Summit Keynote Speaker

Billy Parish, Climate Champion and Co-Founder of Energy Coalition

Track Keynote Speakers

Dr. James Hansen , NASA Climate Expert
Cooler Heads Prevail: Countering Climate Change

Larry Selzer, President, The Conservation Fund
Unplug & ReRoot: Connecting Youth to Nature
Sponsored by L.L. Bean

Saturday Lunch Keynote Speaker

Simran Sethi, Environmental Journalist

EarthVision Videos

EarthVision Summit Videos

Summit Speakers

Charles Allen III

Charles E. Allen, III, MSPH is Assistant Director for External Relations at the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR). He also helps direct the CBR’s Sustainable Urban Ecosystem Initiative (UrbanEco). Through this initiative, the CBR is studying the dynamic interface between the built and natural environments and the human interactions between these two systems. It is through this initiative that the CBR is working to help the Holy Cross/Lower 9th ward community of New Orleans chart a path toward an energy efficient, sustainable post-Hurricane Katrina recovery. He also serves as President of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association (HCNA) and represents the Holy Cross Historic District as a member of the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission. Mr. Allen was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the year 2007 to offer a community perspective on the post-Katrina recovery efforts of New Orleans and work to keep USGBC connected to these efforts.

Marcelo Bonta

Marcelo speaks and writes passionately about his broad vision of diversifying the environmental movement to audiences around the U.S. He is the founder of the Center for Diversity & the Environment (www.environmentaldiversity.org) and the Young Environmental Professionals of Color . Marcelo serves on the Orion Grassroots Network Advisory Board, the Land Trust Alliance Diversity Task Force, and the Diverse Partners for Environmental Progress National Council. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program . Marcelo has worked on biodiversity conservation, land use, and policy issues for numerous organizations, including Defenders of Wildlife, the National Park Service and Massachusetts Audubon Society. Marcelo received his master's degree from Tufts University and bachelor's degree from Yale University. He is a published author in the book, Diversity and the Future of the U.S. Environmental Movement , the Land Trust Alliance's Special 25th Anniversary Issue , Grist Magazine , and the journal, Conservation Biology. Marcelo's inspiration in making the world a better place lies in his two daughters Stella and Kyra. Their laughter, joy, honesty and multi-racial make-up provide him with hope that the world can and will be a better and more inclusive place by the time they are adults.

Cheryl Charles, Ph.D.

Cheryl Charles is President of the Children & Nature Network and has worked closely with Richard Louv to develop training and education for emerging regional leaders in the children and nature movement. Cheryl also is co-chair of the Education for Sustainable Development Working Group of the Commission on Education and Communication, World Conservation Union (IUCN-CEC). She has served for nearly 20 years as national director of the two most widely used environment education programs in North America, Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, and has received many awards for her leadership. She is an innovator, educator, sought-after speaker and author who, for the past decade, also worked as an organizational executive with many of the nation’s key chief executive officers. Recently, Cheryl developed an annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the positive impact of the children-nature connection.

Jack Chin

Jack Chin is Senior Associate at Blueprint Research & Design, Inc., strategy consulting firm that specializes in helping foundations capture, use, and share information in ways that amplify the impact of their philanthropic strategy and practices. He has worked as a program officer and consultant to philanthropic institutions since 1991. Prior to joining Blueprint in 2001, he had served as Co-Director of the Funders’ Forum on Environment and Education; Program Officer at the GAP Foundation; and Program Fellow for the Environment at The San Francisco Foundation. Jack has also served on the Management Committee of the Environmental Grantmakers Association. He has an extensive background in environmental education and environmental studies, having been a board member, consultant, and staff member for a number of local and national nonprofit organizations and foundations. Jack was on SCA’s board from 1995 through 2003 and volunteered on SCA crews in Acadia National Park in 1979 and the White Mountains National Forest in New Hampshire in 1980.

