THE RETHINKING ANIMALS SUMMIT 2019​

SCHEDULE

Friday 13 September – Sunday 15 September 2019

Our Partners 2019

Friday September 13, 2019

Opening Night

Cocktails and an Opportunity to Meet the Speakers at an Opening Night Gathering of Thinking Animals.

Saturday September 14, 2019

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Keynote Speakers

Speaker:

Mary Melnyk

Environmental Security and
Resilience Team Leader
USAID Asia

Carol McKenna

Advisor
Compassion in World Farming

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The Consequences For Human Health

Is our treatment of other animals making us sick?

Moderator:

Dr. Jill Baron

Clinical Assistant Professor
SUNY Stony Brook

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers:

Janetrix Hellen Amuguni

Assistant Professor
Tufts University

Jason Patlis

Executive Director,
Marine Conservation Program
Wildlife Conservation Society

Jean Halloran

Director, Food Policy Initiatives
Consumer Reports

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Achieving Health And Sustainability

Looking to Nature for Solutions

Moderator:

Max Elder

Research Director,
Food Futures Lab
Institute for the Future

Speakers:

Neil Henderson Carter

Assistant Professor
University of Michigan

Aysha Akhtar

Author, Public Health Specialist

David Welch

Director, Science & Tech
Good Food Institute

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Challenges to Global Security

Our exploitation of animals for our own use is destabilizing the world.

Moderator:

Sara Walker

Senior Advisor, Wildlife Trafficking
AZA

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers:

Lindsay Moran

Head of Communications
Environmental Investigation Agency

Lydelle Joubert

Maritime Piracy Researcher,
Stable Seas Program
One Earth Future Foundation

Rachel Dreskin

Executive Director
Compassion in World Farming USA

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Tools For A Safer Future

Innovation for Conservation

Moderator:

David Chadwick O'Connor

Permanent Observer of IUCN
to the United Nations

Speakers:

Stephen Kohn

Chairman of the Board
National Whistleblower Center

Alex Dehgan

Executive Officer, Co-Founder
Conservation X Labs

Eric Dinerstein

Director, Biodiversity
and Wildlife Solutions
RESOLVE

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Compromising National Economies

What are the long-term costs of subsidizing unsustainable industries?

Moderator:

Glenn Prickett

Founder
Rock Creek Strategies LLC

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers:

Bruce Rich

Visiting Scholar,
Environmental Law Institute

Isabel Jarrett

Manager, Ending Harmful
Fisheries Subsidies
The Pew Charitable Trusts

Jonathan Lovvorn

Faculty Director
Yale Law School

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ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION:
Is Food Hijacking Our Future?

Moderator:

Carol McKenna

Advisor to Compassion in World Farming and Chair of Eating Better

Speakers:

Janet Maro

Founder, Executive Director
Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania

Max Elder

Research Director,
Food Futures Lab
Institute for the Future

Danielle Nierenberg

President, Co-Founder
The Food Tank

Rosie Wardell

Programme Director
Jeremy Coller Foundation

Sunday September 15, 2019

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Keynote Speakers

Speaker:

Patrick Ramage

Director, Marine Conservation
at IFAW

Astrid Grace Tuuli Determan

Founder
EPIC Animals

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Transforming Economic Landscapes

Changing the way we do business

Moderator:

Tim Scott

Senior Policy Adviser
United Nations
Development Program

Speakers:

James G Workman

Founder
Aquashares

Jim Procanik

Executive Director
Veridium Foundation

Brian Von Herzen

Executive Director
The Climate Foundation

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Endangering The Environment

Are we forgetting other species in our plans for the future of the planet?

Moderator:

Stefanie Spear

Founder
EcoWatch

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers:

Stephanie Feldstein

Director, Population & Sustainability
Centre for Biological Diversity

Patrick Ramage

Director, Marine Conservation
at IFAW

Curt Stager

Professor
Paul Smiths University

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Towards A Sustainable Planet

Considering Alternatives

Moderator:

Richard Schiffman

Environmental Journalist

Speakers:

Leilani Munter

Biologist, Environmentalist,
Racecar Driver

Royden Saah

Program Coordinator,
Genetic Biocontrol
Island Conservation

Kelly O'Donnell

Director, Science Forward
Macaulay Honors College

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Optimism

Speaker:

Alex Dehgan

Executive Officer, Co-Founder
Conservation X Labs

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Reimagining Nature

Can we see an alternative future?

Moderator:

Gopal Patel

Director
Bhumi Project

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers:

Beth Allgood

U.S. Country Director
IFAW

Todd Kuiken

Senior Researcher, Genetic Engineering & Society Center
NC State University

Theanne Schiros

Asst. Professor, Science & Sustainability
Co-Founding Scientific Advisor, Algiknit

Speakers:

Mary Ellen Hannibal

Author

Mitchell Joachim

Co-Founder
Terreform ONE

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Mary Melnyk
Environmental Security & Resilience Team Leader
USAID'S Asia

Dr. Mary Melnyk is the Environmental Security and Resilience Team Leader for the USAID’s Asia  Bureau and has 30 years experience working on community development, biodiversity conservation and the environment in Latin America and Asia.

She has been in the Asia Bureau since 2001 and is currently engaged in USAID efforts to address water security, glacier melt and the conservation of tigers and snow leopards.

She has also developed and facilitated public-private sector alliances linking environmentally-sustainable and socially-responsible products to markets.  Past work has included a body of research analyzing forest conflict in Asia.   

