Linda Langelo is a Colorado State University Extension Horticulture Specialist and host of the Relentless Gardener Podcast. The five counties under her care are in Northeast Colorado, where she assists homeowners and professionals with horticultural issues. She created a Facebook page titled, Garden the Plains to reach a broader audience with the help of Master Gardeners. The Master Gardener Program in the Golden Plains Area covers demonstration gardens, school and library programs, community gardens, and more.

During her 40 years in horticulture, she has worked in both private and public horticultural institutions. As Assistant Director of Horticulture at Salisbury State University, she helped implement an arboretum campus-wide that is still going strong today. Linda went on to be the Director at Adkins Arboretum early in its development, increasing its exposure to the local and surrounding communities. The arboretum also became a member of the American Public Garden Association under her tenure.

In July 2021, she was awarded the Lois Woodward Paul Memorial Award for her career achievements from Longwood Gardens Alumni Association as a fellow alumnus of the Longwood's Horticulture Program.

Linda is a member of Garden Communicators International,the American Public Gardens Association, a regular contributor to MarthaStewart.com, and Canada's Local Gardener. She has worked on diverse landscapes from public to private gardens including resorts and arboreta for 40years. Linda worked from New York to New Mexico, before arriving in the Golden Plains area of Colorado where she has spent the last 19 years of her career.

Her Relentless Gardener column has received a Laurel Award from Garden Communicators International.

Jay Worth started working in the Green Industry in college to earn money between semesters. He started mowing lawns for a landscaping company and then moved to a full-service landscaper. While attending University in Florida, he alsoworked on a palm tree farm and fell in love with the trees.

 During the Great Recession in 2009, he was recruited to sell lawn care door-to-door. Having no other job options, he took the offer. This was the beginning of his full-time career in the Green Industry.

After several years he took a break to work in media sales before returning to the Green Industry. Eventually, he landed at a full-service landscaping company doing Inside Sales for their lawn care and pest control programs. Jay gotpromoted to run all the marketing and grew his single Inside Sales position into an entire team of people.
While working there, he spent every chance he got outside with the Tree Care team. He met them on job sites, talked to them at the shop, and even spent time in the field during ISA Arbor Day of Service events.

He eventually connected with SingleOps, a software he’d used while working at one of the landscaping companies. He found it to be the best option for Tree Care and full-service Landscaping companies. So, when they wanted someone to create resources for business owners, he found it was an easy product to get behind.
Jay is passionate about best practices for healthy plants, sustainability, and being thoughtful stewards of the environment. He is also especially keen to help business owners and managers become more effective and efficient in their business practices. Jay sees no reason those two cannot coexist.

Kevin Zuidervliet is owner and grower at Octoraro Native Plant Nursery, in Kirkwood, Pennsylvania. His diverse professional experience and passion for horticulture began while traveling and working on organic farms in Australia and New Zealand. He leveraged his skills in an AmeriCorps VISTA position managing a community garden. Kevin continued to hone his plant knowledge at Shaffer Landscapes, in

Kevin has come full circle at Octoraro, where he is using his skill sets to create regional plant palettes for designers, ecologists, and others in the industry to maintain, enhance, and recreate lost habitats in the region.   

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