On any given morning, while most of us in New Glarus might be walking the Sugar River Trail or tending to backyard gardens, Kimberly Colstad is likely pulling on boots to wade into Florida’s coastal waters. As the owner of Ardea Environmental Consultants, she spends her days navigating a world of tides, dunes, and reefs – places where science, policy, and the environment converge.

“I’m the principal scientist and Jill-of-all-trades,” she said with a laugh. “I do everything from project management and fieldwork to drafting drawings, permitting, accounting, even maintaining our website.”

A 1992 graduate of New Glarus High School, Kimberly's firm specializes in environmental permitting for water-sited projects across Florida and beyond, ranging from docks and seawalls to large-scale beach restoration and reef creation. While her home base is Florida’s Treasure Coast, her projects have taken her as far as Texas and Alabama.