Wyndeth Davis

Wyndeth Davis is the Servicewide Education Coordinator for the National 1979 Park Service in Washington DC, and a leader in the expansion and improvement of the Service’s Junior Ranger program. She began her career with the National Park Service as an archaeologist in the Alaska Region in 1989. Soon, she found she was spending more time with the public, focused on education, than she was in the field focused on excavation. Davis was soon developing curriculum for K-12, and designing interpretive publications and exhibits for the Alaska Region. Gradually she made the transition to the Interpretation and Education team. Her philosophy: What we do means nothing if we cannot communicate with the rest of the world about it…and let others, especially youth, help us discover, explore and tell the stories of their national parks. Davis has a Masters Degree in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Oregon, where she served as Assistant Director of the archaeological field school for two years. She taught Archaeology and Physical Anthropology for the University of Alaska for nine years.

Jonathan Dorn

Jonathan Dorn, Editor-in-Chief, Backpacker, is a rare find in the world of outdoor journalism: an editor-in-chief who combines top-notch editing skills with active involvement at the highest levels of his sport. In 2004, he led Backpacker through a complete redesign, the launch of six regional editions, and the creation of a GPS-enabled website where users trade and download digital hikes. Jon was personally recognized in May 2006 by Folio magazine as one of the Folio 40, an annual honor highlighting the most influential and innovative executives in the media business. In his spare time, Jon pursues his passion for adventure with backpacking, rock-climbing, and mountaineering trips that have taken him from Alaska to the Arctic Circle. Last summer, he captained the first media team to finish Primal Quest, an expedition-length adventure race. He also serves as president of the board of Big City Mountaineers, a nonprofit organization that provides wilderness mentoring to disadvantaged urban teens. He’s a graduate of Amherst College and holds a PhD in American studies from Harvard University.

Kevin Doyle

Kevin Doyle is President of Green Economy, a Boston-based company providing leadership/teamwork education, green career employment and salary research, meeting facilitation, executive coaching, and strategic consulting. Green Economy serves individuals and institutions in government, business, academia and the nonprofit world. He is the co-author of The Eco Guide to Careers That Make a Difference: Environmental Work for a Sustainable World, The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers in the 21st Century, and The New Complete Guide to Environmental Careers. Kevin writes the green careers feature for www.grist.org and delivers workshops about environmental, conservation and sustainability careers on college campuses nationwide. He is currently writing a new book about climate change careers. Prior to Green Economy, Kevin was a senior executive at The Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) for over fifteen years. He has also worked as a community planner in the Seattle area and directed a community development corporation in Oregon.

Amanda Dubrowski

Amanda Dubrowski is an SCA alum who served in two SCA corps programs as well as serving on three short term SCA "procrews". She was a 10 month corps member at SCA's Massachusetts Parks AmeriCorps Program based in western Massachusetts for the 2005-2006 year. This program focuses on environmental education and trail and other conservation projects. Amanda then served on three short-term SCA trail crews for 2 months in North Carolina, Arkansas, and California. Most recently, Amanda was an intern in the West Virginia Sustainable Communities Project,(WVSCP), a partnership between the SCA, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and the Benedum Foundation, in 2007. The WVSCP focuses on conserving energy and water, and reducing waste. Prior to her SCA experiences, Amanda served with AmeriCorps NCCC in the Southeast Region, based in Charleston, SC, in the 2004-2005 year. Lastly, Amanda graduated from Clark University in 2004 with a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology. As evidenced by her experiences, Amanda is passionate about the environment, the SCA, and community and national service.

