APF’s advisory members serve as referent sources of info in their respective areas of expertise. Our common goal is to identify, launch and foster new opportunities and projects. Advisors assist the company in staying current of industry developments and may provide guidance on technical components during restoration projects. Thank you for your support!

Katrin Rudge – Advisor

Katrin Rudge received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland in 1988. She continued her graduate work and earned a Master of Science in 1992, through the University of Maryland’s Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) Program. Her professional experiences include 20 years of teaching Marine science at Riverview High School in Sarasota County, Director and Founder of Riverview’s Aquascience Program, as well as co-Director of the Stars to Starfish field trip program. Her professional background includes a research assistantship with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Annapolis, MD and Katrin also established her own business, Chesapeake Workshops Unlimited in 1997, where she coordinated numerous technical & scientific workshops and conferences for the Chesapeake Bay Program.Most recently, Katrin started a similar business: Sarasota Bay Scientific Conferences & Events LLC. http://www.sarasotabayconferences.com/ and serves on several local environmental boards in Sarasota County. Katrin continues to seek out new venues and is thrilled to be part of Aquatic Plants of Florida’s Advisory Board.

Jie Sun – Advisor

Dr. Sun is Director of Applied Bioanalytical Labs in Sarasota, FL. Previously, he was a senior scientist with World Precision Instruments. Dr. Sun co-founded APF’s tissue culture laboratory and has led research on various projects. His background also includes grant research. With more than 20 years of experience as a scientist, instructor, and lecturer, Dr. Sun has over 30 publications to his credit. His academic background includes a B.S. in Organic Chemistry from Hangzhou University, an M.S. in Physical Chemistry from the Shanghai Institute of Metallurgy and M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duquesne University.

Mitch Tinsley – Advisor

Mitch R. Tinsley, Vice President and Director of EAM’s GIS and Coastal Restoration Division and provides project management, analysis, design and development to meet the needs of local and regional clients. He also provides multi discipline proposal/budget writing for EAM’s coastal restoration, marine construction and provides business development in the Gulf South Region. Mr. Tinsley is responsible for providing the firms GIS services and supervising the GIS Division. He performs GIS-related database development, analysis and modeling and prepares maps for cultural, historical, environmental investigations as part of EAM’s regulatory compliance work and planning and restoration programs. He routinely acquires digital data (e.g., color infrared and black and white imagery; Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quad [DOQQ] maps, high resolution satellite data, LiDAR, survey data; census data; regional planning commission, FEMA, and USGS data), georeferences data to controlled data, and performs cost-effective analyses to develop environmental baseline conditions, identify site suitability, compare project alternative locations and quantify potential impacts. He coordinates planning and implementation of coastal restoration projects and monitors project components for compliance with specifications. He prepares maps, graphics and illustrations for use in reports and in digital in hardcopy formats for presentations.