People & Nature with Dr. Amanda Brinton

In this episode of the Streaming Science: People & Nature podcast, Dr. Jamie Loizzo sits down with Dr. Amanda Brinton, founder of Environmental Stakeholder Connections, LLC, to explore the powerful role of relationships, networks, and human dimensions in environmental decision-making. 

Drawing from her interdisciplinary background in ecology and sociology, Amanda shares how her experiences—from the Peace Corps in Ecuador to research in Puerto Rico—shaped her passion for connecting stakeholders to drive meaningful environmental change. 

The conversation highlights the importance of social science in conservation, the challenges of fragmented systems, and the opportunities to build collaborative, community-centered solutions. Through stories of coastal resilience, waste management, and professional pathways, this episode invites listeners to consider how people, partnerships, and purpose are essential to sustaining both ecosystems and communities. 

Environmental Stakeholder Connections LLC: http://www.esc-us.com

People & Nature: https://tbep.org/people-nature-symposium/ 

Transcript

Jamie Loizzo

Hello Everyone, and welcome to The Streaming Science Project. This is our People and Nature podcast series. I'm Dr. Jamie Loizzo with the University of Florida's Department of Agricultural Education and Communication. In this series, we're exploring how people interact with nature and the environment around them. We attended the first ever People and Nature Symposium at the UF/IFAS Austin Cary Forest Campus. We interviewed leaders, innovators, and visionaries in conservation social science, and we are excited to share with you what they had to say. Today on Streaming Science, People and Nature, we're joined by Dr. Amanda Brinton, founder of Environmental Stakeholder Connections, LLC. Amanda earned her undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees from the University of Florida. She completed her PhD in interdisciplinary ecology with a concentration in sociology. Her work focuses on the human side of environmental and natural resource management, especially how relationships, networks, and collaboration shape the way communities engage with their coastal environments. Amanda is particularly interested in building capacity within coastal communities to support more inclusive and effective natural resource decision-making. And now let's tune in to this interview with Amanda.

Amanda Brinton

My name is Amanda Brinton, and I am the managing member of Environmental Stakeholder Connections, LLC. It was formed in October of 2025. So, it's new. We're getting going. And I am a social scientist. I was trained as a social scientist. I really love networking, like forming impactful networks of stakeholders, seeing how different people connect and relate to one another and how relationships form and how people fit together as a puzzle that can move initiatives forward and advocacy forward.

Jamie Loizzo

That's right. So, can you tell us about that and then how that connects to all this networking and moving initiatives forward?

Amanda Brinton

Absolutely. So, I'm a triple gator. Just like a little context. I graduated from the School of Forest Resources and Conservation in 2009 and I was a natural resources conservation major. I then worked for the Sierra Club a couple of years. I went and served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador for a couple of years. And then I came back and did my master's at UF in the Master of Sustainable Development Practice. And I went right into the PhD in interdisciplinary ecology. Why I went into interdisciplinary ecology is understanding, obviously, people's perceptions and experiences and narratives, but also then making sure that it's documented so it's not lost. It's not lost over time. Narratives aren't changed because people forget things and bigger and global things can change, you know, maybe histories or histories are forgotten. And I really wanted to learn in that program, how do we research and document stakeholders so that these things aren't lost to time. And within that, I started, when I was actually in Peace Corps, I began thinking about isolated communities. I was in the middle of the Amazon. You could still get to a by rd. It wasn't way out in the deep in the Amazon, but it was still an isolated community. And during that time, I saw specifically their waste management, their trash, right? There wasn't a municipal trash truck picking it up. You were burying it. next to your house, burning it, or putting it in the river. Those are the options.

Jamie Loizzo

I've seen images of it just in the water and just even old clothing or being a waste. So, wow.

Amanda Brinton

And then that's where that started of like that thought of like isolation. And then I kind of got into from that, like, well, you know, how do we, you know, islands, right? Those are just bigger contexts, but again, you're isolated within a system. And then that kind of transitioned into islands and coastal communities. And that's kind of my focus today. More heavily, I mean, obviously, it's all of interest.

Jamie Loizzo

So, the People in Nature Symposium is a good fit for you, honestly, because of... considering all those environmental impacts, but the human dimensions. And we had that on our list of topics we could discuss, just sort of this idea of how nature and people are connected for managing land and having best stewardship practices. So it sounds like your background at UF, but then also all the Peace Corps participation has led you right to where you are.