Ted Flanigan

Ted Flanigan is the President of EcoMotion Inc., a Southern California-based energy and environmental consulting firm that fosters sustainable energy development. For the past 25 years, Flanigan has been advocating smart and responsible energy management, working within two major electric utilities – New York Power Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power – and providing strategic consulting services for utilities, cities, NGOs, and others across the country, and in many foreign countries. He served as the Energy Program Director for Rocky Mountain Institute; then he was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to research most successful efficiency and green power strategies. As Director of IRT Environment, Flanigan was in the original consulting team for ICLEI’s Urban CO2 Reduction Project, linking and developing strategies, policies, and programs for major North American and European cities from Portland to Helsinki. He was Managing Director of The Energy Coalition, designing and implementing successful and innovative efficiency and demand response partnerships for SCE, PG&E, SCG, and SDG&E. Currently, Flanigan and EcoMotion are implementing Solar Santa Monica, while helping to launch Palm Desert SOLAR, programs that aim to couple efficiency and renewable energy while educating the public for long-term and major transformations.

Iantha Gantt-Wright

Iantha Gantt-Wright is President and Founder of The Kenian Group Consultants. She has been a successful practice leader in this field for the non-profit, government and private sector on issues of diversity and organizational development for more then 15 years. Before launching the Kenian Group, Gantt-Wright served as the Director of Diversity for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) for more then 10 years. Under her leadership NPCA became the first national conservation organization to address race and diversity in the national parks. Gantt-Wright organized and convened three national conferences that broke many relational barriers for people of color and the national parks. As a direct result of the success of this work Gantt-Wright launched the National Parks Community Partners Program in six cities around the country. Her work at NPCA catapulted her to a national leader on environmental and social justice issues within the conservation and environmental community.

James Hansen

James Hansen is director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. He was trained in physics and astronomy in the space science program of Dr. James Van Allen at the University of Iowa. Dr. Hansen is best known for testimony on climate change to Congress in the 1980s that helped raise broad awareness of the global warming issue. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 and has received awards including the World Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Medal from the Duke of Edinburgh. He was designated by Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2006. Dr. Hansen disputes the contention, of fossil fuel interests and their government supporters, that it is god-given fact that all fossil fuels must be burned, and he outlines actions needed to stabilize climate, and steps that the public can take to influence government and industry policies.

Laura Herrin

Laura Herrin is the National Director for SCA’s High School Programs. This is the youth arm of SCA programming consisting of summer conservation crews and the year-round conservation leadership corps. Her background includes over 20 years of non-profit experience and expertise in youth development, family services and fund raising.

She worked for several years with SCA’ s advancement department prior to joining the high school program in 2004. Laura is responsible for all aspects of the High School Programs and works closely with many different SCA departments. She holds a BA from Wheaton College, MSHS from Springfield College and is a graduate of Leadership New Hampshire.

Barry Hill

Barry Hill is Senior Counsel for Environmental Governance, Office of International Affairs, U.S. EPA. Previously, Mr. Hill was the Director of the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice. Prior to that, he was Associate Solicitor, Division of Conservation and Wildlife, and the Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of the Interior. Prior positions include, Of Counsel to the law firm of Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin where he practiced environmental law; Project Manager of the Superfund Business Unit of ICF International; Special Counsel to the Attorney General of the District of Columbia; Legal Counsel to the Inspector General of the U.S. EPA; Law Secretary to the Deputy Administrative Judge of New York City (Criminal Division); and an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn. He has taught environmental law at the Vermont Law School, and the Washington College of Law at American University, and political science at several universities. He received his B.A. degree in Political Science from Brooklyn College, M.A. degree in Political Science from Howard University, and a J.D. from the Cornell University Law School.

Jay Inslee

Raised on the shores of Puget Sound, Jay Inslee learned the importance of conservation at an early age from his parents, who led SCA activities in Mount Rainier National Park. He remembers helping carry a 120-pound tent to a camp site for an SCA project and has many fond memories of visiting the park’s famed alpine meadows. Jay worked at the federal level – as representative for the 4th Congressional District from 1992-1994 and the 1st Congressional District since 1999 – to protect the environment of Washington state and to address broad environmental issues like global warming. He serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Last fall, Jay co-authored a book on the green revolution called “Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy.”