Her Ph.D. is in ecological management from Imperial College of the University of London and quantified the economic and nutritional values of forest foods to rural livelihoods in Southern Venezuela.  She graduated summa cum laude with her B.S. in zoology from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Carol McKenna
Advisor, Compassion in World Farming

Carol McKenna is a successful campaigner and coalition builder with over thirty years of experience of a broad range of animal protection issues. She is Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of Compassion in World Farming leading projects and work strands aimed at achieving systemic change towards regenerative agriculture. Carol is Chair of Eating Better, an alliance of over 60 organisations working to accelerate action for less and better meat and dairy for health, environment, animal welfare and social justice (www.eating-better.org) and also a founding member and Trustee of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee, a charity which provides independent advice and evidence about the welfare of free-living wild animals in the UK (www.wawcommittee.org).

For many years Carol was a consultant to a number of international animal protection organisations including IFAW, Compassion and the Brooke. Key projects included co-ordinating and co-chairing the Beyond Calf Exports Stakeholders Forum 2006 -2013 and chairing from 1999 to 2004 the Campaign to Protect Hunted Animals, the coalition that achieved the ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales. Other roles included Campaign Director of Compassion from September 2015 to October 2016 and Director of Programmes at WSPA, now World Animal Protection from 2009 to 2011. Whilst at WSPA Carol initiated the Animal Protection Index project (www.api.worldanimalprotection.org).

Carol is the author, joint author and/or editor of many reports. Most recently Carol co-edited the book inspired by Compassion’s 2017 Extinction & Livestock conference, Farming, Food and Nature: Respecting Animals, People and Nature (Earthscan, 2018).

Jill R. Baron MD.
Assistant Professor
SUNY Stony Brook

Jill R. Baron, MD,  one of New York’s cutting-edge Integrative and Functional Medicine physicians, is  a board certified Family Physician who practices in New York City.  

A graduate of Princeton University,  The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and certified by the Institute for Functional Medicine, the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, and the North American Menopause Society, Dr. Baron combines conventional primary care with holistic and mind-body therapies to optimize patients’ health. 

She is also certified in the Bredesen Protocol to diagnose and potentially reverse dementia. Dr. Baron is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Dr. Baron is a Visiting Attending Physician at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. Baron lectures and speaks about optimal health,and has been a featured guest on several radio and media programs.  She is a Consultant on Dr. Oz’s Sharecare.com website.   

She loves to dance, laugh, and have fun, and occasionally play the violin, piano, and tennis, and most of all, use her intuition to guide her life and her patients. 

She is also a lover of animals. 

She is the author of the forthcoming book, “Don’t Mess with Stress!™”

Janetrix Hellen Amuguni
Assistant Professor
Tufts

Dr. Hellen Amuguni is a veterinarian with doctoral training in Infectious Diseases. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at the Cummings School of Veterinary medicine, Tufts University. Her doctoral dissertation was conducted under the supervision of Professor Saul Tzipori, a renowned scientist in the field of infectious diseases and vaccine research where she investigated sublingual immunization as an alternative delivery route for vaccines. The project, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Grand Challenges for Global Health initiative, developed an effective heat stable non-injectable tetanus vaccine that does not require a cold chain and can be used in developing countries.

Dr. Hellen Amuguni has many years of experience working as a Veterinarian and Gender specialist among pastoralist communities in the horn of Africa, developing gender programs, conducting gender assessment studies among livestock projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and Somalia. She also facilitates in the International Veterinary Medicine forums and Problem Based Learning courses and is the Co-Director of the Human Dimensions of Conservation Medicine course for graduate students in the Masters in Conservation Medicine program.

Dr. Hellen Amuguni is the technical advisor for the USAID RESPOND project Africa. She coordinates projects across six African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo working with 14 institutions of public health and veterinary medicine to build the capacity of partner African countries using a One Health approach to investigate, respond to, and counter existing and future emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Jason Patlis
Executive Director
Marine Conservation Program at Wildlife Conservation Society

Jason Patlis is a leading marine policy expert who serves as the head of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Marine Conservation Program, which has projects in more than 20 countries around the globe.

Jason most recently served as the President and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF), the non-profit partner to the U.S. national marine sanctuary system. He oversaw NMSF’s efforts to strengthen the nation’s marine sanctuaries through fundraising, communications, conservation, advocacy, and education.

Prior to NMSF, Patlis was the Vice President and Managing Director for U.S. Government Relations at WWF. He has worked in both houses of the U.S. Congress, including as Deputy Staff Director for the House Science Committee, and as Majority Counsel on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He served in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s Office of General Counsel handling issues relating to the Endangered Species Act. He currently serves as a member of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee.

Patlis spent nearly six years living in Indonesia working on natural resource law and governance, beginning with a Fulbright Scholarship, and continuing to work as a legal expert for the World Bank, US Agency for International Development, and other clients. His efforts helped pave the way for the establishment of Indonesia’s first national law on coastal management enacted in 2007.  Patlis received his J.D. from Cornell University School of Law and his B.A. from Haverford College.

Jean Halloran
Director
Food Policy Initiatives at Consumer Reports

Jean Halloran is Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumer Reports. At CR, she has led many projects on food safety, sustainable consumption and trade issues. She is currently responsible for developing policy and initiatives on reducing antibiotic use on livestock and antibiotic resistance, GMO labeling and biotechnology, meat and poultry safety, and seafood safety. She has testified on food safety issues before Congress and state legislatures and is frequently quoted in the media.
As Director of the Consumer Policy Institute from 1981 to 2005, she developed and supervised conferences, reports and input to government agencies on pesticides, sustainable agriculture, organic labeling, toxic chemicals, and waste recycling, as well as intellectual property issues and healthcare, funded by the National Science Foundation, government agencies, and numerous private foundations.

She has served on the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, on the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the FDA Food Advisory Committee.

Ms. Halloran helped organize the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a forum of groups in Europe and the US that provides input to governments on trade policy, and serves as its US liaison point. She represented Consumers International at Codex Alimentarius, in developing standards for safety assessment of genetically engineered foods.

