Beth Styler Barry, Director of Freshwater Programs at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in New Jersey, has 25 years of experience in river restoration, water quality monitoring, community outreach, and project management. At TNC, Beth leads development and implementation of major on-the-ground stream restoration projects, including dam removals, from permit applications to working with engineers, contractors, and partners for successful project completion. Beth is a member of the Free Rivers Accelerator Core Team. The Free Rivers Accelerator is a major initiative launched by TNC to increase the removal rate of obsolete dams and reconnect rivers across the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. The program focuses on increasing the pace and scale of river restoration by combining project development, technical expertise, funding strategies, partnership building, and policy reform. Beth also helped establish the New Jersey Statewide Dam Removal Partnership. Beth previously worked as the executive director of the Musconetcong Watershed Association. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Montclair State University.
Ray Hinkle, Senior Technical Director for AKRF Inc., is a Certified Ecosystem Restoration Practitioner (CERP) and Certified Wildlife Biologist with more than 50 years of experience as a consulting ecologist for several different entities including Woodward Clyde Consultants, URS, and AECOM. Ray has been a Senior Technical Director with AKRF Inc. since 2020. Over his career he has participated in numerous ecosystem restoration projects including mitigation for development of the Manasquan Reservoir in New Jersey, the closure of the Lone Pine Landfill, phosphate mining in coastal North Carolina, remediation of Liberty State Park in New Jersey, and the extensive tidal wetland restoration implemented along Delaware Bay under the PSEG Estuary Enhancement Program – which he has supported for more than 30 years. Ray’s particular restoration expertise is in the removal of invasive Phragmites australis from wetlands to reduce the threat of further expansion into pristine ecosystems and to promote the reestablishment of diverse native communities.