Jon Isham

Jonathan Isham Jr. is the Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics at Middlebury College. The co-editor of Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement (Island Press), he has spoken widely throughout the nation on building the new climate movement. He serves on advisory boards for Focus the Nation, Climate Counts, and the Vermont Governor’s Commission on Climate Change and is an advisor to Vice President Gore’s Climate Project, 1Sky and the Presidential Climate Action Plan. He is also a co-founder of Brighter Planet, a climate-services company that helps consumers and organizations to support renewable energy projects. Isham has published articles in Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of African Economies, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Rural Sociology, Social Science Quarterly, Society and Natural Resources, Southern Economic Journal, Vermont Law Review, World Bank Economic Review and World Development. He holds an AB in social anthropology from Harvard College, an MA in international studies from Johns Hopkins University, a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland, and served in the Peace Corps in Benin.

Scott D. Izzo

Scott Izzo serves as Director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation. He works with a broad array of non-profit agencies in economic development, human services, youth development and education fields, in addition to some local and national organizations that work in the conservation arena. He has served on the boards of several local and national organizations, including: Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Regional Industrial Development Corporation, The Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University, Student Conservation Association and the Western Pennsylvania Watershed Protection Program in addition to the National Forum on Children and Nature. For twenty years Scott served in a variety of positions including that of President for the Student Conservation Association (SCA). SCA is a national youth and conservation organization that serves more than 300 public land management and conservation agencies throughout the U.S. SCA identifies thousands of high school and college-aged students who wish to serve in several thousand positions annually. Volunteers carry out work ranging from research, wildlife habitat improvement to heavy trail construction. In western Pennsylvania Scott has worked on issues related to land and watershed protection, workforce development, capacity development for non-profit organizations and the attraction & retention of young talent to the region. 

Brian Kurzel

Brian Kurzel is the Coordinator for the Colorado Natural Areas Program, as well as a forest ecology advisor for Colorado State Parks. His interest in land management and ecology started in 1992 as a high school participant with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) in Alaska. He has since led 10 high school conservation crews, instructed for Wilderness Work Skills and served as an SCA project leader and recruiter. His expertise is in forest ecology and rare plants, but he also works with land management issues, volunteer management, and outreach. Brian has been a field ecologist for 10 years, working on various species in locations including Panama, Costa Rica, Borneo, and Thailand. He received his Bachelors degree at Cornell University, and a Masters in Biogeography from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has spent several years as a professional environmental educator and enjoys interpreting the natural world to get people excited about science and conservation.

Jennifer Layke

Jennifer Layke is Deputy Director, Climate and Energy Program. Her work focuses on business, climate change strategy and policy and renewable energy. She has been at WRI leading business and climate change initiatives since 1997. Ms. Layke founded The Green Power Market Development Group, a partnership with twelve major U.S. businesses including Alcoa, General Motors and DuPont (www.thegreenpowergroup.org) with a collective goal of developing 1000 MW of cost-competitive, new green power in the US by 2010. In 2003, Ms. Layke launched Climate Northeast, (www.climatenortheast.org) a corporate partnership that builds strategies for companies to thrive in a carbon-constrained economy and she is co-author of A Climate of Innovation: Northeast Business Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gases. In 2005 Ms. Layke's work began linking business action to climate with policy activities and in that capacity became deputy director of the climate and energy program at WRI. She has represented WRI in the Chicago Climate Exchange as well as in numerous NGO and business partnerships. She has also authored three reports evaluating international MBA programs on their inclusion of social and environmental issues in management training. Ms. Layke's international experience includes consulting at the World Bank and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on technology transfer under the Montreal Protocol. She earned an A.B. in Asian Studies and Political Science from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA., a M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and an MBA from the University of Michigan. In 1990, she was awarded a Watson Fellowship for sociology research in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Tom Lovejoy

Thomas E. Lovejoy is President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. He is an ecologist and has worked in the Brazilian Amazon since 1965. He works on the interface of science and environmental policy. He conceived the idea for the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project, coined the term "Biological diversity and originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps. He is the founder of the public television series Nature. In the past, he served as the Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation, as the Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for the Environment for the Latin American region for the World Bank, as the Assistant Secretary for Environmental and External Affairs for the Smithsonian Institution, and as Executive Vice President of World Wildlife Fund-US. Thomas received his B.S. and Ph.D. (biology) from Yale University.

