Christian Newman

President, Principal Ecologist

Christian Newman is president and co-founder of Pandion Systems, Inc. He was inspired to start Pandion by his father's 30 years of experience in the environmental field, and he wanted to pursue and complete interesting and important projects that make a difference. Christian's diverse background, training, and interests in wildlife ecology, marketing, business, education, nature-based recreation, and ecotourism reflect the multidisciplinary nature of Pandion's core services.

Christian Newman Christian holds an MS in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and an MBA in Market Analysis and Program/Business Development, both from the University of Florida, and a BA in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. He is certified in public participation and meeting facilitation.

Wildlife Ecology, Land Management, and Gopher Tortoises

As a principal wildlife ecologist, Christian has 18 years of experience in assessment of impacts on wildlife and natural resources. Christian has practical experience developing, implementing, and managing large projects using his ecological and business background combined with his facilitation expertise.

Christian has worked on multiple projects on public and private lands involving endangered species surveys, habitat evaluations, and management planning. He has extensive experience conducting field studies, including over 50 avian, mammalian, and herpetofaunal surveys.

In Florida, Christian is an FWC Authorized Agent for gopher tortoise relocation. He is currently the lead trainer for Pandion's Gopher Tortoise Agent Training workshops. His expertise includes surveys, relocations, habitat management, site certification, and mitigation banking.

Facilitation

Christian is certified in meeting facilitation and public participation. He has designed and facilitated a variety of stakeholder and public meetings for a number of Pandion projects, including the Babcock Ranch Preserve Management Plan, Florida Springs Task Force 2006 report update, and the rewrite of the Florida Department of Community Affairs springs protection manual.

Wind Energy and Electric Utility

Christian has been working on wind and other energy projects for the past 6 years. He is the project director for bat preconstruction monitoring at sites throughout the U.S. and Canada for one of the largest wind developers in North America.

For the Sunrise Power Link in San Diego, California, Christian completed an avian power line interaction study. He also coauthored a GIS-based risk assessment and distribution model of invasive Monk Parakeet nesting on transmission lines, substations, and distribution lines in the eastern U.S.

Teaching and Training

Christian is currently the lead trainer for Pandion's Gopher Tortoise Agent Training workshops. He has helped design and implement several education and outreach programs and training workshops at Pandion on topics including fire ecology, firewise communities, bear prepared communities, and water resource protection.

Prior to starting Pandion, Christian was a middle school and high school teacher. Out of college, Christian joined the Teach For America (TFA) program to teach in Arkansas' Mississippi Delta for the Lee County School District. While with TFA, he taught middle school science for two years. During the second year, he helped start and teach in an alternative school for at-risk students. Following his two years in Arkansas, Christian was hired to teach at his former high school. He taught ninth grade science, coached both the varsity and junior varsity soccer teams, and was the Key Club service club sponsor. During his three years of teaching, he participated as a trainer in a number of programs for new teachers, including the TFA summer institute in 1995.

When Not at Work

Christian's other interests include the outdoors, cycling, athletics, and traveling, but with three children under the age of nine, his most important interest is spending time with his exceedingly energetic young family.