Natural Resources Associates has been serving Sarasota and Charlotte Counties and surrounding areas since 2014. However, our environmental staff has over sixty combined years of experience with this area’s ecosystems and wildlife. We do everything from endangered species surveys and relocation, to ecosystem restoration and monitoring. Our Senior Staff Leadership includes:
Phillip Brouse, Founder, President, and Sr. Ecologist, is originally from Sarasota, FL and has been a member of nature photography and wildlife groups since his teen years. While obtaining a degree at Utah State University in Natural Resources and Wildlife Management, Phillip worked for a consulting company and Utah Division of Wildlife on an international bird migration project. He also worked on several smaller local projects and taught a wildlife class at the university. After graduating, he returned to Florida in 2000 to work for a large environmental consulting firm based in Tampa. He later left the company over issues of integrity and professional morality to become an Environmental Specialist and Land Manager for Sarasota County in 2001. At the County, Phillip assisted with management on all of the County’s environmental preserves, doing wildlife management and ecosystem restoration and management. Phillip then moved on to a similar position with the FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), overseeing activities on several state preserves and conservation areas along the Lake Wells Ridge, in Central Florida. He left FWC to oversee all of Charlotte County’s environmental parks for several years before finally starting his own consulting company in 2014.
Phillip is a Florida Certified Prescribed Burn Manager, and he has been working with GPS and GIS mapping since 1997 while building an extensive background in ecosystem delineation. Most of his background has involved identifying, restoring and managing local ecosystems, wildlife management, and endangered species management. Phillip is published in the Journal of Raptor Research, and a contributor to published research projects with FWC Marine Fisheries, and to the USFWS Florida Panther Recovery Plan, among others. He has certifications from The Nature Conservancy and and is a member of the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society. He has given numerous special interest group talks and eco-tours, as well.
Debbie Blanco, Sr Ecologist, is originally from Sarasota, FL. After receiving a BS degree from University of South Florida in Environmental Science and Policy, she was employed by Sarasota County Natural Resources as an Environmental Specialist. She spent 22 years with the County as an Environmental Land 
Manager, managing many of the county-owned preserves. Debbie is experienced in ecosystem restoration and management, wetland vegetation/hydrology monitoring, prescribed burning and recreational facilities management. She has also been consistently involved with GPS/GIS mapping throughout her career. As part of their environmental staff, Debbie has been an integral part of the County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program, identifying and assisting with land purchases. She is certified from The Nature Conservancy, is a Certified Burn Manager and a licensed Natural Areas Herbicide Applicator.
Currently, Debbie does Quality Assurance & Control, permitting, and project management at Natural Resources Associates.
Love “Ellie” Brouse, Administration, Ecologist, is from Sarasota FL. She grew up assisting her Dad and accompanying him on environmental land management projects. She started her career with AmeriCorps, and worked at Florida’s Oscar Shearer State Park, where she worked in non-native and invasive vegetation management and earned her Wildland Firefighter certification, before expanding her experience to include landscape management, project management, photography, and design. At Natural Resources Associates, Ellie is primarily our Administrative Assistant and Project Coordinator, while serving as our Field Ecologist in the Cape Coral and South Charlotte County areas.