Amy Wicks, 37

Amy Wicks has been at the forefront of solving Florida’s myriad water quality issues long before it became a noted problem and, of late, a political debate.

With a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Florida, Wicks has worked statewide on several water quality improvement projects, from small treatments of wetlands to large cascading systems. A large portion of her work, going back at least a decade, has been in Babcock Ranch, the nation’s first all solar-powered master-planned community being developed in northeast Lee and southeast Charlotte counties. Although she doesn’t work for the developer, Kitson & Partners, Wicks has worked for engineering firms that work there, the latest being Kimley-Horn & Associates, where she’s the Fort Myers office practice leader.  

Wicks is also the community engineer for Babcock Ranch. Her mission, to create a sustainable surface water system, includes heavy lifting, such as overseeing hydrological weirs to restore wetlands, and smaller details, such as curb choices to encourage more natural sheet flow of stormwater.