Get the drift on a new program for boaters to assist the Coast Guard, local sheriff marine units and the Fish and Wildlife Commission. Aqua Alert would provide authorities with volunteers for those unique situations when extra “eyes on the water” would help during a lost at sea search. The inspiration, the newly activated Aqua Alert Pilot Program and the nation-wide vision will be featured in this powerpoint presentation. Updates on Aqua Alert Act legislation included.Bringing additional hope to water searches, these volunteers could be the answer to prayers!

Retiring from the Coast Guard after 20 years, Kristin Williams spent the majority of her active duty investigating pollution incidents and marine casualties. As a pollution Investigator, she was responsible for managing large, federally funded multi-agency pollution responses. As Marine Casualty Investigator, she responded to, investigated and prosecuted mariners involved in marine incidents.  

Upon retirement from active duty, Kristin transitioned to civilian life and worked in the Coast Guard Office of Investigations and Analysis as a MISLE data analyst. In 2017, she transferred to her current job in the Office of Boating Safety where she manages 26 states, multiple non-profit grants, and represents the office on various committees and organizations such as NASBLA VIRT Committee, CRLEA, WBSAA, and IAMI to foster continued improvement of boating safety policies.  

April Hughes started her career in 1999 for the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) as a part-time Data Entry Clerk in the fishing and hunting license section. She was soon promoted to the full-time front counter Customer Service Representative at Headquarters. Since then, April has continued to work her way up within the agency and currently serves as the Watercraft Section Administrator.

 In addition to this, April has been a vital member of the NASBLA Vessel, Identification, Registration & Titling (VIRT) Committee since 2012 and is now the longest serving state member on the VIRT Committee. 

Jim Emmons is executive director of the non-profit Water Sports Foundation (WSF) and is a lifelong recreational boating safety advocate and enthusiast. 

Since 2011, the WSF has orchestrated a series of 41 highly-effective recreational boating safety consumer outreach campaigns worth $9.5 while delivering more than 1.5 billion, laser-targeted boater and paddler safety impressions. 

The projects include custom production of more than 225 boating safety PSAs with the most recent receiving more than 93,000 YouTube views in just four days. The WSF also spearheaded outreach efforts targeting newcomers to boating including Hispanic boaters and the at-risk paddle sports segment. 

The Water Sports Foundation earned multiple recognitions including NASBLA’s Innovation in Outreach award, numerous first-place honors in the IBWSS Communication Awards. 

The WSF’s outreach campaigns have also earned top national awards in cooperation with its producers and partners from Marine Marketers of America and the Sea Tow Foundation, which both honored the WSF’s national public relations campaign with the 2021 Top Marine Marketing and Boating Safety Outreach Award for the public relations category. 

Emmons served two terms on the Coast Guard’s National Boating Safety Advisory Council, most recently as chairman. He also serves on NASBLA’s Paddlesports Committee. Prior to his current post, Emmons served 12 years as president of the Water Sports Industry Association and as the publisher of two boating magazines.

Will began his career with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department on October 1, 1992, as a cadet in the 43rd Game Warden Training Academy in Austin Texas. After completing the academy, he was stationed in the Rio Grande Valley, where he spent the next 26 years. During his tenure stationed in deep South Texas, he was awarded several citations for his work in Border Security along the Rio Grande River and the Gulf of Mexico.

With the creation of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) full-time Marine Tactical Operation Group (MTOG) in 2012, he was tasked with the important role of contributing to the development of the team and became one of its charter members. Will retired from TPWD in 2018 but continues to instruct boat courses and is an active member of the NASBLA Team. He currently serves as NASBLA’s Special Operations Program Manager within the Boat Operations and Training (BOAT) Program which involves overseeing the Airboat Operators Course (AOC) and the Waterborne Armed Threat Emergency Response Course (WATER) nationwide. Will also serves as a Lead Instructor in both the Tactical and Response Programs.

Prior to being a Texas Game Warden,Carmen Rickel worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Parole Division as a Parole Officer.  

Carmen has been a Texas Game Warden for 10 years.After graduation from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Academy, she was stationed in South Texas on the United States/Mexico Border.

Warden Rickel has dedicated her career toMarine Enforcement, more specifically Coastal Fisheries,Commercial Fisheries, and Port Security enforcement.  

Carmen was selected as a full-time member of Texas Parks and Wildlife-Special Operations, Marine Tactical Operation Group (MTOG)which focuses on the waterways from the Rio Grande River to the Gulf of Mexico out to 200 nautical miles. During her time with MTOG she worked closely with her partners to fulfill the team’s mission of Commercial Fisheries Enforcement, Homeland Security/Border Security, and Port Security on Texas Parks and Wildlife 65’ and 80’ patrol vessels, while other duties included patrol of Texas Flower Garden Sanctuary for federal violations, and interdiction of illegal Mexican Commercial fisherman as well as conducting homeland security and US-Mexico human smuggling operations. 

She is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where she successfully completed the Marine Law Enforcement Training Program in Georgia.

Carmen assists in teaching Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens at the Texas Game Warden training center and is also certified to teach for the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators(NASBLA) in the following courses, Officer Water Survival Course,Pursuit and Stop Course,Tactical Operators Course,Boat Operations Search and Rescue, Small Vessel Radiation and Nuclear Detection.

Most recently, Carmen was selected as the Chairman of NASBLA’s Boat Operations and Training (BOAT) Advisory Board.

As of January 2022, Carmen was recently promoted as the new Lieutenant of Fisheries Enforcement and currently work sat Austin Headquarters.

