Bestselling author Randi Minetor writes for the Birdfinding and Best Easy Bird Guides series for Falcon Guides/Globe Pequot Press and is the author of Backyard Birding and Butterfly Gardening for Lyons Press.

Her most recent book, The Complete Language of Birds,

Randi writes for Birding Magazine, is a regional report editor for North American Birds, and has served for three years as president of the Rochester Birding Association in New

Angelique Robb graduated from Louisiana State University in Petroleum Engineering, working in the oil industry for many years in the USA and the UK.  

In 2008, she qualified as a landscape designer and launched a design and build company, Papillon Designs and Landscaping Ltd in Scotland, UK. Since then she has built up the company into a national award-winning practice. She is

In 2021, living in the USA again, she launched a media company to educate and inspire landscape professionals in the design + build + maintain disciplines in the southeast region under the name Pro Landscaper for the publication and FutureScape for the event - these were subsequently re-branded to SYNKD in 2022.  In 2022, SYNKD expanded to 26 states and has grown the in-person event, SYNKD Live, by 100% since its launch in 2023.  By highlighting the companies and leaders in our industry, SYNKD shows the way to those

Celine Colbert is Pennsylvania’s Tree Canopy Coordinator,

Jessica (J.J.) Käthe is the resiliency planting coordinator within the Climate Forestry & Carbon Unit at NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation).

J.J. is seeking input from agencies and organizations across the state for the New York State Reforestation Plan. The plan will act as a roadmap to achieving the Climate Act Scoping Plan goal of establishing 1.7 million acres of new forest

She has experience working with invasive species management, greenhouse operations, volunteer coordination, data processing, and emergency preparedness from work in non-profit organizations in the private sector, and at the Department of Environmental Conservation.

J.J. holds BA and MS degrees in Geography from the (State University of New York System) SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Albany.

Tim Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Massachusetts. He leads the organization’s 45-acre Garden in the Woods in Framingham,

Johnson has an extensive background in environmental

Johnson’s affection for native plants was born from a

Dr. Anna Paltseva is a distinguished urban soil scientist and educator, currently serving as a professor in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University. She

Beyond her academic work, Dr. Paltseva is a prolific speaker, author of multiple peer-reviewed papers, and the founder of House of Soil, an initiative that connects soil science with regenerative fashion. She is also deeply involved in outreach and community engagement,

Carlos Alvarez has been a part of the PowerCorpsPHL (Power Corps Philadelphia) team since March 2015 when he started as a crew leader supporting a group of young people completing various environmental sustainability

Currently, Carlos is the Director of Social Enterprise Operations overseeing the installment and operation of the Philadelphia Reforestation Hub-Urban Wood

Dan Lambe has committed nearly two decades of work to help solve some of the biggest issues facing people and the planet through trees. After being named CEO in 2022 after 19 years in leadership roles at the Arbor Day Foundation, Lambe launched an initiative to accelerate the nonprofit’s impact by planting 500 million trees with a focus on forests and neighborhoods with the greatest

Lambe is a trusted thought leader in the sustainable forestry space, and he regularly speaks at conferences hosted by the United Nations, Sustainable Brands, the

Matthew Aghai is a climate tech executive with 20 years of professional experience spanning public, private, and academic ventures in reforestation and natural resource

He currently serves the teams at Mast Reforestation and its subsidiaries but also enjoys a variety of extracurricular functions including advising and speaking on environmental and sustainability topics, nature-based and technological solutions for greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation, and opportunities to develop durable economic pathways for stewards and skilled workers in the fight against climate change.

Jessica Turner-Skoff is Longwood Garden's first Associate Director of Science Communications. She champions Longwood’s leadership in plant science and interprets Longwood’s scientific resources for multiple communication channels and audiences. Jessica

Jessica holds a Ph.D. in Biology from West Virginia University, an MS in Conservation Science and