Our Team
Conserve Nassau Ambassadors
Members making a substantial difference.
Whether working on pit latrines in the developing world with Engineers Without Borders or designing hundreds of kilometers of successful river and stream stabilization projects, Robert Prager’s career is rich and rewarding. For nearly half a century he has worked at the human-nature interface in water resources and applied geomorphology. His success arises from striving to understand and work with nature as a proponent of nature-based design. He is a subject matter expert for the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Storm Risk Management Projects. Robert served as a technical analyst to restore flood protection for post-Katrina Gulf Coast and post-Sandy New Jersey. Robert’s bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering are from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a professional engineer and a certified value specialist. Robert prides himself on being able to present complex processes in a way that can be easily understood.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – M. Teresa
Betsie Huben. I have long been inspired by work the of Mother Teresa. She did so much for so many working tirelessly with so little. One of the many lessons I learned from Mother Teresa is that, by myself, I cannot save our dunes, restore our tree canopy, or protect the waters and wildlife of Nassau County no matter how hard I try. What I can do is join up with a team of folks who know the history, science and the mechanics of how to do such things and cast the stones to help create the ripples of change we seek.
Pastor Carlton Jones is the Chairman of the Renaissance Group in a consortium of companies representing construction, construction management, property management, and real estate-related disciplines. With over 46 years of public and private development experience, he is also a Florida-licensed general contractor.
Carlton is the Pastor of the Gateway to Heaven Christian Church, which he co-founded in 2012. He has served on 32 boards, including hospital systems, national trade associations, college, and foundation boards. Carlton currently serves as President of Friends of American Beach, Inc., and holds board positions with Urban Land Institute, Clara White Mission, and the American Beach Museum. He was also a past member of the Urban League Foundation and regional President for Trust for Public Land. Carlton has a Bachelor’s degree in City and Regional Planning, Architecture/Engineering, a Master’s degree in Theology, and two Honorary Doctoral Degrees in Divinity and Sacred Literature.
Richard Polk grew up in Atlanta Georgia and became interested in the construction building industry in the 1970’s. He received a State of GA Contractors license in 1979. He was awarded a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1988 and served as Civil Engineer in the US/DOT FAA for 28 years. Rich holds training certificates from USACE, NFPA and, OSHA. He was a member of the Hurricane Andrew recovery team in 1992 and was involved with many more hurricane recoveries over the next three decades. He has worked outdoors most of his life and is an avid outdoorsman. Since moving to Nassau County in 2009, he’s witnessed rampant overdevelopment resulting in severe damage to our natural environment. Rich is glad that he can help Conserve Nassau reach their goals and help make Nassau County a great place to live.
Cynthia D. Jones-Jackson retired from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) after 40-years of Federal service. She led the USEPA office responsible for management and oversight of 50 federal advisory committees and subcommittees providing recommendations to the President of the United States, Congress, and USEPA senior decision-makers. As such, she led strategic planning and development for the office; and served as an Agency Deputy Ethics Official. Cynthia directly managed five of USEPA’s federal advisory committees including the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, USEPA’s only Presidential committee. She worked closely with other agencies and tribes to build public trust and consensus on environmental issues including tri-lateral relationships between the US, Mexico and Canada.
Cynthia Received a Bronze Medal, EPA’s third highest honor award, for leading efforts to broaden diversity on the Agency’s federal advisory committees and a second Bronze Medal for implementing the USEPA Administrator's vision to revitalize the international Commission for Environmental Cooperation and it's portfolio.
As a former educator and public school administrator, Faith Ross enjoys exploring all aspects of our local island life, from how our island functions environmentally, to how it functions administratively. With an additional background in accounting, experience in real estate development, and the financial management of commercial medical buildings, she finds government finance an important subject that is often ignored. Her belief that the financial security of Amelia Island rests with the protection of its environment and its historic culture, she is often seen pulling water samples for the Riverkeeper, maintaining, promoting and posting air quality information on social media, and writing about local government financial concerns or local environmental issues
As part of her medical practice as a Nurse Practitioner, Terry Grady (Domagola) has also studied alternative and complementary medicine which involves healing through nature. She recently completed her Florida Master Naturalist certification and has worked on Coastal Restoration, Invasive Plant Species, Conservation Science, Upland/Coastal/ and Freshwater Systems. She loves to teach others about appreciating the benefits that the earth provides. She is a board member for the Sierra Club of Nassau County and is a volunteer Lighthouse Keeper as a Coast Guard Auxiliary member on the island. She has also helped organize a marketing plan for reusable cups for a local community organization to reduce single use plastic waste.