Joy Brown holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University and a Masters in Biology and Coastal Zone Studies from The University of West Florida. A native of the Florida panhandle, Joy worked for five years with a small non-profit group, The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, where she helped grow the organization and implement many of their marine and stormwater programs. She also held a position with the City of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where she began an oyster restoration program that utilized local volunteers for oyster gardening and included a science-teacher-mentoring element.

Joy joined The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina, based in Mt. Pleasant, in August 2008. Since then, she has implemented on-the-ground oyster restoration projects that provide habitat for recreationally and commercially important seafood (crabs, shrimp, fish) and natural shoreline stabilization (living shorelines). She has worked with partners in new and different ways, bringing attention to our marine work and fostering new relationships with the hundreds of volunteers who have helped deploy and monitor the oyster reef projects.