Jackie Lucero

Currently, Jackie is working with the SCA Massachusetts Parks AmeriCorps where she is responsible for overseeing education training and the education service season for the 16 residentially based members. She was exposed to the beauty of the natural world as a young girl growing up in central Montana, but only upon college graduation when she committed to the SCA Adirondack AmeriCorps did she begin to grasp the severity and complexity of the challenge we have in caring for the environment. Since that time Jackie has worked in many positions getting dirty providing service to the land alongside environmental education for her community. Of note, she holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute and has served two years in Guatemala in the Peace Corps as an agroforestry volunteer. She was also the first recipient of the Spirit of SCA Award in 2006.

Jeanne McCarty

Jeanne McCarty is the new executive director of REAL School Gardens, a grassroots gardening program that helps children by supporting elementary school communities as they design, install and sustain outdoor classrooms (gardens). Currently the program supports more than 17,000 students, 830 teachers and 36 schools in North Texas with plans for national expansion. www.realschoolgardens.org Prior to December, Ms. McCarty spent eight years as vice president and director of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots, a global youth service program focused on conservation. In this position, she helped fulfill Jane Goodall’s dream of creating a powerful force for positive change: a network of young people in communities all around the world empowered to make a difference. Ms. McCarty is active in national initiatives that introduce children and families to conservation and encourage connections between children and nature, including the Global Leadership Committee for the Nature Action Collaborative for Children.

Julie Thomas McNamee

Julie Thomas McNamee is the NPS Air Quality Liaison for the Washington headquarters office, where she communicates the efforts of the NPS Air Resources Division with the NPS and DOI offices. She is also Climate Change Liaison and Climate Friendly Parks representative for the Natural Resources Stewardship and Science Division. The Climate Friendly Parks program is a partnership between NPS and EPA to help parks understand the implications of Climate Change for their parks, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adaptively manage park in the face of climate change, and to educate the public about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases and how to accomplish it. The program has conducted 14 workshops and developed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory tool for parks to use. Previously, Julie served as EPA's Air Quality Liaison to the Chesapeake Bay Program where she assisted in evaluating and predicting the effects of air pollution emissions reductions on the nutrient and chemical contaminant loads to the Bay. Before that, she also served as Air Quality Program Manager at Shenandoah National Park where she coordinated the negotiations of air permits between the National Park Service and the Commonwealth of Virginia; managed the research on air pollution effects; conducted public outreach and drafted the Park's Air Quality Management Plan. Ms. McNamee holds an MA in Teaching from the University of North Carolina and a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Tennessee.

Jim Merkel

Jim Merkel is the author of Radical Simplicity and the Sustainability Coordinator at Dartmouth College. Originally a military engineer trained in foreign military sales, the Exxon Valdez disaster and the invasion of Iraq prompted him to devote his life to sustainability and world peace. Jim founded the Global Living Project (GLP) and initiated the GLP Summer Institute where teams of researchers attempted to live on an equitable portion of the biosphere.

At Dartmouth, Jim’s role is to integrate environmentally and socially sustainable practices into the College's operations and culture. His projects include Sustainable Dining, Solar Thermal Evaluation, Carbon Reduction, Sustainable Offices, Green Greeks and Solid Waste Reduction.

