MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Friends of Paynes Prairie Inc.

Fairlie Bagley

Secretary 

A native Floridian and retired teacher, graduated from UF in 1969 (BA) and 1970 (MEd).  She is a Park Volunteer, working in the Visitor Center on a weekly basis and also helping clean the Gainesville Hawthorne Trail as a Trailkeeper. She is an Alachua County Master Gardener and a member of the Gainesville Garden Club.

Geena Hill

Geena is a biologist with a background in environmental resource permitting, pollinator ecology, and conservation planning in both the public and private sectors. Geena holds a B.S. in Archaeology from Kent State University and an M.S. in Interdisciplinary Ecology and Wildlife Conservation from the University of Florida. In her free time, Geena enjoys hiking with her dogs, paddling Florida’s rivers, taking photos, and botanizing in natural areas across the state. 

Jeannie Bobroff

Is a Gainesville native. She has been an active volunteer at Paynes Prairie for over 20 years and a board member for the past 10 years. She has also served as the Alachua County 4H Association. An active nature-lover, you can usually find her in the Visitors Center at Paynes Prairie on Sunday afternoons. She has also conducted alligator education programs at libraries, churches and schools. Jeannie describe Paynes Prairie State Preserve as her "happy place". She currently works as a house director for a sorority on the UF campus.  

George DeLoach

VICE PRESIDENT & PRESIDENT-ELECT

Visitor Center & Gift Shop Manager

After 20+ years, he retired from the Houston Police Department (Police Officer). He moved into a career in sales, first in the boat business and later starting his own sales related business. His time for retirement finally came in early 2020. He and his wife, Debbie, moved to Gainesville in 1996. He has a passion for photography and enjoys several other hobbies. He started visiting Paynes Prairie State Park soon after moving to the area, photographing the park’s wonders. To give something back to the park, he started volunteering at the Visitor Center in early 2022.

Christine Denny

Is president and co-founder of First Magnitude Brewing Company and holds an MS in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida. She spent nearly 20 years in environmental consulting as a project manager and vice president of Pandion Systems and later Normandeau Associates. Her work focused on facilitating complex projects related to Florida springs and water resources, public land management, and balancing the needs of people and the environment. In her free time she enjoys getting outdoors with her husband, two teenagers, and dog, hiking, boating, kayaking and camping. She is also a beginning potter which provides her family with lots of strangely shaped bowls for Christmas.  

Jeffrey L. Forbes

President

Is the Development Coordinator for the Alachua Conservation Trust and is a 1994 graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia with a BA degree in Anthropology and American History.  Residents of Micanopy since 1997, Jeffrey and his wife, Megan, moved to Gainesville in 1994.  He is Senior Warden of the Episcopal Church of the Mediator in Micanopy. His extracurricular interests include studying Southern cultural and natural history, enjoying architecture, playing acoustic music and singing Sacred Harp/Shape Note music.

Patricia (Patty) Kromer-Parsons 

Graduated from UF in 1976, and was employed by the Florida Park Service at Paynes Prairie from 1988-2009. Is a “lifetime” member of the Florida Park Service Ranger Association,  the FOPP, Alachua Conservation and Trust, and Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys Refuges.

Dr. James Perran Ross

TREASURER

Is a wildlife biologist (University of Florida, retired) who runs his own consulting business.  He is an international conservationist specializing in alligators, crocodiles, and sea turtles, widely published and working extensively on Florida wildlife-conservation issues. He has served on the Friend's Board since 2005.

Layla Ruffino 

Helps run her family business at Blue Highway Pizzeria in Micanopy. 

Bubba Scales

Vice President OF MEMBERSHIP 

Born in Gainesville and raised in a citrus family in Marion County, Scales returned to Gainesville in 2001 to open Wild Birds Unlimited which he operated with his wife, Ingrid, until 2021. Scales has a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University where he studied barrier island dynamics and coastal community response to sea level rise. Scales is heavily involved in the local birding and paddling communities and has a deep passion for the local music scene, especially folk and bluegrass.

Dorothy Smiljanich 

Is a resident of Gainesville who was a Florida newspaper writer and editor for twenty-five years, beginning at the Gainesville Sun in 1971, then working for the Clearwater Sun, the St. Petersburg Times, and ending her career with the Tampa Tribune, where she was the travel editor.   Her book "Then Sings My Soul: The Scott Kelly Story" (the Florida Historical Society) won the 2008 Charlton Tebeau Award as the Best General Interest History Book.  She has a B.A. and an M.A. in English from the University of Florida.