In 1979-1980, as a staff member of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, Ms. Halloran was one of the principal drafters of an Executive Order issued by President Carter designed to prevent export of banned and severely restricted pesticides, pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Jean Halloran received her B.A. with Honors from Swarthmore College.

Neil Henderson Carter Assistant Professor University of Michigan

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Dr. Neil Carter is a professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. His research utilizes field-based, quantitative, and conceptual approaches to understand complex feedbacks among people, wildlife, and ecosystems. He hopes his research advances science and informs decision makers on ways to conserve biodiversity while also sustain (and improve) human well-being. Dr. Carter’s research interests are wildlife ecology and conservation, wildlife management and policy, landscape ecology, human dimensions of wildlife conservation, complexity of coupled human and natural systems, and sustainability science.

Dr. Neil Carter received his Bachelors of Science degree in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at the University of California, San Diego in 2003. He then got his Masters of Science degree in Terrestrial Ecology from the University of Michigan in 2007. Carter then acquired his Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University in 2013.

Aysha Akhtar
Author, Public Health Specialist

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Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H., is a double Board-certified neurologist and preventive medicine/public health specialist and is on a mission.

She is demonstrating how there is a mutual benefit to both humans and animals when animals are protected. She is the author of the book, Animals and Public Health: Why Treating Animals Better is Critical to Human Welfare (Palgrave Macmillan), which examines how the treatment of animals impacts human health. In her TED Talk, she discusses how treating animals better is not only good for animals, but also good for us. Dr. Akhtar has spoken and written extensively on the connection between animal protection and human health.

Dr. Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. She is published in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet, Pediatrics, Journal of Public Health Policy, and Reviews in the Neurosciences. Dr. Akhtar has been interviewed by major news media and appeared in the television shows, 30 Days, produced by Morgan Spurlock and Nick News discussing animal experimentation. She is a member of the Leadership Council for the Classy Awards. She is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post. Her blogs can be found here.

“In short, if public health is concerned about the protection and promotion of human health, and if public health acknowledges that every other facet of human existence plays a role in our health, it must also acknowledge that how we relate to animals is a major determinant of our health.”

David Welch
Director of Science
and Technology
Good Food Institute (GFI)

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Dr. David Welch is the Director of Science and Technology at the Good Food Institute (GFI). Originally from the UK, Dr. Welch decided to go state-side in order to get his Bachelors of Science at the University of California, Berkely where he specialized in Biology. He then later went to the Netherlands to attended the University of Utrecht to hone in on his Biological proficiency acquiring a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology.

At the Good Food Institute, Dr. Welch has combined his doctoral studies of plant biology with his extensive experience with regenerative medicine. He uses this impressive combination in order to help companies and academic research institutions accelerate the development of plant-based and clean meat.

Dr. Welch has more than fifteen years of experience in the life science industry. During those years he has been involved with product development, market development and commercialization of cells, scaffolds, cell reprogramming tools along with cell culture media for regenerative medicine and bioprocessing applications. Dr. Welch’s travels across continents and interdisciplinary experience has led him to GFI where he continuously improves the world around him.

“We have the opportunity to create products that are not just replicas of the animal-based foods eaten today but that taste better, are healthier, and are gentler on the planet. In this way, we can completely transform our current food system for the better.”

Sara Walker
Senior Advisor, Wildlife Trafficking
AZA

Sara Walker is the Senior Advisor on Wildlife Trafficking at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Prior to joining AZA, Ms. Walker was the Executive Director of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (USWTA), until a merger was announced in 2018 that AZA and WTA would be joining forces to combat wildlife trafficking. As the Senior Advisor on Wildlife Trafficking, Ms. Walker will continue to lead the efforts of the WTA and also work closely with AZA members on wildlife trafficking issues.

 

Prior to leading the WTA, Ms. Walker was the Director of Wildlife at The Humane Society of the United States, leading two national campaigns that focused on fur-free fashion and lead-free initiatives.  Under her leadership, the fur-free campaign educated the luxury fashion industry about cruelty-free alternatives and exposed rampant false labeling of “faux” products; and the lead-free campaign raised awareness about lead-based ammunition and sought state and federal policies to adopt stricter environmental standards for hunting and fishing equipment.

From 2010-2014, Ms. Walker was responsible for a variety of domestic and international energy and climate initiatives at the United Nations Foundation, serving most recently as the Associate Director of Global Outreach on a global climate science communications project around the release of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report. Ms. Walker also has extensive experience working on environmental and natural resource policy at the state legislative level, in addition to state political campaign management experience.  An Oregon native, Ms. Walker earned her MA in International Relations from the University of San Diego and her BA in International Studies from the University of Oregon.  She also holds an AA in Flight Technology and is a certified commercial pilot.

Lindsay Moran
Head of Communications
Environmental Investigation Agency

Lindsay Moran is Head of Communications for the Environmental Investigation Agency, a non-profit watchdog group that uses undercover investigations in its mission to expose environmental crime and make sustainable management of the world’s natural resources possible. A former CIA Operative and author of the best-selling memoir Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy, Ms. Moran joined EIA in 2017 with over 20 years’ experience across a broad professional spectrum to include intelligence, covert operations, and print and broadcast journalism.

As a national security expert, Ms. Moran’s articles and opinions have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Huffington Post, and various other publications. She serves as a commentator on security and intelligence issues for the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, as well as national and local radio outlets. From 2013-2016, she was a field correspondent for Al-Jazeera America’s flagship news program America Tonight and its groundbreaking science and technology show TechKnow. Today, Ms. Moran is featured as an expert on the Science Channel shows: What on Earth; Strange Evidence; and NASA’s Unexplained Files.

