Ed Chiles is a founding board member and past Chairman of START. He is the owner of the Chiles Group, operating the Sandbar, BeachHouse and Mar Vista restaurants on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. Ed is the managing partner for the Pine Avenue Restoration project in the City of Anna Maria. He serves on numerous boards in Manatee County.

Sandy Gilbert is a graduate of Cornell University with a B.A. in Economics. He is a retired publishing executive who worked for TIME and Smithsonian Magazines in New York for 35 years gaining extensive experience in marketing and communications while conducting business with corporations all over the world. Since retirement, he has served as the Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board on Longboat Key, President of the Public Interest Committee, Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee at Tara Golf & Country Club, Chairman of the Community Affairs Committee of the Tara Master Association and he has been a contributing writer on government affairs for the Longboat Key Observer. In his spare time, Sandy enjoys playing golf, gardening and snorkeling and diving in our coastal waters.

Carter is responsible for the acquisition, management, and success of Sea & Shoreline’s habitat restoration projects. He is a native Floridian with a passion for creating self-sustaining natural aquatic habitats through education and scientifically proven restoration methods. Carter holds a degree in Biology from the University of South Florida (USF) and has held positions with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and Seagrass Recovery, Inc. where he was Chief Biologist and Project Manager for some of the largest and most successful Florida seagrass projects to date.

Curt is President of Bay Shellfish Co., a 23 year old bivalve hatchery focused on seed production for research, restoration, commercial farming and new species development. He serves on the board of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association and is the bivalve representative on the Florida Aquaculture Review Council.

Barbara Baker spent 25 years in the nuclear industry, retiring in 1999 from the United States Enrichment Corporation nuclear processing plant in Piketon, Ohio. Barbara has an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Shawnee State University. Barbara moved to Florida in 2000 and, in 2009, a business partner & Barbara established the property management company, Anna Maria Island Resorts. She has served on the Atomic Credit Union Board, President of the Washington Local School Board, Manatee County Tourist Development Council Advisory Board & as president on several Condominium Boards on Anna Maria Island, until such time as she retired from Anna Maria Island Resorts in 2021. Since learning of this initiative, she has become passionate about supporting efforts to reduce the increasing pollution of Florida’s coastal environment.