Char Miller

Char Miller is a member of the History Department and director of the Urban Studies program at Trinity University, where he teaches classes in U. S. cultural, environmental and urban history. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians (2007-10); in 2002 was named a Piper Professor, a state-wide award for excellence in teaching and service to higher education; and in 1997, won Trinity University's Dr. and Mrs. Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching. Miller is author of the award-winning Deep in the Heart of San Antonio: Land and Life in South Texas, Gifford Pinchot and The Making of Modern Environmentalism, and Ground Work: Conservation in American Culture. Most recently is editor of Richard Harding Davis, The West From a Car-Window, On the Border: An Environmental History of San Antonio, and 50 Years of the Texas Observer.

Lynne Murdock

Lynne Murdock has a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Resource Management and a Master’s Degree in Earth Science, both obtained at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lynne has worked as a Park Ranger at Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska) Montezuma Castle and Walnut Canyon (Arizona) and as a district interpreter at both Point Reyes National Seashore (California) and Glacier National Park (Montana). Currently, Lynne serves as the Interpretive Liaison for the Natural Resource Program Center and is focused in the Outreach and Education branch of Natural Resources. In this capacity, Lynne communicates about NPS coastal and ocean units relative to their education programs; climate change impacts on parks and potential solutions and shares geologic research opportunities in national parks. Lynne serves as the Servicewide Education Coordinator for Natural Resources, collaborating with parks and park partners to develop and expand place-based education opportunities in national parks along with increasing our web presence on the national level.M/p>

Rebecca Oreskes

Rebecca is currently the Public Services Staff Officer on the White Mountain National Forest. Her role includes overseeing “all the programs that have something to do with people”: Recreation, Wilderness, Heritage, Conservation Education, Partnerships and Public Affairs. In addition to several positions on the White Mountain National Forest, Rebecca has had short-term assignments on national forests in West Virginia, Michigan and with the Forest Service Disaster Assistance Support Program in Washington, DC and the eastern Caribbean. Rebecca is a former Chair of the Chief’s Wilderness Advisory Group and currently serves on the editorial board for the International Journal of Wilderness. Born and raised in New York City, Rebecca attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She’s an alumna of SCA high school programs in Vermont and Minnesota; an avid gardener, writer, cross country skier, and hiker who lives with her husband and animals in Milan, New Hampshire.

Billy Parish

Billy Parish dropped out of Yale in 2002 to build the youth movement for climate solutions.  A co-founder of the Energy Action Coalition, Billy now consults for Green for All and is focused on advocacy for green jobs, campus sustainability and youth empowerment. He was recently named a "Fellow" by Ashoka, the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, and previously was Mother Jones magazine's 2006 "Student Activist of the Year," Rolling Stone’s "Climate Hero" in 2005, and a 2004 Brower Youth Award Winner.  Born in New York City, Billy now lives in Flagstaff, AZ with his wife, Wahleah Johns.

Jonathan Putnam

Jonathan Putnam is the World Heritage Program Officer and Western Hemisphere Park Affairs specialist for the National Park Service's Office of International Affairs. In this position, Jon works to promote the international mission of the National Park Service, facilitating cooperation between the NPS and other countries both to protect NPS resources, such as migratory species, and to further conservation of natural and cultural heritage around the globe. Jon began his career with the NPS as an SCA resource assistant at Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado), with later ranger positions at Katmai National Park (Alaska) and Fire Island National Seashore (New York). He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland, southern Africa, working on parks and wildlife conservation projects, and as an environment specialist with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Jon has been active in a variety of volunteer conservation initiatives as well. Along with colleagues from the Montgomery County, Maryland, Parks Department and Poolesville High School Global Ecology Program, Jon created the “Wild Montgomery Expedition and Megatransect,” an annual event in which high school students collect resource data in protected areas within Montgomery County. Jon also serves on the Board of Advisors to Montgomery County’s Legacy Open Space program, and is a volunteer bluebird monitor and a preserve steward for The Nature Conservancy. Jon has a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.S. from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Shannon Quist

A graduate of the Liberal Arts program at Colorado State University in 2003, Shannon currently works at the National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, DC. She serves as Program Assistant for the International Relations and Museum Alliances unit of the Community and Constituent Services Department. As a two-time alumna with the Student Conservation Association, Shannon Quist served in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2000 and in the SCA-Unilever internship program in 2004. The latter brought her to the Washington, DC office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (14th District California) and to Channel Islands National Park where she worked in Cultural Resources and Interpretation. She continues her commitment to the environment through conference participation, volunteer work, support of her local farmer’s market, and other personal lifestyle choices.

