| Meet the people behind the project... |
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Artificial Reefs of the Keys was formed to conceive, design and finance the Vandenberg project.
ARK is liaising with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), the Florida Keys Community College (FKCC), and environmental, educational, diving, community service, military and business groups locally as well as nationwide.
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(Joe, continued)
He worked with Dean Witter Reynolds, locating, managing assets, and transacting business with high net-worth clients. He was adept at raising capital and built an extensive network of contacts that are able to finance various public and private projects. This network includes not only available funds, but also expertise in specialized areas. He began to work on the ARK project, becoming more involved in the local Key West diving business. He has a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard Master's license with an auxiliary sail and towing endorsements. He is a PADI SCUBA diving instructor, certified gas blender, medic/first aid CPR instructor, and DAN oxygen provider instructor. He is very experienced with local diving geography, conditions, and has enlisted the active support of all of the local experts to ensure the successful completion of the ARK project. He has a longstanding relationship with RCC, and is now employed with ARK's primary contractor, Reefmakers, to implement the final phases of the project.
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Joe Weatherby
(Founder of Artificial Reefs of the Keys, 'Shipwrecker')
From early youth Joe had been involved with a marina that his father owned on the seacoast in New Jersey. He gave sailing lessons, went fishing, conducted repairs of vessels and was involved in the management of the business. After college he was part owner of Looker Diving in Key West. Looker offered the very cutting edge of SCUBA diving including wreck diving, reef diving, deep diving, and spear fishing. He designed and executed marketing strategies, new diving experiences, and teaching criterion for his customers and employees. He also worked with the Northrop Corporation in an effort to sink a confiscated vessel as artificial reef off Key West.
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(Sheri continued)
She formed many close associations with Key West business and environmental organizations and faculty and students at the local community college. She is on the board of the Key West Maritime Historical Society and a two-term member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, chairing the Artificial Reef Working Group. After closing the dive shop, Sheri joined Subtropic Dive Center as Advertising Graphic and Web Designer, and later started her own publishing and graphic design company, SeaStory Press. In an organization that requires all of us to wear many hats, her design skills, as well as her contacts in the community, have been invaluable. (See the way-cool T-shirt and bumper sticker in the "donations" section, and check out the history section of this web site.) |
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Sheri Lohr
(Webmaster, local liaison, designer, Shipwrecker') Capt. Sheri Lohr, sailed into Key West from San Francisco in 1986. She owned a dive shop, running dive charters and teaching SCUBA for eight years.
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Kent Weimer
(Director of Financial Development)
Kent C. Weimer is the Principal of Southern Most Consulting. With twenty-five years of non-profit management and successful major gift fund raising Kent has begun working as an independent consultant. Kent ’s core areas of my expertise include: Major Gift Prospecting and Solicitation; Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations; Planned Giving; Capital Campaign Management; and Tax exempt Leveraged Financing.
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(Kent continued)
Kent has recently been appointed to the position of Planned Giving Director at the John G. Shedd Aquarium. The Shedd is about to open its newest exhibit, the Wild Reef. This project will set a new standard in helping visitors both enjoy the undersea world and understand the impact mankind has on the marine environment
Kent ’s interest in the marine environment is a result of his experience diving and snorkeling around the world. His ties to Key West and a concern for the reef ecosystem of the Keys led to the initial contact with Joe. Kent will use his expertise in financial development to help acquire adequate funding for the project. Kent lives in the Chicago area (with firm plans to move back to Florida in the near future) with his wife Stacey and daughter Margaret.
Email:
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Artificial Reefs of the Keys has joined with Resource Control Corporation in addressing the issue of making the ship innocuous to its surrounding waters.
The partner company specializes in solving environmental problems. As Project Manager, RCC will be planning and coordinating the cleaning, towing and scuttling of the Vandenberg.
RCC is also taking charge of the technical and regulatory aspects of the project.
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Jeffrey C. Dey
(Project Director/Manager)
Jeffrey C., Dey is President and CEO of Resource Control Corp. (RCC). Jeff has been interested in geologic and environmental science, since beginning his studies at the University of Delaware. After graduation with a BS in Geology, Jeff joined Groundwater Technology, Inc. and worked his way up the ranks to Territory Manager. Jeff founded RCC in 1992.
Jeff first became interested in assisting Joe Weatherby with an artificial reef project, after learning of the purgatory these large vessels were encountering at the end of the glorious lives due to environmental concerns. Clearly a standard system of processes could be developed to effectively eliminate environmental threat from these vessels to allow their use in various ways that would not harm the world’s waters.
Jeff lives in Rancocas, New Jersey with his wife Maura and children Kaila, Aleka, Teagan, and Gemma.
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Bryan L. Emilius, P.G.
(Project Manager)
Bryan is the Project Manger for RCC on the ARK project. Bryan is a geologist who has been with RCC for 5 1/2 years and has over 10 years of experience in the environmental industry. Bryan has been to Key West numerous times and is a certified diver.
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Andrew Grier, P.E.
(Permit Coordinator)
Andrew is the Permit Coordinator for RCC on the ARK project. Andrew is a Project Engineer who has been with RCC for 5 1/2 years and has vast experience coordinating permits within the environmental field. Andrew has developed a good working relationship with pertinent regulators for the ARK project within the State of Florida and organizations such as the Army Corps of Engineers, United States Environmental Protection Agency and United States Coast Guard.
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Julia M. Doughty
(Web designer, graphic artist)
Julia is the Webmaster and graphic designer for RCC and created the original ARK web design. She has enjoyed creating the graphics for both, as well as those for Interactive CD’s that ARK and RCC have been producing. She has also done some graphic design for RCC’s marketing purposes. Julia has been with RCC for six years. She is a native of Nova Scotia, where she graduated with a BFA in design/photography, before heading to the U.S. She now resides in Rancocas, NJ with her husband and two children.
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Jamie Snook
Jamie is the CD-Rom creator for RCC on the ARK project. He has a Master’s Degree in Hydrogeology and two years of experience with RCC. He is also a musician who enjoys writing, performing, and recording his own music.
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Eric Hutchins and San San Wu
(Documentarians/Historians and 'Shipwreckers')
Erik D. Hutchins and San San Wu are pioneers in the documentary field community using the newest technologies to tell inspiring stories. Erik found early success in making documentaries when he won a national competition for filmmakers sponsored by The Christopher Foundation at the age of 20. “It was then that I realized that my camera could be used as a social weapon”, referring to the subject of this documentary, “today, the pixel is more powerful than the sword.”
Erik and San joined forces with “ARK” in November of 1999 after meeting Joe Weatherby in Key West. San’s adept ability at grant writing and her background in Environmental Science makes her a perfect match for the project.
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