Ms. Moran is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University. She was an English Literature teacher and a Fulbright Scholar prior to her service with the CIA. She has lectured at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard College, Yale College, the American Enterprise Institute, University of Virginia, American University and various other colleges and universities.

She lives in Maryland with her two sons and two dogs.

Lydelle Joubert
One Earth Future Foundation Stable Seas Program

Lydelle Joubert joined One Earth Future Foundation’s Stable Seas Program in November 2018.

She is an expert on global piracy and counter-piracy efforts and also contributes research on trafficking in illicit goods, transnational organized crime, African maritime security, and maritime domain awareness.

Lydelle brings first-hand experience in the private security sector and the South African military.

She has her MA in International Relations, Honores in International Politics and BA in Political Sciences from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Rachel Dreskin
Executive Director
Compassion in World Farming USA

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Rachel Dreskin is the US Executive Director at Compassion in World Farming. She was appointed to this role in 2013 and with her came her first hand experience of running a farm to table restaurant. She was the General Manager for Home Restaurant in Manhattan for 5 years, where she successfully transformed it from having conventional products, to supporting seasonal, local and pastured-raised products. This accomplishment was just the beginning of her movement towards more compassionate farming. In addition to that, Ms. Dreskin brought her extensive knowledge and background in corporate marketing and advertising solutions to Compassion in World Farming. Before she was the Executive Director, Ms. Dreskin served as the organization’s Head of Food Business where she oversaw the growth and development of the organization’s corporate engagement program.

Ms. Dreskin is now leading Compassion USA’s growing role in forging a more humane and sustainable food and farming system through measurable farmed animal welfare improvements and protein diversification. She works with many Fortune 500 companies where she seeks to incorporate and bolden the role of animal welfare within corporate sustainability programs. Ms. Dreskin effectively marries her background in corporate marketing, and advertising with her passion for animals rights to aid Compassion in World Farming.

David O'Connor
Permanent Observer of IUCN to the United Nations

David O’Connor is the Permanent Observer of IUCN to the United Nations, representing the international conservation organization in UN negotiations and also organizing, with WCS and the Government of France, a Knowledge Dialogue series to bring the latest conservation science and practice to the attention of international diplomats and policy makers. 

Dr. O’Connor also works as a Sustainable Economist for the World Resources Institute (WRI). 

Prior to his current assignments, he worked for 12 years as Chief of Policy and Analysis in the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, where he and his team supported substantively the negotiations of the UN sustainable development goals (which we know as the SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That experience is recounted in a book, Transforming Multilateral Diplomacy, co-authored with the then Ambassador of Kenya, Macharia Kamau, and Pamela Chasek of Manhattan College. 

He also worked for many years on sustainable development at the OECD Development Centre in Paris.

He holds a B.A. from Yale, an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD from University College London. 

Stephen M. Kohn
Executive Director
National Whistleblower Center

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Stephen M. Kohn is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading whistleblower and qui tam attorneys. He is the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing, making him one of the top experts on whistleblower protection law in the world. Mr. Kohn is also the world’s most published author on whistleblower protection laws. His successful advocacy has resulted in landmark precedents in whistleblower and qui tam law. He helped draft key whistleblower legislation and regulatory rules, including those incorporated into the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Dodd-Frank Act, the IRS Qui Tam whistleblower amendments, and Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The list of his contribution to whistleblower laws and protection seems to never end due to his constant advocacy and care for the cause. One of his most esteemed accomplishments is obtaining the largest reward ever granted to an individual under U.S. whistleblower reward laws and first major award granted under the IRS rewards program ($104 million dollars).
In 1988 Mr. Kohn helped found the National Whistleblower Center, where is currently serves, pro bono, as Executive Director. In addition to leading a highly successful qui tam and whistleblower rewards legal practice, Mr. Kohn has represented clients involved with high-profile cases, including the World Trade Center bombing cases, the Oklahoma City bombing case, the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and Linda Tripp in her successful lawsuit against the federal government for illegally releasing her work record. When Northeastern University awarded Mr. Kohn the prestigious Daynard Public Interest Fellowship, they described him as a “social justice path-breaker” and “distinguished practitioner of public interest law” who serves as a role model “demonstrating how legal skills can be used effectively and creatively to make the world a better place.” He is currently a part-time lecturer at Northeastern University School of Law.
“Whistleblowing is work related speech honest civil servants who step forward and document waste, fraud, and corruption at work must have the same constitutional protections as other citizens”

Dr. Alex Dehgan Chief Executive Officer
and Founder
Conservation X Labs

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Dr. Alex Dehgan is a Creative serial innovator, entrepreneur, scientist, and experienced diplomat and development leader, specializing in creative approaches to taking on and solving grand challenges in conservation, development, and foreign affairs,with a record of success in more than 80 countries on six continents. He is the co-founder of Conservation X Labs, focused on harnessing exponential technologies, open innovation, and entrepreneurship for conservation, including launching the first Grand Challenge for Conservation on Aquaculture. He is also The Chanler Innovator in Residence at Duke University (and previously served as the Inaugural Rubenstein Fellow at Duke), where he researches and lectures on technology and innovation for conservation and development.

Dr. Dehgan recently served as the Chief Scientist at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He founded and headed the Office of Science and Technology, and provided the vision to help create the Global Development Lab. Prior to coming to USAID, Dr. Dehgan worked in multiple positions within the Office of the Secretary, and with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, at the U.S. Department of State. There he developed political and science diplomacy strategies towards addressing our most challenging foreign policy issues in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and the greater Islamic world, including initiating the Obama Administration’s diplomatic efforts with Iran through science diplomacy working with Amb. Dennis Ross, and serving as a liaison to the late Amb. Richard Holbrooke.

