Rear Admiral Mark Belton (Ret.) is a Project Partner for Throwe Environmental, and also currently serves as County Administrator for Charles County, Maryland. He has an extensive background leading state and local government organizations including previous roles as Maryland’s Secretary of Natural Resources; County Administrator for Queen Annes’ County, Maryland and Page County, Virginia; and Executive Director for Pride of Baltimore, Inc. Retired from military service as a Navy Rear Admiral, Mark served afloat and ashore throughout a 31-year career as a logistics expert with senior officer assignments including liaison to the Republic of Iraq ministries of Oil and Electricity, and as Commander of the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group. He holds a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy; an M.B.A. from Regis University; and graduated from programs at the Naval War College, Armed Forces Staff College, and National Defense University.
Mark has promoted innovation in climate change preparedness by championing the establishment of Maryland’s Climate Leadership Academy — the first state-led program of its kind in the nation, created Maryland’s first nonprofit Resilience Authority to finance local projects and become the nexus of community resilience discussions, and represents the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) on the Maryland Commission on Climate Change (MCCC). Under his leadership, Charles County’s proactive whole-of-government approach to climate preparedness received recognition awards from both MACO and the National Association of Counties (NACO) and was cited by Standard & Poor (S&P) as influencing affirmation of their AAA credit rating. Mark partners with Throwe staff on various projects, including the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
Dr. Kimberly Groff is a Project Partner with Throwe Environmental. She has dedicated her 30+ year career to advancing water quality at a project, state, and regional scale. She serves as the Massachusetts liaison for the SNEP Network, where she conducts community- and watershed-scale planning to build capacity and support long-term climate resilience. As former Director of the MassDEP Watershed Planning Program, she managed policy development, surface water monitoring and standards, and TMDL and watershed plan development. She was involved with the Long Island Sound TMDL and participated in NEIWPCC workgroups focused on implementing pollution control. She provided modeling and grant oversight and collaborated with PVPC on the implementation of a LISFF monitoring grant. Kimberly previously worked as a water resources engineer at AMEC Earth and Environmental, HydroAnalysis, and ENSR (now AECOM), where she assisted a variety of clients and industries (e.g., energy, plastics, transportation, academia, state and federal agencies). She earned a Doctorate from Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She resides in Marblehead, MA and is an avid sailor. Kim partners with Throwe staff as a Field Liaison for the Long Island Sound Futures Fund and the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
Dr. John Morton is a Project Partner in Alaska where he also serves as Vice President of both the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition. John recently retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after 32 years as a wildlife biologist in Alaska, California, Guam, Maryland and Wisconsin. He first came to Alaska in 1984 to work on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1002 studies. He was most recently the supervisory biologist at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, where he and his staff earned the USFWS Rachel Carson Group Award for Scientific Excellence for their research of the ecological effects of climate change. He represented the USFWS in the GAO’s investigation of climate change impacts on Federal lands (2006) and on DOI’s Climate Change Task Force (2007). He helped develop the USFWS’s Rising to the Urgent Challenge: Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change and National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (2011). John helped developed the Resist-Accept-Direct decision framework that was recently profiled in a dedicated issue of BioScience (Volume 72 Issue 1 | BioScience | Oxford Academic (oup.com). His work on facilitating ecological transformation was profiled in Yale Environment 360, The Economist, and Deutsche Welle. John holds a BS in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MS and PhD in Wildlife Science from Virginia Tech. John and his wife live and play on the Kenai Peninsula in southcentral Alaska. John partners with Throwe staff as a Field Liaison for the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
Sarah Whitehouse is a Project Partner with Throwe Environmental. Prior to joining Throwe Environmental, Sarah worked for the City of Newport, RI, where she resides, as the Community Resilience Specialist for the Department of Planning & Economic Development. Serving the City for seven years, Sarah oversaw grants and projects involving preparation for sea level rise and climate change impacts, and participated in economic development efforts and innovation projects. Additionally, Sarah worked for the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, which assists island communities including Newport, in long-term planning coordination as a Project Manager and Interim Executive Director, and also served as a Program Manager for Social Enterprise Greenhouse, a Rhode Island-based organization, fostering inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems and just, equitable and resilient communities. Sarah partners with Throwe staff as a Field Liaison for the National Coastal Resilience Fund and as a technical assistance provider for the SNEP Network.
The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS) is a non-profit 501(c)3 intertribal organization founded in 1983 by a group of Tribal fish and wildlife professionals to “assist Native American and Alaska Native Tribes with the conservation, protection, and enhancement of their fish and wildlife resources.” NAFWS is the only national Tribal organization with a specific focus on Tribal fish and wildlife resources. As a unique membership organization with 227 Support Member Tribes in 7 regions, NAFWS strives to meet the needs of its individual members and member Tribes directly through conferences, trainings, youth education and indirectly through ongoing support of, and providing venues for government consultations, discussions and by participating with innovative projects and initiatives in Indian Country. A large service NAFWS provides is technical assistance to the 574 federally recognized Tribes in the US and fish and wildlife professionals working in Indian Country. Examples of this work include workshops, webinars and trainings on topics of interest to Tribal fish and wildlife programs such as funding, policy and field work. Several staff members will support this project but in particular will be Justin Leon who is the Senior Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison located in Alaska. Throwe is partnering with NAFWS to provide support services to indigenous communities nationally as Field Liaisons for the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) helps its members strengthen their professional network, exchange best practices and practical advice, and accelerate innovation, all leading to more equitable and effective climate adaptation practices. ASAP works across North America, with members in 47 states and throughout the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Their network is composed of 1,000 individuals and 40 organizations, with an event and newsletter audience of 4,000. Over the past six years, ASAP has hosted multiple workshops on how to secure funding and financing for climate adaptation and resilience projects. This work has taken the form of in-person training, virtual events, publication of white papers, and most recently their collaboration with Climate Resilience Consulting on the Ready to Fund Toolkit and Training. This toolkit describes how local government leads and partners can design more fundable projects by pulling specific policy levers, seeking key partnerships, using innovative accounting practices, inverting power structures, and rethinking and redesigning internal processes. The accompanying Ready to Fund Resilience Training is a modular course, with up to 5 synchronous sessions and asynchronous homework. Throwe is partnering with ASAP to support communities nationally as Field Liaisons for the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), founded in 1906, represents public finance officials throughout the United States and Canada. The association’s more than 20,000 members are federal, state/provincial, and local finance officials deeply involved in planning, financing, and implementing thousands of governmental operations in each of their jurisdictions. GFOA’s mission is to advance excellence in public finance. Throwe partners with GFOA through the "Putting Assets to Work" (PAW) incubator project, awarded to the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. PAW exemplifies GFOA’s leadership in helping governments reimagine how to modernize outmoded revenue systems through its Rethinking Revenue initiative.