Amanda Brinton

Absolutely. It's exciting. I'm excited for, you know, where my career path and where, I feel like my compass is headed. So, it's an exciting time.

Jamie Loizzo

What are some of the reasons why you came to People in Nature, and what are some of the things you're seeing and hearing today that are sticking with you a little bit?

Amanda Brinton

Absolutely. I feel that, at least with my experience, us social scientists or people that are focused more on the humanities and nature, we, at least what I've experienced, my personal experiences, are we're kind of, we kind of pop up like these little bright roses in the meadow of daisies, where we're there, but we're kind of surrounded by either, we're either in a workplace, right, where maybe you're like the one person on staff, that you're like the people person, but you're surrounded by economists and engineers and really hard data scientists, and They're like, yeah, right, the people. We should probably know something about the people. And you're like, oh, you're the people person.

Jamie Loizzo

I get that a lot at work because I'm the broader impacts person, right? When they put in large grants, our scientists will say, but wait a minute, we need the community piece or the engagement or the outreach. And I'm like, that's what we do as social scientists. We are here for you.

Amanda Brinton

Yes. So that was, you know, the major driver was so, neat to be here to be in a room of The people, people.

Jamie Loizzo

I know, and that care about the nature, the people, people that care about the nature.

Amanda Brinton

Exactly.

Jamie Loizzo

So take me back, like your company, Environmental Stakeholder Connections, like how did you know this could be a company? To be honest, like I'm fascinated because I didn't know that could be like a company and this could be work you could be doing.

Amanda Brinton

Absolutely.

Jamie Loizzo

Like you said, there's all of these stakeholders around pick your issue, community, environment that need you, the social scientists to help them bridge all of their perspectives to make change happen. So how did you see all that and know that could be a company and something you could do from your degree pathway? How did you do this?

Amanda Brinton

Right, yes. So, I kind of really started, it kind of began just kind of what I was seeing in my doctoral research. So, my doctoral research focused within, primarily focused within Puerto Rico. And I had my structured interview questions, semi-structured interview questions, I should say, going in, but because they're semi-structured, right? You all of a sudden, your participants are taking you down pathways you didn't even know were out there, you didn't even know these were issues, and all of a sudden you're going down different... ways and you're like, whoa, this is an actual, a whole other thing. I didn't even know what was happening. And now this is actually going to be one of my publications. And forget the other thing. This is way more important. People are really talking about this is not even talked about right now in the literature. One of those things that came out was what happened to the hardwood trees after hurricanes in memory in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, because of its past agricultural development and people moving into the cities, now has a ton of really valuable hardwood trees, cedar, mahogany, teak, and they fell down naturally. But because during that time, people weren't connected. You have individual stakeholders that have tried to connect to one another, but they're all trying to just focus on their own business. They don't have time to build capacity within a puzzle within a network. How do we work together? you across the island, you're doing something similar to build that momentum. So, when that happened, there was not a network form. There wasn't enough of a presence. The traditional FEMA and Army Corps of Engineer policies are that once a municipality calls for Army Corps of Engineers to help them, the Army Corps of Engineers has the rights, quote unquote, to those trees, that vegetative debris. And their policy is to chip it. and put it in landfills, regardless of what it is. So, all of these, I mean, thousands of cubic yards of things that were worth billions, if not millions, billions of dollars probably on the global market, were chipped and thrown in landfills that are already over capacity. The landfills in Puerto Rico are in critical condition.

Jamie Loizzo

So, A one-size-fits-all solution is not what the community needed.

Amanda Brinton

No, and people were, you know, yelling, begging that they did not chip these trees. And they, you know, had on, you know, they, it's a policy. And there wasn't a big enough network or infrastructure or community in place to override that. Even though there were so many voices, they weren't networked, they weren't connected. And that's when I first started thinking about it. And then I did a postdoc at the University of South Florida with Nature-Based Solutions, seeing again their struggles with mangroves and coral reefs. And they have some great alliances like the Mangrove Global Alliance, things like that are working well. And then after that, I was recruited into a consulting firm. And at that time, we were writing a plan, a solid waste management plan. And I kind of thought again, we're writing this massive plan. We're going to hand it over to a couple of government employees and say, good luck, Chuck. Good luck with this massive plan when there's like maybe four of you on staff to do it all. And I was like, there has to be, you have to really build in this network. You have to build in obviously an implementation plan, but you also have to be very hands-on with like, who's going to do what? Because these four government employees are under capacity. They might suffer government cuts additionally. We don't know. And so again, it was like this internal voice was like, this is a need. We need to be filling this niche. This is an absolute need that is not being filled of how do we form and build capacity within stakeholder networks, impact networks, right? Things that, or knowledge networks, whatever network you're talking about. But that's really where that came from.