Dr. Dehgan was also the founding Afghanistan Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Program. Through his leadership, WCS led efforts to create Afghanistan’s first national park (and later its second), conducted the first comprehensive biological surveys of the country in 30 years, and curtailed illegal wildlife trade on US and ISAF military bases. Dr. Dehgan is also the author of The Snowleopard Project, a story of the heroic effort to save and preserve Afghanistan’s wildlife-and a culture that derives immense pride and a sense of national identity from its natural landscape.

Dr Eroic Dinerstein
Director of Biodiversity
and Wildlife Solutions
at RESOLVE

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Dr. Eric Dinerstein is Director of WildTech and the Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions program at RESOLVE. Prior to his experience at RESOLVE, Dr. Dinerstein was Chief Scientist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). With the World Wildlife Fund, he led many of the organization’s most important scientific projects, including the Global 200 Ecoregions, examples of which form the basis of his book Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations. Dr. Dinerstein is also the author of The Kingdom of Rarities, The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros and What Elephants Know: A Novel, among other articles and publications.

Beginning in 1975, he conducted pioneering studies of tigers and their prey and led conservation programs for large mammals, such as the greater one-horned rhinoceros and Asiatic elephant. Along with Dr. Eric Wikramanayake, Dr. Dinerstein mapped tiger conservation landscapes, designed the Terai Arc Landscape in Nepal and India, and came up with the idea of a Global Tiger Summit, staged in November 2010, to double the wild tiger population. Mr. Dinerstein helped create the conservation plans for many iconic places—including the Galapagos, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Himalayas, the panda mountains of China, and the northern Great Plains of Montana. He has conservation experience in many countries and has published widely on large mammal conservation.

Glenn Prickett
Founder
Rock Creek Strategies

As head of Rock Creek Strategies, LLC, Prickett brings more than 30 years of experience in sustainability, government relations and corporate practices.

He was Chief External Officer at The Nature Conservancy, founded and led the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business at Conservation International, and was a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation to help shape core elements of an effective global response to climate change.

He also served in the Clinton Administration as chief environmental advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he coordinated policy and budget for U.S. environmental and energy assistance to developing nations.

Bruce Rich
Visiting Scholar, Environmental Law Institute.

Bruce Rich is an attorney and writer who has published extensively on the environment in developing countries and development in general. He is the author of a major critique and history of the World Bank, Mortgaging the Earth: The World Bank, Environmental Impoverishment, and the Crisis of Development (Beacon Press 1994,1995; Island Press 2013). Mortgaging was widely acclaimed in reviews ranging from the New York Times to Le Monde Diplomatique. More recently, Foreclosing the Future: The World Bank and the Politics of Environmental Destruction (Island Press 2013) recounts, through the prism of the World Bank, the geopolitics of the global environment and examines the worldwide challenges of governance, climate change, corruption, and the tension between political economy and ecology.

Awarded the United Nations Environment Program Global 500 Award for Environmental Achievement, he has testified many times before the U.S. Congress concerning U.S. participation in international financial institutions. Rich has written for publications such as the Financial Times, The Ecologist, and The Nation, as well as for Environmental Forum, the policy journal of the Washington DC Environmental Law Institute, where he is a Visiting Scholar.

Isabel Jarrett
Manager
Ending Harmful Fisheries
Subsidies at The Pew Charitable Trusts

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Isabel Jarrett manages Pew’s campaign to reduce harmful fisheries subsidies, which is working with the World Trade Organization to reduce the billions of dollars in government payments that contribute to unsustainable fishing. Previously, Ms. Jarrett was an associate manager of Pew’s program executive team, which executes Pew’s projects and advances the institution’s mission. She also launched the organization’s global shark conservation efforts in Asia, and contributed to implementing landmark measures governing international trade in sharks and rays at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

Before joining Pew, she worked on shark conservation for BLOOM Hong Kong.

Ms. Jarrett holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and French from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and a master’s in international public policy from University College London.

Jon Lovvorn
Faculty Co-Director
Yale Law School

Jonathan Lovvorn is Faculty Co-Director of the Law, Ethics & Animals Program at Yale Law School, a Senior Research Scholar, and Lecturer in Law.

Lovvorn’s teaching and scholarship focuses on the intersection of animal law, environmental law, and food policy, and the search for practical legal solutions that advance diverse public interest causes. Lovvorn and Professor Doug Kysar co-teach the Climate, Animal, Food, and Environmental Law & Policy Lab, which provides a creative space for students, faculty, outside experts, and non-governmental organizations to devise and propagate novel legal and policy strategies to compel industrial animal agriculture to pay the uncounted and externalized costs these operations saddle upon animals, workers, communities, and the environment.

He has taught courses on animal and environmental law at Harvard, Georgetown, and NYU law schools, and litigated extensively on behalf of animals and the environment.

Lovvorn also serves Chief Counsel for Animal Protection Litigation for the Humane Society of the United States, and as a board member and/or legal advisor to other animal and environmental protection organizations. He holds an LL.M. in Environmental Law from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, and a J.D. from University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Janet Maro
Executive Director
Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania

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Janet Maro is the founder of Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), an award winning non-profit organization that focuses on the expansion of small-scale sustainable agricultural practices. Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) seeks to link farmers, educators, researchers, and government in order to develop and inspire agro-ecological knowledge. Ms. Maro hopes to spread the sentiment that small-scale farmers can use agroecological knowledge to economically provide for their families, all while conserving the environment, and reducing the strain on natural resources.

Janet Maro is also a graduate of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) where she received a Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness. It was at Sokoine University where Ms. Maro demonstrated her agricultural prowess and natural leadership ability graduating with enough extra credits for two additional semesters. After, Ms. Maro attended Cavendish University (CUZ) where she received a Master of Science in Project Management, a high level management program. Her studies, genuine passion, and skill make Ms. Maro a prominent and effective leader in sustainable agriculture.

