People

Joe Cook, Executive Director & Riverkeeper

Joe has served CRBI as a board member since 1999, and began full time work as Executive Director and Riverkeeper in January 2005. He is a nature/landscape photographer and writer whose work has been published in numerous national and regional magazines and is featured in three books, Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains and River Song-A Journey Down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers. He has studied and reported extensively on water resource issues in Georgia since 1994. He and his daughter and her mother spent 26 days canoeing the 160-mile length of the Etowah River in 2002. In 2007, he was the recipient of a national River Hero award from River Network. He is a 1988 graduate of Berry College where he studied communications and agriculture.

David Promis, Program Coordinator

David joined CRBI in November 2007 after working at Columbus State University's Oxbow Environmental Learning Center in Columbus, Georgia. David brings some 20 years of environmental and education experience to CRBI. He has worked with Georgia's Department of Natural Resources designing water quality education programs for schools and public/private sectors; he served as the Education Director of the Outdoor Activity Center with Atlanta Public Schools; and worked at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. From 1988-1990 he served as president of the Georgia Environmental Education Council (now Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia). A graduate of the State University of West Georgia where he majored in biology, David later earned his masters and doctorate in education at Auburn University. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and was named to the 1999 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.  

Board of Directors

Nina Lovel, President, webmaster/data management coordinator and resident of Rome, Georgia

Mike Sarver, Vice-President, ATT retired and resident of Rome, Georgia  

Meredith Brown, Treasurer, accountant and resident of Rome, Georgia

Ed Bostick, Secretary, retired biology professor and resident of Cartersville, Georgia

Billy Grant, business owner, landscape architect and resident of Cedartown, Georgia

Steve Hale, web developer and resident of Cave Spring, Georgia

John Husser, Jr., attorney and resident of Rome, Georgia

Richard Lindsay, retired educator and resident of Armuchee, Georgia

Mary Lucchese, retired physician and resident of Rome, Georgia

Carolyn Landrem, president of the Weiss Lake Improvement Association and resident of Centre, Alabama

Carol McNavish, community volunteer and resident of Woodstock, Georgia

Carl Melear, retired forester and resident of Armuchee, Georgia

Katie Owens, field manager for The Nature Conservancy and resident of Rome, Georgia

Joel Murphy, engineer and resident of Calhoun, Georgia

Terrell Shaw, educator and resident of Rome, Georgia

Board of Advisors

Bill Harbin, radiologist, Rome, Georgia

Jerry Jennings, professor at Berry College and former Floyd County Commissioner, Rome, Georgia

George Pullen, retired college instructor and former Rome City Commissioner, Rome, Georgia 

Bill McLemore, certified public accountant, Rome, Georgia

Todd Carroll, attorney, Rome, Georgia