Nina S. Roberts, Ph.D

Nina S. Roberts, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University where her areas of emphasis include youth development, leadership, outdoor recreation, parks management, and urban programming. She is also the Project Director of the Pacific Leadership Institute connecting urban youth with the outdoors. Dr. Roberts is on the Advisory Board of GirlVentures in San Francisco and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Experiential Education. Dr. Roberts was the Assistant Director of SCA’s National Urban & Diversity Programs managing five regions. She then became a Research Associate where she was engaged in various SCA regional and national projects. Dr. Roberts later worked with the National Park Service where she was an Education and Outreach Specialist. She also currently works with the NPS as a Social Scientist where she conducts youth evaluation and shares her expertise in outreach to culturally diverse communities in the Bay Area.

Allison Whipple Rockefeller

For the last 20 years Allison Whipple Rockefeller, SCA alum, former Board Chair and Chairman of the 50th Anniversary Committee, has been committed to parks, habitat conservation, environmental education and brownfield reclamation.

Allison is Commission Member to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Allison serves on the Advisory Council of the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks and is helping to plan a two-day climate change conference in June 2008. She is a long-time member of the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy and a Trustee of the Museum of the City of New York. Additionally, Mrs. Rockefeller serves as Award Council Chair of National Audubon’s Rachel Carson Award, which recognizes women leaders in conservation.

Lastly, Allison Rockefeller is founder of Cornerstone Parks, the “Pumps-to-Parks”TM Initiative, which works to create a network of small parks and community centers by converting closed gas station sites into open green space and centers for community use. “Pumps-to-Parks”TM New York is building a statewide model for permanent open space, community economic development and brownfield reclamation that will be replicated nationally. Allison Rockefeller lives in New York City with her husband, Peter Clark Rockefeller, and their three children.

Steve Sarles

Education: B.A. Environmental Sciences, Davis and Elkins College, 1978. I began my career with the National Park Service in 1978 as an SCA Intern at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I worked seasonal appointments with the National Park Service at the Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Home N.H.S., Kings Canyon N.P., Yellowstone N.P., as well as a season with the Forest Service on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. As a seasonal employee, I served most of my appointments as an interpretive ranger. After getting my first permanent position with the National Park Service at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia I transferred to Yellowstone in 1982 where I have had the good fortune to continue my career. In Yellowstone, I’ve had the opportunity of working in a variety of locations and different postions as a ranger. Beginning in 1989 I have managed the park’s Emergency Medical Services Progam and Youth Programs, including a variety of SCA Programs, a residential Youth Conservation Corps Program, and partnerships with neighboring state conservations corps.

Lawrence A. Selzer

Mr. Selzer is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in metropolitan Washington, D.C. The Conservation Fund protects the nation's legacy of land and water resources in partnership with other nonprofit organizations, public agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals. Through land acquisition, community initiatives, and leadership development, The Fund and its partners demonstrate sustainable conservation solutions, emphasizing the integration of economic and environmental goals. The Fund has protected nearly 6 million acres since 1985. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Wildlife Habitat Council.

Mr. Selzer holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a Bachelors of Science in environmental studies from Wesleyan University.

Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi is a freelance journalist, focusing on issues of social and environmental sustainability and an environmental correspondent for NBC News. She currently teaches a course on Media and the Environment at the University of Kansas School of Journalism.