Jamie Loizzo

Amazing. So, from Puerto Rico to Nature Solutions to now, tell us where you're at, where your company is, and some of the things that you're working on currently.

Amanda Brinton

So, like I said, we were formed in October, so we're still new. One thing though, I found a publication back in May. that had cited my, what I described to you just now, the hardwood issue in Puerto Rico. And I saw, I was like, oh, this is interesting. Like, I wonder what this is about. They were writing about the strategic guidelines within Puerto Rico, you know, management guidelines for forestry. And one of the things they discussed was having a council, a hardwood council or a wood products council. I reached out to some of those authors and they said, we, you know, we're really trying to get this going. We're really struggling. So, at that point I reached out to them and said, you know, would you be of interest in helping me collaborate with you and help grow this. So that is actually one of my major projects right now, is starting to build that and starting to collaborate with these stakeholders. And they've already been talking about it. There's already been conversations and meetings around this. But again, there are so many people that are just focused on their own businesses. The energy is there, but there's, needing a catalyst to pull it, to get it going.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah.

Amanda Brinton

My business also does stakeholder engagement and research. And so we are also working with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council with the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan, doing facilitation, doing listening sessions this spring with stakeholders that are are going to be helping them understand the flooding issues going on within the seven counties, but I'll be focusing specifically within Hillsborough. And then we're looking, you know, we're looking for clients, we're looking for collaborators. And again, you know, anyone that's a, anyone that's, you know, just even if it's, you know, work that I'm just supporting. in any way. It doesn't have to be necessarily a client, collaborator, client, anyone's a partner in that way. So.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah. This is such a cool career field. And I mean, I think people don't even know they could be you and do this. So, I think it'll be great for some of our students to hear, especially ones in SNRE that are connecting the human dimensions to what they're learning in their ecology classes.

Amanda Brinton

Yeah. And I think that's one thing, right, that's like interesting. As you come up, right, you're exposed to you're in an academic setting, so you're exposed to more traditional fields like you are a researcher. you are a professor, you are these things that you're seeing these things, who's teaching you these things. But I think it's also important for us as, you know, if you're a student or practitioner or whatever, you also, and people do this, but to be, you know, hyper aware of what is happening already. And what is not happening? What needs to be happening? And can I fill that niche? Do I need to look for someone else to fill that niche? Like, who, what is like, instead of just, being like, this isn't working, this is working. Like, okay, well then what position needs to happen to make it work? And having that, just that, insight to think like, not everyone can be a professor. You know, there's many needs out there that can move this environmental strategy along.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah. Now, I love it because it's applied social science, which to me a lot of times is better than just writing journal articles. I know I'm in academia, but it's like actual making a change, making a difference on the ground with people that are experiencing these things. And sure, you can still publish papers or present about it, but you're seeing it happen in real life and supporting it. So that's cool. That's applied. That's applied work and that's all of it together. The research, the extension, the community piece. So, I'm digging it. I love it. So very cool. Very cool. So how did you become sort of this person who cares about nature, right? Because we're at people in nature. And I think today, like we fundamentally all agree nature is important. What were you like growing up? Like, how did you become someone who cared to make sure these stakeholder things are connecting so that nature can be made better?

