Mobile Bay NEP Expands its Staff
Join us in welcoming Michael Roberts and Shemika Brown to the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program team. Michael is the new Program Manager and will be instrumental in the development and implementation of the next Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for Alabama’s estuaries and coast.
Before joining us, Michael served as Deputy Director of the Maryland Department of the Environment Water Quality Finance Administration, where he focused his efforts on restoring Chesapeake Bay. He previously managed the Georgia Clean Water State Revolving Fund, focusing investments on water, sewer, stormwater, and conservation initiatives, including longleaf pine forests and cypress swamps protection along the Altamaha River. We welcome him back to Alabama where he attended Auburn University and obtained a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He also received a M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Johns Hopkins University. Areas of interest include protection of aquifers and wetlands, integrated watershed management, and improving communities through green infrastructure.
Shemika, a community engagement professional with a distinguished career in federal, state, and local government outreach joins us as the new Community Engagement Program Lead. She is responsible for expanding and diversifying community participation in environmental conservation efforts, raising awareness on issues and activities related to coastal resource protection, and building and supporting the Management Conference’s Community Action Committee.
Prior to joining the MBNEP, Shemika served as a Program Coordinator for a national biomedical research program with the Center for Healthy Communities at the University of South Alabama; Partnerships Specialist with the Department of Commerce for the Decennial Census; and an Outreach Program Administrator with the Mobile County Health Department. She is a 2001 graduate of Alabama State University with a BA in Political Science, and a 2005 graduate of Auburn University Montgomery with a master’s degree in Public Administration.
The mission of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) is to promote the wise stewardship of the water quality and living resources of Alabama’s estuaries and coasts. MBNEP is one of 28 federally authorized estuary programs in the United States.
We invite you to reach out to Michael and Shemika with your questions, comments, or other ways we can better serve our communities in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. They can be reached at our downtown Mobile office at 251-431-6409 or mroberts@mobilebaynep.com and sbrown@mobilebaynep.com.