“we need to have more and more farmers take control and have a choice in determining the future of our food system.”

Max Elder
Research Director, Food Futures Lab
Institute For The Future

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Max Elder is a Research Director in the Food Futures Lab at Institute for the Future, the world’s leading futures thinking organization. Mr. Elder has led work around the world with food companies like Barilla, Hershey’s, and Campbell’s; major foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and innovative technology companies like Google and Intel.

He sits on the advisory boards of Food Shot Global and Food Systems for the Future. Mr. Elder is also the youngest fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, a global think tank pioneering ethical perspectives on animals.

Max Elder has written for, and been quoted in The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, Quartz, FastCompany, and many others. He has published in dozens of peer-reviewed journals and books; his research is taught at universities across the world, including Harvard Law and Oxford University; and he speaks globally on topics related to food systems and ethics.

Danielle Nierenberg
President
The Food Tank

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In 2013, Danielle Nierenberg co-founded Food Tank with Bernard Pollack, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Food Tank is a global convener, research organization, and creates original research about impacts of the current food system.

Food Tank’s Summits are held internationally and across the US. The organization partners with over 70 major organizations including academic institutions like George Washington University and Tufts; U.N. organizations like the FAO, UNEP, and IFAD.

Ms. Nierenberg’s knowledge of global agriculture issues has been cited in major print and broadcast outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CBS This Morning, The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Le Monde (France), and many more.

Ms. Nierenberg has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

“It’s time for the world to realize that farmers and the natural environment are not obstacles to sustainable growth, but preconditions for it”

Rosie Wardle
Programme Director
Jeremy Coller Foundation

Rosie Wardle is the Jeremy Coller Foundation’s Programme Director, leading the factory farming programmes.

Rosie holds a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages and Linguistics from the University of Oxford, and an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

An active supporter of a number of animal protection charities, Rosie is passionate about animal rights and welfare and the post-animal economy.

Patrick Ramage
IFAW

Patrick Ramage has advised major companies and testified before the United States Congress, all with one goal in mind: to rescue whales. 

Under his leadership, IFAW has been at the forefront of worldwide efforts to reduce ocean noise, mitigate disruptive shipping routes, and end commercial whaling.  Patrick has helped call out indefensible whaling practices in Iceland, Norway and Japan, and helped shift petroleum company construction in Russia away from the Western Gray Whale’s nursing grounds. By maintaining strategic partnerships and open dialogues with leading scientists, government officials, industry executives, media representatives, mariners, fishermen, and shipping organizations, Patrick is advancing practical solutions to the most urgent threats against whales.

Patrick has worked with IFAW for more than two decades, leading more than a dozen delegations to the International Whaling Commission. He has represented IFAW at the Arctic Council, and the World Trade Organization, and served as an NGO delegate to the UN Conference on Environment and Development, and the UN Conference on Population and Development. Early in his career, Patrick completed Survival, Evasion, Resistance to Interrogation and Escape (SERE) training with the British Special Air Service (SAS).

Astrid Tuuli Grace Determan
Founder
EPIC Animals

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Astrid Tuuli Grace Determan founded, at age 5, EPIC-Animals, a program that teaches kids about endangered animals and how to take legislative and institutional action to save them. EPIC stands for Every Person Initiate Change, it’s a call to action. Astrid believes that messages delivered from young kids have an innate magical quality – a grace – that appeals to everyone from industrialists, to politicians. The early engagement also prepares kids to better manage the planet, which soon will be theirs.

At the age of 6, Astrid successfully testified on behalf of endangered animals before the Maryland State Legislature Environmental Committee stating, “if we don’t take action, we will lose these beautiful creatures; we will lose ourselves.”And, just weeks ago, Astrid returned from Rome where she implored world religious leaders of every faith “to learn from the wolves”. 

Astrid has growing partnerships with NGOs in many countries including the Vatican where she will adapt for children the Pope’s Encyclical, Laudato Si, together with indigenous kids from the epicenter of climate change and deforestation and poaching. Astrid is most deeply engaged with AfricaASAP in Tanzania and Global Choices in Finland because she believes these two bold initiates will fundamentally change the lives of animals on land and in the sea.

Tim Scott
Policy Advisor on Environment

Tim Scott serves as Policy Advisor on Environment with the Sustainable Development Cluster of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the United Nations Development Programme. He is responsible for ensuring synergies between the work of the Environment and Natural Capital Team, other environmental programming, and UNDP’s broader work on the social, economic and governance dimensions of sustainable development.

In addition to providing policy support through UNDP’s environmental and sustainable development portfolio, Tim oversees UNDP’s inclusive green economy work, and represents UNDP in the Environment Management Group. Tim has worked for more than fifteen years with UNDP, as well as with the public sector and civil society on issues of sustainable development and the intersection between environmental sustainability, economic growth and social progress. His previous UNDP assignments include a focus on green economy (2012-2014), climate change (2011-2012), human development reports (2004-2011), the MDGs, trade, and economic management (2001-2004).

Tim has published on environment and development themes including climate change, migration, and human security, and served as Assistant Editor for the Journal of Human Development (2006-2009). He received BA and MA degrees with high honors from the Universities of New Hampshire and Virginia

James Workman
Founder
Aquashares

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James G. Workman is the founder of Aquashares, a California-based company that helps water authorities solve their tragedy of the commons with the world’s first online water savings market platform.

AquaShares ensures environmental resilience, social equity for current and future generations, and economic efficiency for water users seeking flexibility for personal use and business. They accomplish this by addressing customer-specific needs, integrating new technologies, and adapting 10,000 years of perspective in how durable cultures have turned conflict into cooperation and scarcity into abundance.

