Wetlands Expert Adam Hoyles Leads Florida Environmental Team
Our Florida team is growing, and wetlands expert Adam Hoyles recently joined our Jacksonville office to lead environmental services. With more than 30 years of experience, Adam brings expertise in wetlands, wildlife, policy and environmental permitting to our Stormwater, Environmental Services group.
He plays a key role in expanding our environmental service offerings, mentoring new environmental scientists on our team and identifying client needs. He said Florida has unique environmental resources that shift depending on the landscape position and condition of the natural resources located there. Adam said he wants communities to know he brings extensive knowledge of the environmental permitting and regulations required to build projects in Florida.
“I’ve got your back,” he said. “I understand the need for the projects, and I understand what the pain points are for the regulators and how to address them.”
Across a varied career, Adam has worked as a botanist at Camp Blanding military reserve, a National Marine Fisheries observer and an environmental consultant on public land, private development, and mining projects. For 17 years, he led his own environmental consulting business.
He worked on Jacksonville’s Highland Ranch Mitigation Bank project, which restored 1,500 acres of wetlands and uplands. The project reintroduced gopher tortoises and prescribed fire, also known as a controlled burn, to a site that burned naturally until the 1940s. For more than 60 years, fire was suppressed, and fire-dependent species were lost, favoring timber productivity. The Highland Ranch Mitigation Bank project restored fire-dependent species, such as the gopher tortoise, and a modern fire process that’s been absent from the landscape for decades.
Adam’s experience as a business owner and his knowledge of environmental regulations, permitting and wetland delineation are major assets as our Florida team grows and expands services, said Beatriz Estrada Guerra, team manager for Freese and Nichols’ Stormwater, Environmental Services in Florida.
“I think [clients] should know that Adam will seek and explore multiple alternatives to find them the best solution. He’s going to do and explore however many best paths he needs to find them the right solution,” she said.
Adam received a bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Florida and holds multiple certifications, including Professional Wetland Scientist. He co-developed a Society of Wetland Scientists-accredited wetland curriculum workshop for the Florida Local Environmental Resource Agencies, which is presented at the group’s annual conference to Florida and Southeast U.S. scientists.
Adam was appointed by the mayor to the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board (EPB), where he will serve as chair for two years. He’s also the EPB representative on the Jacksonville Waterways Commission, where he serves as a liaison to the EPB and as their environmental consultant. He participates in the Northeast Florida Regional Council (NEFRC) Regional Resiliency Collaborative as an expert on the Environmental Subcommittee. He’s also an expert on fire ecology and natural resources for the NEFRC Military Installation Readiness Review. An alum of Leadership Jacksonville, he volunteers as a young leader mentor and conducts an outdoor program in support of the organization’s environmental curriculum for the young leader and adult leadership programs.