Our Team

Joy Hazell is a UF/IFAS Extension faculty member and is currently the State Specialized Agent in Facilitation and Conflict Management. Joy plans, develops, facilitates, and evaluates comprehensive needs-based collaborative decision-making processes around natural resources in the state of Florida and beyond. She holds an undergraduate degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology from the University of New Hampshire and a graduate degree in Marine Affairs and Policy from the University of Miami. Joy started her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central African Republic teaching high school biology. Joy is currently pursuing her PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences where she received a Fulbright Student Scholarship to conduct her research on the Caribbean Island nation of Dominica.

Dr. Bartels is a science communicator, anthropologist, professional facilitator, and project team member with the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute (NRLI).  She seeks an expanded understanding of how and why people cross boundaries to build collaborative relationships.  Although she was born and raised in South Africa, Wendy-Lin has been living and working in the SE US and the Brazilian Amazon since 2000. She is a social science researcher and supports sustainable rural development and family farming, with a focus on community engagement, scientist-stakeholder networks, and inter-agency partnerships. She is especially interested in climate adaptation and the convening role that universities and other organizations can play to facilitate knowledge exchange and dialog among diverse stakeholder groups. Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Ecology, M.A., Mass Communications, Undergraduate B.Sc. Botany and Molecular Genetics.

Jonathan (Jon) Dain is a University of Florida faculty member in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences and with the Center for Latin American Studies. He joined the NRLI project team in 2005 and became director of the institute in 2014. An applied anthropologist by training, Jon focuses on conflict management, facilitation, and communication/leadership skills for those working with natural resource management (and managers) in the United States and abroad. He is also the professional skills coordinator for UF’s Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD) program and teaches graduate classes in his area of interest. Dain is a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator and a NRLI alumnus (Class IV). He began his career over 25 years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer and Extension Agent working with beekeepers in Paraguay. He spends a portion of most summers working with students and resource managers in Latin America.

Jocelyn Peskin joined the NRLI team in May 2019. After earning her BA in Philosophy from Rutgers University, she lived in Central America for five years – first as a field assistant for a sea turtle conservation project, then as an animal tracker for a BBC wildlife documentary, a Peace Corps volunteer with a community-based sea turtle conservation program, and as a science teacher in bilingual schools. She went on to earn her MS in Geography with a concentration in Natural Resource Conservation at UF and has worked in the wildlife conservation, domestic violence, and affordable housing fields in the nonprofit sector. She also served as Assistant Director for Administration at UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. She is excited to return to her roots in the natural resources field.