OUR PROGRAM

---

AMERICORPS Member Role

---

GatorCorps Members will be deployed for national service to Jacksonville, Gainesville or Cedar Key, cities that have a working relationship with the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience through the Florida Resilient Cities Program. During the period of service, key activities will focus on a) delivering educational programs to both children and adults related to resilience and risk reduction, b) delivering training and resilience tools and techniques to community leaders and c) contributing to capacity building within the host organization.

Members will receive a living allowance, access to health coverage for FT members, a suite of professional training and development opportunities, childcare assistance if eligible, and an education award (in 2024, $7,395 for full-time member) upon successful completion of service. GatorCorps members will serve a minimum of 300 hours during the service year (before July 31st), with the maximum being 1700 hours (full-time), and for up to four terms. Whether you are ready to serve full-time, or you are a student able to commit 10+ hours a week for the year, talk to us today to see if GatorCorps is right for you! You must be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident to qualify for national service.

A GatorCorps cohort starts in September each year. We will accept applications on a rolling basis and fill open positions during the year. Your service will start with orientation and training at Headquarters.

Applications are open! We will consider candidates on a rolling basis until positions are filled.

VOLUNTEER with gatorcorps

Volunteers can support GatorCorps in several ways and will allow you to get tangible experience in the field of built environment resilience. People interested in hands-on experience spanning from green infrastructures to living shorelines and disaster risk mitigation can join GatorCorps as we serve communities. To volunteer please contact DCP-GatorCorps@dcp.ufl.edu

Where We Work

---

Our Team

---

Jason von Meding

GatorCorps Executive Director

Jason is a social scientist investigating narratives of disaster, including injustice and inequality but also solidarity and hope.
jason.vonmeding@ufl.edu

Carla Brisotto

GatorCorps Program Director

Carla Brisotto is an architect, urban theorist, and researcher whose work examining the complex cultural relationships between people, built environments, and shifting ecological conditions.
c.brisotto@ufl.edu

Jeff Carney

Director of FIBER

Jeff is an architect and urban designer working at the scale of housing and neighborhoods as an interface between urbanism, infrastructure, and ecosystem.
j.carney@ufl.edu

Colin Lasch

Head of Training

Colin is a construction manager, Certified General Contractor, and mold remediation expert in the State of Florida. He is also a researching PhD student who is studying the intersection of project delivery methods and post-disaster reconstruction. He has been involved in professional training and curriculum development since 2005.
clasch@ufl.edu

Amaya Borroto

Amaya Borroto is a student at The University of Florida studying Political Science and Sustainability & The Built Environment. Her passion for conservation and community resilience started in her hometown of Miami, where she first became inspired to protect her community from sea level rise and natural disasters. In her work with the Inter-Residence Hall Association at UF, she has spearheaded an ambitious revitalization of the University’s Spring Recycling Program to divert waste from mass move-outs at the end of each school year. Amaya is eager to continue building a sustainable future for Florida as a dedicated member of GatorCorps.

Leza Warren

Leza Warren relocated from New York to Florida in January of 2024. She has experience in husbandry, nursery growing of vegetables, and owning her own farm. After purchasing a small parcel of land, she quickly obtained a USDA certification. Her goal is to grow food for her local community, offering fresh produce and proteins at reduced prices. Leza believes that it’s difficult for many families to provide for themselves and no one should be without necessities like food. She serves in Keystone Heights with GatorCorps and is expanding her expertise and experience in agriculture, while helping meet the essential needs of her neighbors.

Victoria Johns

Victoria is a Cum Laude graduate of Florida International University with a Bachelor’s in Communications. She is a proud seventh generation North Floridian and is thrilled to be a part of building Florida’s resilient future through GatorCorps initiatives. Victoria enjoys quality time with her family, being outdoors, and tending to her gardens. Her family has a one-acre homestead to grow vegetables and raise multiple farm animals. She believes that being in tune with our community’s diverse needs and standing together to meet them helps our world achieve a brighter future. 

