OUR TEAM
Team With Heart & SoUL
The SoUL team is a vibrant and diverse collective of dedicated volunteers from across Pinellas County, united by a shared commitment to environmental stewardship. This passionate group, representing various backgrounds and life experiences, devotes their time and energy to enhancing the natural world for both people and wildlife. Leading this remarkable team is a volunteer executive board, whose guidance and leadership are crucial in sustaining the mission and ensuring the enduring spirit of SoUL. These board members are the heroes who keep the organization thriving day after day, securing a brighter future for all.
What to get involved with SoUL and join our team? Click the button below to get involved.
Executive Board of Directors
Jim Bays | Chairman
Jim has worked as an environmental scientist for more than 45 years, studying wildlife and terrestrial ecology, and aquatic biology with a specialization in lakes and wetlands. As a technical consultant for CH2MHILL and Jacobs Engineering, he has led and participated in the planning and design of wetland projects worldwide for wildlife habitat, water quality treatment, aquifer recharge, and public recreation. He’s performed comprehensive studies on the water quality and aquatic ecology of wetlands, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries within the United States and globally. Since 2007, he has enjoyed working with volunteers in the restoration of marshes and improvement of water quality in Crescent Lake in St. Petersburg. As President of SoUL, Jim is looking to encourage community-based groups to implement similar wetland and water quality projects on their urban lakes.
Margaret Zak | Vice Chair
Margaret is an environmental scientist with 37 years of professional expertise, having worked for the federal government, industry, and in environmental consulting. Her experience includes assessments and environmental/ecological remediation and restoration related to the current and historical effects of various land uses on environmental systems and she has helped to design studies to assess these impacts. Her passion for Crescent Lake stems from this work along with the desire to protect this natural resource for the enjoyment of the general public. Since moving to St. Petersburg, FL from Pittsburgh, PA in 2015, Margaret has enjoyed seeing how SoUL’s restoration efforts have attracted many forms of wildlife and recreators to the lake.
Sara Eve Schaeffer | Head of Policy and Information
Sara Eve is Principal of 108 LLC, where she focuses on human centered design, and is a Director with HSAG Inc, where she supports national quality improvement (QI) activities. Sara Eve maintains the SoUL Instagram media platform and is our principal outreach specialist on social media. A long-time volunteer with SoUL, Sara Eve focuses on making sure that the importance of our work is balanced with a perspective where we combine work with fun to the benefit of our local urban lakes.
Jose Castellanos | Treasurer
Jose Castellanos brings 10 years of banking experience, 15 years of construction experience as remodeling project manager, and 4 years of experience as a Brand Ambassador for many recognizable brand names. His primary interest in SoUL is helping the community preserve nature and bringing wildlife into our urban environment. Jose believes that we should take care of our environment like it was our own home and share it with our native wildlife neighbors.