From B&TT:
Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) announced today the election of Ali Gentry, Vaughn Roberts, and Diana Rudolph to the BTT Board of Directors.
“We are honored to welcome Ali, Vaughn, and Diana to the board,” said Jim McDuffie, BTT President and CEO. “Their knowledge, experience and commitment to the cause will advance our mission to conserve species and habitats that support the flats fishery.”
Gentry is President and CEO of El Pescador Lodge on Ambergris Caye in Belize, which she has owned for more than 25 years. She has been active in local conservation efforts, including working closely with Green Reef, an NGO on Ambergris Caye, and with BTT on bonefish and tarpon tagging, educational programs, and policy outreach to improve fisheries management. Gentry was an integral part of the team that worked with the government of Belize to enact the catch-and-release legislation that made Belize the first country in the world to protect bonefish, tarpon and permit. Under her leadership, El Pescador was also the first hotel in Belize to institute a carbon emissions program to offset guests’ flight footprint.
“I am honored to work alongside BTT as we pursue our mission to conserve and restore flats fisheries,” said Gentry.
As Senior Vice President for Government Affairs & Special Projects at Atlantis
Paradise Island, Roberts joins the BTT board with more than 25 years of corporate leadership experience in the areas of government affairs, finance, and management of multi-faceted projects.
“Atlantis and flats fishing are two cornerstones of the Bahamian tourism product and we are excited to be allies in efforts to preserve and protect our natural wonders,” said Roberts. “I am honored to join the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust board and to support the organization’s important mission to conserve marine habitats here in The Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean. The importance of BTT’s work to identify, research and conserve shallow water habitats essential to our fisheries and economy cannot be overstated. Atlantis is proud to support the current mangrove restoration project as well as the remarkable past research that focused on bonefish spawning.”
Prior to Atlantis, Roberts served as Senior Vice President of Finance, Administration and Capital Projects at the Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo, Florida. Earlier in his career, he held financial management, investment banking, consulting, and accounting positions with More Development Company, Baha Mar Resort, KPMG, Lehman Brothers, Bank One and Dresdner Kleinwort.
Roberts serves as chairman of the board of Friends of the Arts in The Bahamas, Inc. and on the boards of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, the Bahamas Hotel Industry Management Pension Fund, the Charitable Arts Foundation, and the Downtown Nassau Partnership.
Diana Rudolph is an accomplished angler who dominated the women’s fly-fishing tournaments in the Florida Keys for many years, winning four Women’s World Invitational Tarpon Fly Tournaments between 2003 and 2009 and becoming the first woman to win the annual Don Hawley Invitational Tarpon Tournament, notching her victory against an all-male field in 2004. During this time, she virtually rewrote the Women’s IGFA world record book on bonefish, permit and tarpon.
“Having a marine biology background and a passion for fly-fishing, I am thrilled to be working with such a conservation-focused organization,” said Rudolph.
In 2007, Diana was featured in the American Museum of Fly Fishing’s award-winning short film, “Why Fly Fishing,” and was selected in 2009 to co-host the Sportsman Channel’s new series, Breaking the Surface. Diana is on the advisory staff for Sage rods and Rio Products and previously served on the Board of Diectors for the Federation of Fly Fishers.
About Bonefish & Tarpon Trust
Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s mission is to conserve bonefish, tarpon and permit—the species, their habitats and the larger fisheries they comprise. BTT pursues this mission across the southeastern US, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea through science-based conservation, education and advocacy.