Sethi is the co-host/writer of Sundance Channel's environmental programming, The Green, and a commentator for Big Ideas for a Small Planet, the 2007 winner of the Environmental Media Award for Best Documentary. She is the creator of the upcoming Sundance web series The Good Fight and the anchor of the Sundance series EcoBiz. She is a member of NBC Universal’s initiative "Green is Universal."

Sethi co-created, hosted, and oversaw all video and audio content for TreeHugger.com. Under her management, TreeHugger won the 2006 Vloggie for Best Green Vlog. Sethi hosted a forum on global warming with Nobel Laureate Al Gore for MSN.com and created an audio podcast series for Gore’s nonprofit, The Alliance for Climate Protection. Sethi produced and anchored the news for MTV Asia and created and oversaw the MTV India news division. She holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management and graduated cum laude with a BA in Sociology and Women's Studies from Smith College.

Cristina Siegel

Cristina Siegel is a strong advocate for sustainable use of natural resources and alternative energy. She has a B.S in Soil Science, an M.S. in Forest Soils and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Virginia Tech Forestry Department. She spent six years as a soil scientist for the USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station before moving to Virginia to attend graduate school. Her love of nature and professional interest in the environment weaves throughout her personal life as well. Five years ago, Cristina purchased a beautiful tract of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains and built a small, passive and active, off-grid solar powered cabin that incorporates many "green" features. She uses bio diesel to fuel her VW and was a founding member of a local bio diesel user's cooperative. Cristina lives near Roanoke, Virginia with her son and animals and hasn’t paid an electricity bill in 5 years.

Marilyn Smith

Marilyn Smith is the Director of Children’s Education at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York. She has a master’s degree in plant ecology and has worked as an environmental educator and administrator for 19 years. Formerly the Director of National Audubon Society’s flagship environmental education center during a five year rebuilding phase, she has developed educational programs for audiences of all ages and economic levels in urban, suburban, and rural settings. At Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Marilyn oversees on-site and outreach programs for schools, teacher education, youth internships, and public programs for children and families. She is especially proud of helping develop the Garden Apprentice Program to provide middle and high school students with hands on internships in horticulture, education, science research, and other areas. Brooklyn Botanic Garden is world famous for its Children’s Garden program, through which nearly 40,000 urban children have raised flowers and vegetables in their own garden plots since its founding in 1914.

Lee Welles

Lee Welles is a freelance writer who lives and works in upstate New York. The Gaia Girls series was inspired by her personal experience as a summer camp nature director, her love of the outdoors, and reading about James Lovelock’s Gaia Theory.

Ms.Welles regularly appears on television and radio as a wellness expert and writes a weekly wellness column.

Verner Wilson

Verner Wilson is a Yup’ik Eskimo born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska. As part of a culture and people that depend on a subsistence lifestyle, he has personally witnessed the negative effects of climate change to indigenous peoples, including invasive species and eroding coastlines that endanger Alaskan villages. He has been involved with National Wildlife Federation’s Alaska Youth for Environmental Action for over six years, where he has worked with his peers in activism and to propose environmental solutions for the state. The youth organization has focused on Climate Change while promoting clean energy, green jobs and energy efficiency. Verner is also a trainee of The Climate Project, where a few years ago he was part of the first training for presenters with Vice President Al Gore at his ranch in Tennessee. Currently, he is a senior in Environmental Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and emphasizing on Environmental Justice. He is excited to be apart of this year’s conference, and believes the Student Conservation Association is an inspiring and important organization for America’s future leaders.

Ernest C. Wong

The founder and Principal of Site Design Group, Ltd., Ernest C. Wong has been instrumental in the development of both the firm and the landscape architecture profession in the City of Chicago. In managing the landscape architecture and urban design firm for over 15 years, the firm has grown to twelve professionals, including licensed landscape architects, planners and architects. Under his direction, the firm has been successful in establishing a reputation for providing creative design, thoughtful solutions and detailed projects in the urban fabric.