Kimberly Sorensen joined the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Law Enforcement Division as the Boater Education Manager in January 2021.

Kimberly brings a wealth of knowledge of water safety, paddlesports safety, and boating safety to her role as Boating Education Manager. She is a graduate of the NASBLA Leadership Academy and serves on the NASBLA Education and Outreach committee. She is an American Canoe Association certified instructor trainer for SUP and Kayaking, an American Red Cross Lifeguard instructor, and an avid boater. Over the last twelve years, she has worked with local non-profits focused on drowning prevention and paddle sport educators to ensure proper skills and safety on and around the water. Working with her media team Kimberly created Texas Parks and Wildlife Boating and Water Safety Facebook and Instagram social media pages reaching more than 40,000 people during water safety month. The social media pages include weekly boating tips and safety messages. She shares many posts from partner organizations on the pages. In 2021 she partnered with Oncor Energy to fund education materials reminding boaters that water and electricity don’t mix. This partnership resulted in 40 new boat ramp safety signs and boater education materials that include information on safe boating around power lines and marinas. Working with the Game Warden Academy Kimberly created a Paddle Patrol course teaching officer’s safety and rescue skills and technical knowledge around paddling and using paddlecraft to patrol.

Lee Gatts is the Director of Government Affairs for the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA). In this role, Gatts leads WSIA’s advocacy and grassroots activities throughout the United States by developing best practices, maintaining waterway access rights, educating participants, promoting safety, and facilitating sustainable industry growth. 

Prior to joining WSIA, Gatts served as Manager of Policy & Engagement for the National Marine Manufacturers Association, covering 15 states in the southern region. During his time at NMMA, Lee was instrumental in building out the regional advocacy apparatus. He expanded member engagement throughout the Southern United States by facilitating on-site visits with members of Congress, state legislators, and local elected officials while protecting the boating industry from harmful legislation and advancing policies that supported boat & engine manufacturers, marine dealers, and accessory/component manufacturers alike. 

Stacey Brown has worked for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources as the Boating Safety Manager for  14 years and was recently promoted to the position of Boating Division Deputy Director.  Her primary functions are to manage the implementation of the mandatory boating education requirement, compile boat incident reports, and serve the primary cheerleader for boating safety and boating programs throughout the Commonwealth.

She was born and raised in Virginia and currently lives in Hanover, Virginia with her husband and two young men.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She enjoys gardening (planning and planting, not weeding), biking, reading mysteries and thrillers, and spending time on the water and in the water at Smith Mountain Lake.

MariAnn has been with the Oregon State Marine Board since March 2006 in the Boating Safety Section. She is the coordinator for several programs including Boating Safety Education, kids/school education, “Let’s Go Boating” Grant Program, Incident and Fatality Data, and the Boating Safety Advocates Program. She was also the Team Leader for the Non-motorized Boat Oregon Advisory Team (BOATs) and was the Project Manager for the Non-Motorized Boating Project linked to the Marine Board’s Strategic Plan. She was also the interim Boating Law Administrator during the first half of 2022.

George Birdwell, a lifelong resident of Tennessee, is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville  Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Birdwell started his career with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in 1998 as a wildlife technician. In 2000, he promoted to wildlife manager, and then in 2002, he transferred to a wildlife officer position in Unicoi County. In 2004, he became a full-time boating officer where he began to investigate many of the accidents occurring in his work district. Birdwell was promoted to statewide boating investigator in 2012. He assists in boat accident investigations, vessel theft investigations, and boat accident and BUI training throughout the state. Birdwell has assisted the NSBC Close-Quarter and Open Water Boat Control program as a master instructor, and he serves on the VIRT Committee for NASBLA. 

Vann Burgess retired from the United States Coast Guard in February of 2000 after serving more than 21 years on active duty. During his career, Burgess’s primary fields were Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue. His last tour of duty was as the coordinator and lead instructor for the Marine Patrol Officer’s Course and a regulatory subject matter expert for the Boarding Officer’s Course at the Coast Guard’s Maritime Law Enforcement School, Yorktown, Virginia.

 In July 2000, Burgess came to the U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety Division, Coast Guard Headquarters, where he now serves as the Coast Guard’s Senior Recreational Boating Safety (RBS) Specialist. In his current position, Burgess oversees the programmatic operation of the State RBS Grant Program, provided under the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and administered by the U.S. Coast Guard. This grant program provides funding to all U.S. states and territories for the purposes of vessel numbering, RBS law enforcement, RBS education, search and rescue and boating accident investigation and reporting. Burgess also serves as the programmatic lead for the Vessel Identification System (VIS), a national database for state numbered and Coast Guard documented vessels for the purposes of law enforcement and security.

 Vann Burgess is the Coast Guard’s Boating Safety liaison to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) and serves on the Boat Accident and Training (BOAT) Program Advisory Board.

Brandi Baldwin is Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Lifesaving and Fire Safety Division in the Office of Design and Engineering Standards.  She oversees a multi-disciplinary group of active duty and civilian staff engineers responsible for developing, maintaining, and implementing domestic and international standards, regulations, and policy related to lifesaving and fire protection equipment, systems, materials, and arrangements on commercial vessels and recreational boats. 

Ms. Baldwin has a total of 29 years of experience with the U.S. Coast Guard, including enlisted, officer, and civil service time. She holds a BS in Marine Environmental Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park, an MBA from the University of Maryland Global campus, and is currently working on an Executive Masters in International Relations at American University School of International Service.