Ashley Bennis

Ashley Bennis is the coordinator of the Clean Coast Texas Collaborative, an initiative of the Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program's Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution program. Her background centers around environmental planning and risk management, working closely with Texas coastal communities to improve planning processes and adopt updated policies to build coastal resilience. Ashley is both certified as a floodplain manager which lends her better understanding of the role of hydrology in building resilience and has obtained a certification in Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG), a designation for coastal projects that meet requirements of mitigating coastal risk, guaranteeing public access to the water, and working with native natural resources to improve quality of life. As a coordinator, Ashley is focused on coordinating with public and private partners to research and develop innovative policies, techniques and funding mechanisms to successfully implement low impact development (LID) and nature-based solutions (NBS) across coastal communities. Through this program, she will lead the local grass roots organization Coastal Bend Alliance for Sustainable Stormwater (CBASS) to engage with a variety of stakeholders on topics related to the ecosystem services, environmental and development policies, and water quality.

In her off time, Ashley jumps on every opportunity to be out in nature with her two dogs. She volunteers regularly with organizations to support environmental clean up and education initiatives and is always on the lookout for a new trail to conquer or campsite to visit.