Board of Directors

About Us

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Board of Directors

Jim Richard, President

Jim is the Principal of Forest Heights Academy, and has been involved in education in the Bahamas for 10 years. He has served on the FRIENDS board since Jan 2005, and during that time has also chaired the Education Committee. Prior to joining the board, he helped to organize the annual Earth Day Events as President of the Abaco Science Association. Some of the accomplishments attained in the area of education during his tenure include the artificial reef ball project, successful annual Earth Day events and the awarding of environmental scholarships to both Abaco's teachers and students. He lives in Central Abaco with his wife and two children.

Cha Boyce, Vice President, Marine Committee Chair

Cha was born in Marsh Harbour and has lived in Abaco for over 30 years. She also lived in California, and graduated from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. Cha returned to the Bahamas in 1985 and managed the Abaco Inn, a small resort in Hope Town until 1990. During this time, she became involved with Friends of the Environment, where she served as president in the early years of the organization. Cha continues to be active in Friends of the Environment, where she currently serves as vice president and chair of the Marine Committee.

Charlotte Dunn, Treasurer, Sustainable Development Chair

Charlotte was born in Nassau, Bahamas and has grown up in Hong Kong and the UK. Her background is in computer programming, working for Merrill Lynch for 8 years in New York, London and Hong Kong, writing software for stock market trading. She completed her Master of Science degree in Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrew’s, Scotland in 2005 and is currently working on her PHD in Biology focusing on vocal communication in Blainville’s beaked whales:implications for social interactions and conservation. Charlotte has been living and working in Sandy Point with the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization since 2004. She has been involved in Community service work in London, New York, Hong Kong and now is an instrumental part of the board at FRIENDS here in Abaco.

Diane Claridge, Serves on Marine Committee and Sustainable Development Committee

Diane was born and raised in Nassau. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science in 1988 from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida and completed an Overseas Research degree to fulfill requirements for a Master’s degree in Zoology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 2006. Diane is presently working on her PHD in biology focusing on Spatial processes in the population ecology of beaked whalesat St. Andrews University in Scotland. In 1991, Diane began the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation where she currently serves as Project Director and principle investigator. BMMRO documents the occurrence, distribution and abundance of marine mammal species found in Bahamian waters. Diane’s research has taken her to Alaska, California, Mexico, Greenland, and Iceland. In addition to serving on the board at FRIENDS Diane has been a Council Member for the Bahamas National Trust, and currently sits on the BNT’s Scientific Advisory Committee, and is a Life Member of the International Society of Marine Mammologists. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her contribution to the conservation of marine life, including the Ministry of Tourism’s Cacique Award and the Zonta Club of New Providence’s Living Legends Award.

Laura-lee Davis, Co- Chair Education Committee

Laura lives and works as a social studies teacher in Cooper’s Town, a small settlement in North Abaco. She has spent the last thirteen years in the education field, eight of which were spent on the island of Andros and the remaining here in Abaco. She is presently a member of the teaching staff at SC Bootle High School.

In addition to the above, Laura was awarded several scholarships to attend conferences in reference to the environment, including BREEF (2001) in San Salvador and she was also the recipient of the FRIENDS 2006 Teacher’s Scholarship to the Island School. Laura is also involved with the Student Christian Movement, Anchor Club and the Governor General Award programme at her school. She is active at her church, Friendship Mission, where she is a youth leader, Sunday School teacher, Secretary/public relations officer, assistant Treasurer and a member of the Women of Purpose group.

Bernadette Hall, Waste Reduction Committee Chair

Bernadette was raised and schooled in Hope Town as a young child. She returned to the Abacos in 1999 after graduating from Padworth College, in England. She is currently employed with the Ministry of Tourism. Since returning to the Abacos it has been a passion of hers to volunteer and offer assistance with community projects. “Education is important to me and it’s a pleasure to be involved with a group like Friends of the Environment to bring this much needed aspect to our communities.”

David Knowles, Serves on Terrestrial, Marine and Sustainable Development Committees

David is originally from Nassau and has lived in Abaco for the past 7 years. David was recently hired as the first Abaco Park Warden for The Bahamas National Trust in Abaco. He previously worked as director of the Department of Agriculture and has extensive knowledge of the terrestrial environment in The Bahamas. He and his wife and three children live in Marsh Harbour.

Ann Pleydell-Bouverie, Serves on Terrestrial and Recycling Committees

Ann is originally from Nassau. Currently she lives in Man-O-War with her husband, James, and their son Jeremy. She received her Master Gardener Certification from Clemson in 1994 and her Master Waste Educator Certification the following year. She is an avid gardener and raises plants to sell at the MOW School Fair in February, with the proceeds going to the school, has donated native plants to the FRIENDS Native Plant Fairs since its conception and coordinates the recycling for MOW.

Justin Higgs, Co-Chair Education Committee

Justin Higgs currently works as the Grade 5 & 6 teacher at Hope Town Primary School. He and his wife Amanda live in Hope Town, with their daughter Journey. His class has won at FRIENDS Earth Day Science Fair for two consecutive years. One of the winning projects was an experiment about how mangroves help fight against global warming. Justin was also the recipient of the 2008 FRIENDS' scholarship to the Island School.

Justin has a master's in Education from Florida Atlantic University. In addition to serving on FRIENDS' Education committee for the last two years, Justin has also shown a commitment to the environment by working to start a new eco-tourism company, Abaco Eco. The company is doing kayak rentals and tours around Hope Town.

Della Kelly, Recycling Committee

Della Kelly is originally from Sandy Point but currently lives in Murphy Town. She holds the position of financial controller at Bakers Bay. Della has been involved with the Sandy Point Beautification Committee in organizing clean ups and various other community activities. She is also the president of The Sandy Point Development Association that organizes annual and social community events including fundraisers. She is passionate about community involvement and beautification and has a keen interest in recycling and litter prevention.

Anne Albury, Serves on Terrestrial, Waste Reduction and Sustainable Development Committees

Anne Albury recently retired from Treasure Cay Ltd. where she worked as a senior Broker for 28 years. She has an extensive background in management as well as local government, having served on many committees including Town Planning and as Chief Councilor for North Abaco.

Anne has always been involved in community cleanups and is concerned about the preservation of lands and historical artifacts as well as environmental education for kids of all ages. She has three children and five grandchildren.

Reg Patterson, Serves on Terrestrial Committee

Reg is a long time Abaco resident and is the proprietor of Lucayan Surveying in Marsh Harbour. As a land surveyor, his profession has provided him with extensive knowledge about The Abaco’s. He currently lives in Marsh Harbour with his wife Donna and has 2 children in college in the U.S. He is an avid birder and leads many of FRIENDS bird walks. Reg possesses extensive terrestrial knowledge, as his father, Jack Patterson, was the author of the book Native Trees of The Bahamas, which many consider to be the premier book on native plants in The Bahamas. Reg has also been a dedicated Rotarian for many years and is excited about sharing his knowledge and time with FRIENDS.

Tim Higgs, Serves on Marine Committee

Tim is a sixth generation Bahamian and the Owner/operator of Abaco Dive Adventures. He lives in Marsh Harbour. Prior to opening his dive shop he was a Lobster fisherman for 20 years. He has been involved in the research of the soft coral PE for the past 15 years. Tim brought the artificial reef ball idea to FRIENDS and currently runs the Reef Check program.