. She graduated from the University of Durham in England with a degree in Medical Anthropology (Honors) and focused her research on ‘A Community’s Perspective On The Health And Socioeconomic Impacts Of Red Tide In Sarasota, Florida.

Since working for Kathmandu in the outdoor clothing and equipment industry, Charlotte has actively been involved in the health of Sarasota Bay thought S.T.A.R.T., Sarasota Bay Watch, Tampa Bay Watch and volunteering at the Mote Marine Dolphin and What Hospital.