Mr. Workman is responsible for developing and adapting AquaShares’ assets to meet demands from our public, non-profit and private clients. He draws on three decades experience as an investigative journalist, White House appointed speechwriter, award-winning author of several books, senior communications advisor under Nelson Mandela’s World Commission on Dams, and program director focused on natural resource conservation markets for water, wildlife, forests and fish. Mr. Workman also wrote the award-winning Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought. He graduated with honors from Yale, studied two terms at Oxford, and was visiting professor at Wesleyan and Whitman colleges. However, Mr. Workman says that his real education came from his experiences fighting for the betterment of the environment, and from his experiences of being a father.

Jim Procanik
Executive Director
Veridium Foundation

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Jim Procanik, is a serial entrepreneur who has developed and run businesses in several countries and in several industries but found his true calling while working on the pre-eminent “REDD” project called the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve (www.rimba-raya.com). As a co-founder of InfiniteEARTH with Todd Lemons (www.infinite-earth.com), he saw first-hand the struggle that exists between our consumption based economic model and the devastation it often causes in the environment. While working in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), he watched as the land was cleared, burned and cultivated for various crops but primarily Oil Palm plantations. Later, he founded Green Projects, the mission of which is to work in industries that make a difference and “disrupt” the normal consumption model of consumer behavior though market based conservation or “green/sustainable” retail concepts. He is co-founder of the Veridium Ecosystem, built on the STELLAR Blockchain, which is a collaborative initiative between a coalition of industry leaders. He is also its Executive Director. Veridium is creating a tokenized marketplace for natural capital (environmental) assets, beginning with carbon credit assets.

“As long as we continue to overconsume items we don’t necessarily need, we will continue to further degrade our environment and in fact, “borrow from our children’s future”.

Dr. Brian Von Herzen
Executive Director
Climate Foundation

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Dr. Brian Von Herzen obtained degrees in physics, engineering and planetary science from Princeton and Caltech, respectively, where he was a Hertz Fellow. At Princeton, Dr.worked closely with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). His dissertation on global climate models validated orbital variation effects on climate. At Caltech, Dr. Von Herzen worked on the overabundance of carbon in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Little did he know that a decade later we would be addressing this very problem for the Earth. By restoring natural carbon cycles, we can restore food productivity of Earth while concurrently balancing carbon.

Dr. Von Herzen serves as Executive Director of the Climate Foundation and leads projects on land and sea with research groups in India, Africa, USA and the Pacific Ocean. Over the last decade, he has developed Marine Permaculture to restore fish productivity in subtropical oceans, to ensure economically and ecologically sustainable food security. Dr. Von Herzen has been conducting research in Woods Hole regarding autonomous guidance of Marine Permaculture arrays. He also researched, developed and commercialized biochar reactors for sanitation that produce biochar (organic charcoal for agricultural purposes) which holds carbon in the soil for thousands of years.

Stefanie Spear
CEO, Stellar Consulting

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Stefanie Spear works with people and organizations leading the charge for change. She has more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneur and leader in the grassroots environmental movement with a focus on communications + marketing.

She is the founder of EcoWatch, Expedite Renewable Energy and Stellar Consulting, where she is helping move the needle on the most critical issues impacting people + planet. In January 2020, Stefanie will be joining the crew of eXXpedition, an all-women crew sailing around the world to raise awareness about the devastating environmental and health impacts of single-use plastics, by participating in one of the legs during the voyage. Follow Stefanie at @StefanieSpear.

Stephanie Feldstein
Director, Population & Sustainability
Centre for Biological Diversity

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Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Director, leads the Center’s work to highlight and address threats to endangered species and wild places from runaway human population growth and overconsumption. Previously Stephanie worked for Change.org, where she helped hundreds of people start and win online campaigns to protect wildlife. She created the innovative Take Extinction Off Your Plate campaign, and her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, NPR, Salon, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and more.

She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in creative writing, where she won a Hopwood Award and the Jeffrey L. Weisberg Memorial Prize for poetry.

 She has years of experience in organizing, outreach and communications, with a focus on animals and the environment. She is the author of The Animal Lover’s Guide to Changing the World (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2018).

Dr Curt Stager
Professor
Paul Smiths University

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Dr. Curt Stager is the first recipient of the Lussi-Draper Endowed Chair in lake Ecology and Paleoecology, and currently teaches at Paul Smith’s College in upstate New York. He also holds a research associate post at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, where he continues to investigate the long-term history of climate in Africa, South America, and the northeastern United States.

Dr. Stager is an ecologist, paleoclimatologist, and science journalist with a Ph.D. in biology and geology from Duke University (1985). He has published over three dozen peer-reviewed articles in major journals including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and has written extensively for general audiences in periodicals such as National Geographic, The New York Times, Fast Company, and Adirondack Life. Since 1990, he has also co-hosted Natural Selections, a weekly science program on North Country Public Radio that is syndicated internationally, and has toured widely to offer presentations on his research to audiences ranging, as one colleague put it, “from middle-schoolers to formal scholars.”

In 2013, he was named the New York State Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.

Richard Schiffman
Author

Richard Schiffman is a poet based in New York City, and a freelance environment journalist who writes frequently about animals and conservation issues.

His has work appear frequently in the New York Times as well as Scientific American, the Atlantic and on National Public Radio.

He is the author of two biographies. His latest book of nature-based poems “What the Dust Doesn’t Know” was published by Salmon Poetry.

Leilani Münter
Professional Stock Car Race Driver, Biologist,
and Environmentalist

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Leilani Münter is a biology graduate, professional race car driver and environmental activist. She was born and raised in Minnesota. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology specializing in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California San Diego. While attending college, she worked as a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. She started racing cars in 2001 and spent six years working her way up the NASCAR ranks. Then in 2007 Ms. Münter received an incredible call from an IndyCar team and later that year she became the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro Series.