Amanda Brinton

Right. That's a good question. I grew up, so I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, like a very, you know, residential suburb of Chicago. But I had a stormwater pond, a retention pond behind my house. And, you know, funny where you can find nature, right? And so, driving on a road past it, you're like, doesn't look like much. But to me, because I lived on it, I was over the flyaway zones for the Canadian geese. So, I would hear them in the mornings flying into the pond, right, during their migratory seasons, or even like walking alongside it. You know, I have so many memories of me just like next to this pond, which again, look like much to the average Joe who's not like there every day with it. And that's where like, I think my initial connections began. And also, you know, my parents were big on like, we'd always go out to like Gifford, for a state park in Pennsylvania. That was like always where our big extended family would go and spend like a week camping in like a pop-up camper. Gorgeous, yeah, yes. But you know, absolutely beautiful. in the canoe, I still have this like my grandpa's canoe in like my backyard. I need to use it more. And I remember in high school, I was like, I'm going to work for you in the United Nations Environmental Program. Like that. And so at least by high school, I was very much looking at also people. But I remember asking like my, one of my, a couple of my teachers in high school, like, well, what works with like people and the environment? And they're like, well, it sounds like, which is true. But again, it's like, maybe an anthropologist, which is true. You can do that. But again, like people's just, limited focus, limited knowledge. And I'm asking high school teachers as well. So, I don't know, like their extended knowledge of like all the environmental professions that work with people and things you can do.

Jamie Loizzo

You don't hear words like human dimensions and social science until grad school. It's crazy.

Amanda Brinton

Yeah, and I even, you know, qualitative research. I didn't even hear until really, you know, like you said, graduate school. I mean, I was part of collecting survey data in undergrad, but interviewing, understand like people's oral histories, which is what I love to do now. I didn't even, that wasn't even on my radar. It probably, it could have been, maybe someone had talked to me about it, but I was. I wasn't really exposed until grad school.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah. We have so much in common just in these short minutes. I'm also from Illinois. Are you? I grew up in central Illinois. My husband grew up in the Chicago suburbs.

Amanda Brinton

Oh, my goodness.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah. That's amazing. And we all find our way to the South and the Florida weather and the love of all of this. So that's very cool.

Amanda Brinton

That's amazing.

Jamie Loizzo

Yeah. So, any advice you have for people who are still kind of trying to find their way and how to, I mean, you've invented a company that's fitting a need. This is just amazing to me. So just advice you have for people to sort of, work through these tensions and get to see something like this symposium and know there are this tribe of people that are doing these things.

Amanda Brinton

Right. You know, I think one thing, and this, like looking back at my journey, right, is really, It sounds cheesy, but for me at least it's been true, is to like really, listen to that inner voice and that inner North Star, the inner compass. Because I know I've been in some positions where I'm like, I'm really feeling off track right now. Like this is not where I want to keep going here. And it can be painful to change directions when you're like, you see people around you who have just stayed wherever they are for 30 years because either like it or it's fine, pays the bills, whatever. You're like, I don't really want to, I'm feeling something real deep and stinging inside and I do not, I don't see myself. And so, I think that sounds really corny, but it's true, is like listening and respecting that inner voice. And again, like thinking through it, it's like, okay, it's not this, it's not this, but like, And again, you can also always, take something and be like, this is not it, but for a year, it's going to teach me a lot. It's going to get me a little bit closer to where I think I should be headed. Or it's going to give me a lot of background information for something that might be related, and now I'm going to know the alternative or something, even someone I'm competing against in the future, right? And so, it's not always like, I'm not taking it because I don't want to. It's like, okay, maybe I could take it, you know, whatever. So, I would say maybe those two things.

Jamie Loizzo

I love the inner voice advice always because people will ask me, what was your career path? Well, the path happened to me. I didn't happen to the path necessarily. Like I had things I wanted to do, but things reveal themselves to you too if you listen and follow it. So, I think that's great advice. We had one last thing on here to possibly talk about, just conservation broadly. Because I know you've traveled, you're seeing all of these things that are happening with our world, with our planet, and even in Tampa and Florida. Are there any, conversation points or things that you find yourself continuing reminding the various stakeholders and voices about conservation that you want people to keep in mind?

Amanda Brinton

Yeah, I think a couple of things. This more reflects, I think, back on like my, the work I had, I'm actually more of like solid waste and consumption and things like that, where it's one is you feel really small on an individual basis, you look at all of the plastic in the ocean and you're like, why does it matter if I consume this extra plastic bottle of water?

Jamie Loizzo

I'm guilty of that.

Amanda Brinton

Right? And you're like, it doesn't really matter.

Jamie Loizzo

Yep. I'm like, my body's already full of microplastics. What can I do about it? I have that feeling existentially all the time.