Christian Bartholomew

Chris is a cum laude graduate of the University of Florida, earning a Bachelor of Science in Zoology. Determined to make a lasting impact on the environment, wildlife, and society, he strives to channel his passion for science into meaningful actions. His dedication to conservation began in 2019, when he traveled to Puerto Rico to assist with efforts to protect critically endangered leatherback sea turtles and Puerto Rican parrots. While there, he also supported sustainable agriculture efforts outside of San Juan. As an undergraduate, Chris contributed to morphological and taxonomic research that confirmed the existence of a new fish species in Thailand, Poropuntius normani. Having served with AmeriCorps previously, he’s excited for the chance to do so again through GatorCorps in the community that has already given him so much.

Arianna Glover

Arianna is a senior obtaining her Bachelor’s in Sustainability in the Built Environment. She is passionate about construction, drafting, and urban planning. Arianna enjoys developing innovative materials and rethinking the design and manufacturing of construction products. Her goal is to one day contribute to a housing community that supports those most in need. 

Kaitlyn Amos

Kaitlyn is an ecologist with a focus on habitat restoration and wildlife landscape ecology. She has extensive experience in wildlife rehab, working with Western Passerine birds in the West Coast mountains. Additionally, she’s also well-versed in customer service, payroll, field research, and nonprofit management. Being both family and community oriented, she serves as a member of GatorCorps like her great grandfather in the Civilian Conservation Corps. With a life dedicated to health, she strives to improve the resilience of people and the planet for continued wellness. 

Isabelle Findell

Isabelle is a Sustainability and the Built Environment major at the University of Florida. She is passionate about engaging with communities to make positive changes. Through GatorCorps, she hopes to teach people how to be more sustainable and community-focused so that they can be more resilient in times of both opportunity and struggle. In the future, Isabelle hopes to pursue a graduate education in something more theoretical, but one that still contributes to the betterment of people. In her free time, Isabelle enjoys rock climbing, trying local restaurants, and spending time with her loved ones. 

Natalie Stisser

Natalie Stisser is a Political Science major with a minor in Geography at the University of Florida. She previously interned in Floodplain Management, researching capacity-building strategies for infrastructure and community resilience in coastal communities. Through UF’s Gulf Scholars Program, she has collaborated with peers across disciplines to explore innovative approaches to coastal challenges. As a GatorCorps member serving at the FIBER Location, Natalie is excited to apply her passion for disaster resilience and education to strengthen community preparedness and adaptation. 

Shelby Wheatley

Shelby Wheatley graduated from Interlachen High School in 2023. She grew up in north Florida and enjoys traveling, baking and trying new things/places. She also grew up helping her mom make hygiene bags to give out to people who didn’t have the resources or a way to get them – she continues to bring a passion to getting help to people who need it and believes that no one deserves to feel alone and kindness goes a long way. She is very excited to start the journey with Gatorcorps and hopes it leads to career opportunities.  

Ominira Mars

Ominira Mars is a griot, writer, cultural-worker, healer, and independent historian. She was born in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley, and grew up as a little girl with a grandmother who taught her the importance of reverence for the Land and the importance of resilience and survival in the face of poverty and powerlessness. She enjoys roller skating, mobility, foraging, poetry, and sun-bathing. Omi is passionate about Black Geographies and lineage research, climate survival, trauma-informed care, and re-connecting Black people back to an animistic relationship to Land. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with an M.A. in International & Multicultural Education and enjoys informal teaching and education. 

Alexander Carver

 

Juliana Alcantara

Brianna Rodriguez

Brianna Rodriguez is an agent of sustainable change. She earned her Bachelor’s in Political Science with a Minor in Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida as a first-generation college student. She has experience in creating permaculture plots, working on various eco-friendly infrastructure projects, and supporting a Forest Restoration Research Unit in efforts to restore tropical forest ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. Brianna is a vegan, shops local, and thrifts her clothing. She enjoys music, hiking, cooking, writing, and playing fetch with her dog. Brianna is passionate about building more resilient communities and about creating a more sustainable future for all.

John Collins

Mahsa Haghighi

 

Ta’Varis Lee-Holden

Alberta Ntoutoume-Wilson

 

Our Socials

---

• Instagram
• LinkedIn