Jessica Bibza ‘Instrumental’ in Estuary Program’s Formation:
By Jeremy Morrison
Pensacola’s environmental advocacy community is mourning the loss of a fellow advocate with local ties that died after being struck by a vehicle in Tampa. Jessica Koelsch Bibza, engaged on the local environmental front for years, was killed on Sept. 24 as she trained for the Ironman Championships triathlon.
Matt Posner, director of the Pensacola and Perdido Bay Estuary Program, summarized the local community’s general sentiment upon learning of the loss of their friend: “We are shocked and heartbroken …”
“Jessica was a truly bright light to all that knew her, and her contributions to our community and the Gulf Coast as a whole will be felt for years to come,” Posner wrote on behalf of the estuary program in a letter posted online.
Bibza began working on environmental issues in the local area in 2013 on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation. She served on the technical advisory committee of the Bay Area Resource Council, a forerunner to the PPBEP.
“Jessica was instrumental in helping establish the Pensacola & Perdido Bay Estuary Program,” Posner wrote, explaining how Bibza was instrumental in the grant proposal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which served to transition the BARC into the PPBEP.
From 2018 to 2022, Bibza served as chairwoman of the estuary program’s technical committee, where her work included helping to develop the organization’s Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan. In conjunction with the estuary program, NWF and Dauphin Island Sea Lab, she also led the effort to establish the Panhandle Manatee Program.
NWF’s South Central Region issued a statement describing Bibza as “a bright light to all who knew her.”
“We are so thankful to have worked with Jessica for the last decade – as she championed oil spill recovery in the Gulf of Mexico and fiercely advocated for marine ecosystems and the wildlife and people who depend on them,” NWF’s statement read. “Jessica’s conservation legacy spans 30 years, and the Gulf is better because of her. Her contributions to the National Wildlife Federation and her expansive conservation network are almost impossible to grasp.”
Christian Wagley, a longtime local environmental advocate who works with Healthy Gulf, is familiar with this woman NWF described as “a passionate, talented conservationist” and describes Bibza as “one of my very favorite people.” He met the fellow advocate when the two were focused on the RESTORE Act, which directed restoration funds to the region following the 2010 oil spill.
“I gave her a hard time when she moved back south because I knew how much I would miss her,” Wagley posted on social media shortly after the incident. “And I am so sad that I will not see her again, but I will try to carry forward some of the many good things that I loved about her.”
— To honor Bibza — an avid cyclist who was training for the National Ironman Championship in Hawaii — local organization Bike Pensacola has teamed up with the Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program, as well as the West Florida Wheelmen and Tri Gulf Coast to host a memorial bike ride. The ride — typical of Bike Pensacola’s Slow Ride events, which Bibza participated in while living in the area — will proceed at a leisurely pace from Admiral Mason Park to Maritime Park; the ride is scheduled for Oct. 2, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., for more information check https://www.facebook.com/events/1127924881480785/?ref=newsfeed
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