The Team

Collaborators

Steve Edmonds – Founder and Executive Director

Steve Edmonds is a Florida native and holds a Masters degree in Political Science from the University of Central Florida. He has been a water resource advocate all of his life and began studying hemp in the late 1980’s. An active participant in local politics, Edmonds has served on Oviedo’s Land Planning Agency, Seminole Natural Lands Committee and has been a Supervisor for the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District. He has also run for State House, State Senate and School Board. He has spent several hours in Tallahassee and DC advocating for alternative energy, hemp, and comprehensive sensible water policy. He has helped develop 3 bio diesel facilities and built a yellow grease cleaning facility from scratch. He previously worked with FDACS and the Department of Energy, as a bio diesel industry representative trying to identify oil seed crops that could be grown for energy. Steve still sits on the Florida Board of Alternative Energy and Bio Energy and maintains a healthy network of individuals and companies in that sector.

More in the recent past, Steve took up the fight of the discharges from Lake Okeechobee. Recognizing the stagnation in reaching compromise, he and two other advocates formed One Florida Foundation that is dedicated to bringing all stakeholders to the table to find solutions for the water that belongs to all of us. One Florida worked closely with the legislature to find ways to help immediately fund several projects around the lake.

While managing a state-wide attorney general campaign, Steve developed and introduced Hemp4Water®. This is an educational campaign designed to generate discussion on the economic possibilities of hemp and suggest a use for those possibilities. After several inquires about what kinds of infrastructure improvements he envisioned, he started promulgating his Water Hubs idea. This is heavy infrastructure that would combine nature with technology to capture, clean and redistribute water resources throughout the state.

Most recently, with the changes in policy and hemp laws in the state of Florida Steve has switched from activism to action and is focusing almost entirely on developing Hemp4Water’s research and the over all industry as a consultant owning and operating Native Hemp Solutions.

Dr. Kate Calvin – South Florida State College

Dr. Kate Calvin earned her PhD in Molecular Biophysics from Florida State University in 2007. She then worked as Post-Doctoral Fellow and Scientific Research Specialist in the FSU College of Medicine until 2015. Having moved to central Florida to be closer to her parents, she is now a Chemistry Instructor at South Florida State University and is very pleased to be doing research again. With a work history involving analytical biochemistry and none in plant growth and inorganic water analysis, she has ventured into new research areas and is happy to share the group’s progress to date. Not encumbered by existing methods, Dr. Calvin has developed methodology to help with analyzing nutrient uptake by a live plant. Always wanting to involve students Dr. Calvin has mentored a student to State awards and recognition with Hemp4Water®.

Nick Dague – Regional Director for the Great Lakes Region.

Owner/ Operator- Grandpa’s Garden Co. LLC- Homegrown Organic Solutions.

Editor/ Publisher- The Shiawassee Sportsman.

Michigan State University Extension- Master Gardener/ Project Coordinator. Environmental/ Alternative Energy Engineering Professional- BS studies Michigan State University/ Ferris State University/ MCPA/ MDOT.

Multigenerational business owner and agricultural professional- Specialized concentration on sustainable farm models, organic subsidies, soil enrichment, site remediation, organic IPM, agronomy, native agriculture, and cannabis/ hemp. Independent water quality and pollinator researcher.

SFCHA/ MDNR/ MUCC/ USFWS conservation project volunteer.

Journeyman Carpenter- Associated Builders and Contractors/ NCCER.