Amanda Brinton

Yes. And I think a couple of things to that, and they go actually in different ways. I think on the one hand, as long as we keep, making these individual choices. There's enough people, are doing that. And also now it's all this social media, all these things on Instagram. Like, as you know, we're making videos, we're following people, we're, you know, pushing this. We are impacting things. I would also say, and this is, I kind of, I feel like I burn out a little bit on the solid waste field because it got to a point where it was like, you know what, right? The crying indie in the 70s, it isn't our fault. These companies that are producing these things or are having these poor practices, you don't want to push a responsibility on someone else. You need to take responsibility as an individual in your consumption habits. On the other hand, we also need to hold and really push these companies because they're looking at us to make their decisions. So, you know, you get, you know, a Coke bottle or Pepto, whatever, you know, and it's like, recycle me. It's like, okay, that's great. What are you doing to make that product not even exist, right? Aluminum's 100% recyclable every single time, whatever it is. Plastic is rarely, I mean, number ones and twos, yes, but generally it's downcycled, downcycled, downcycled into a plastic plant container, and then it goes to landfill. So, you're just pushing it down the road. So it is like this very complex thing, but to say, put the pressure on the companies. They are looking to you for those decisions. And we think like, oh, they have all the power. No, we are consuming their stuff. So, we need to push it back on them and say, this is on you to figure this out. Same thing with any product, right? Sustainably sourced coffee, sustainably sourced wood, whatever, wherever you're sourcing your own products from. Same thing with our, you know, housing, right? We're in Florida, which as Floridians, people who love this state, because we're sitting in this beautiful, you know, thousands acre forest right now having this interview, having this talk, right? That's what we love about the state. And it's so depressing when we just keep seeing all these houses coming in, right? All this, but then you have like, you need affordable housing. People don't, you know, there's affordability, right? We can barely afford our rent in Florida right now. So, then it's like, okay, all these really hard contributing factors, but again, it's like, okay, thinking through if I'm going to have a house, maybe I can have a pollinator area in my lawn. Like I have to live in a house, but how can I make it the most friendly, and again, and affordable. Not everyone can afford solar. That is the truth, especially when you have some of those, what are they called credits, like taken away, but right, just having those decisions and making them like the most beautiful, as holistic as possible when we are stuck in situations, things like that.

Jamie Loizzo

I love that you're bringing up, like, it's our scales of influence. Like, what can we do in our own environment, but what do we need to keep an eye on in the big world of what corporations are doing? And then we still have some power there in where we're putting our money and our time and making our choices of what to consume. I think that's a great perspective to remember. Like, conservation is overwhelming at scale, but if we think of those levels and our spheres of influence in those levels, it's a good way to not feel as discouraged or want to give up as quickly because there's still things we can do. So I think that was great. Is there anything else you would like to mention that we didn't talk about, anything about the symposium or your projects you're working on or just any final thoughts?

Amanda Brinton

Relationships, I think. at the end of the day, it's about how we connect to one another, especially in the times we live in. It's about seeing each other as fellow humans and not as other, you know, the other tribe, the other people, right? It's we are all part of this planet. It's sounding very corny, I realize.

Jamie Loizzo

It's the truth though. I mean, we're polarizing ourselves, but we are all still humans.

Amanda Brinton

Yeah. And I think just understanding, the beauty and the love of our human relationships, the complexities of our human relationships and naming those things, but also understanding, complexities and histories and all those things, but also, understanding that we are human and that we are of one planet.

Jamie Loizzo

Yes. No, I think that's so true. As we sit outside at People and Nature in the beautiful forest, thank you for sitting outside for the interview with me during the break.

Amanda Brinton

It's beautiful.

Jamie Loizzo

I hope they do this next year somewhere. Me too. And I hope to see you there and I hope more people will come and yeah.

Amanda Brinton

Absolutely. Okay, it's been a joy. Thank you so much.

Jamie Loizzo

Thank you to Dr. Amanda Brinton for joining us on our People in Nature podcast series. I'm your host, Dr. Jamie Loizzo. We appreciate Amanda for sharing her story and work with us. To learn more about our guest and their work, as well as the streaming science project, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, and the People in Nature Symposium, see the links in our show notes. You can also explore more conversations like this through Streaming Science on all of our social media platforms.