Ms. Münter has been adopting an acre of rainforest for every race she runs. She uses her race car to get environmental messages in front of the 75 million race fans in the USA. Her race cars have carried messages about renewable energy from wind and solar power in addition to clean energy legislation. Ms. Münter has also been active in the effort to end cetacean captivity and has run the documentaries The Cove and Blackfish on her race cars. Since then, Discovery’s Planet Green named her the #1 eco athlete in the world. In addition, ELLE Magazine awarded her their Genius Award and Sports Illustrated named her one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world. She is an avid advocate for solar power, electric cars, plant-based diet and animal rights. Leilani is active in lobbying for these causes in Washington, DC and beyond.

Off of the racetrack Ms. Münter remains very active. She is on the board of the Oceanic Preservation Society, a non-profit that creates film, photography and media, inspiring people to save the oceans. They won an Academy Award for their first documentary The Cove and Ms. Münter is featured in their 2015 documentary Racing Extinction. She is also an Ambassador for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, an organization she has been volunteering for since 2010. She also sits on the board of advisors of The Solutions Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to 100% renewable energy.

“If Americans alone reduced their meat consumption by just 10%, it would free up enough land to grow 12 million tons of grain – enough to save the six million children under the age of 5 that die every year as a result of hunger.”

Royden Saah
Program Coordinator,
Genetic Biocontrol
Island Conservation

Mr. Saah holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and a Master of Science in Microbiology from North Carolina State University, USA.

He is the Program Coordinator for the Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents Partnership (GBIRd) to safely, effectively, and ethically develop and evaluate the suitability of engineered mice with the potential to control, or even eradicate, introduced, damaging (invasive) populations on islands. Mr. Saah has a wealth of experience in multifaceted projects that includes leading the construction of a children’s’ hospital lab in Monrovia, Liberia during the West African Ebola outbreak and managing a multi-agency health-preparedness effort during a 2012 national political convention. 

He has spoken at the White House Conference Center and at United Nations Conventions on the importance of this technology investigation and the required safety mechanisms needed during development. He is a molecular microbiologist by training and has been recognized by the directors of the both the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Kelly O'Donnell
Director of Science Forward
at Macaulay Honors College

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Kelly O’Donnell is the director of Science Forward at Macaulay Honors College.

Dr. O’Donnell is an evolutionary ecologist with an interest in invasive plants and plant response to the novel conditions of the urban environment. She has conducted research on invasive Japanese knotweed and compared natural selection dynamics of that species with a non-invasive relative, woodland knotweed. Dr. O’Donnell is very interested in undergraduate science education and outreach. At Stony Brook where she received her doctorate, she created video podcasts for an introductory biology laboratory and investigated the effect of these podcasts on student performance and attitudes.

Dr. O’Donnell has an urban flora project with the Encyclopedia of Life that involves the creation of an urban plant educational resource featuring species that live in New York City.

Gopal Patel
Director
Bhumi Project

Gopal Patel serves as Director of the Bhumi Project, an international initiative that works with Hindu communities to address global environmental concerns, such as climate change.

Over the past 10 years the Bhumi Project has run campaigns to make Hindu temples environmentally-friendly, protecting tigers and lions in India, and training young people for climate action. Current major areas of work include training religious leaders in India about the importance of renewable energy, and promoting climate-friendly lifestyles within Hindu communities in the US.

In the lead-up to the Paris climate change negotiations in 2015, the Bhumi Project issued the Hindu declaration on climate change. Signed by over 60 major Hindu organisations and leaders, to date it is has been the most widely-adopted statement on climate change from the Hindu community.

In addition to his work within the Hindu community, Gopal also serves as Director of International Community Engagement at GreenFaith, bringing together different faith groups for climate action.

Gopal currently serves on the multi-faith Advisory Council of the UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and as Advisor to the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Gopal is a graduate of King’s College, London, and has spent time living in Hindu ashrams in India and England. He currently lives in New York City.

Beth Allgood
U.S. Country Director
IFAW

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Beth assures the strategic development and implementation of U.S. projects and campaigns with special emphasis on U.S. role in ivory trade, wildlife trafficking, and wildlife security issues. Beth oversaw the strategic development and implementation of IFAW’s (International Fund for Animal Welfare) U.S. campaigns to protect whales from threats, address global wildlife crime and protect elephants. She leads IFAW’s innovative work to look beyond GDP for alternatives that better promote happiness and well-being for people and animals. Beth holds a Master’s of Science in Business Management from Boston University. In addition to IFAW, Allgood serves as a board advisor for Gross National Happiness USA, which aims to increase personal happiness and our collective wellbeing by changing how we measure progress and success. Prior to IFAW, Beth worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy and the Congressional Liaison and Government Aid Agency Liaison for the World Wildlife Fund in D.C.

“Can we create a new global system that looks at replacing a push for short-term growth of economic activity with a long term sustainable growth in wellbeing for people, animals and the planet? This is important for the health of our oceans, our whales, and ultimately for us.”

Dr. Todd Kuiken
Senior Researcher
Genetic Engineering & Society Centre
North Carolina State University

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Dr. Todd Kuiken is a Senior Research Scholar at the Genetic Engineering & Society Center at North Carolina State University. Prior to that, Kuiken was a Senior Program Associate with the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Wilson Center where he explored the scientific and technological frontier, stimulating discovery and bringing new tools to bear on public policy challenges that emerge as science advances.

He was the principal investigator on the Wilson Center’s Synthetic Biology Project, where he had numerous projects evaluating and designing new research and governance strategies to proactively address the biosafety, biosecurity and environmental risks associated with synthetic biology. Dr. Kuiken was recently appointed to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group.  He is also the human practices chairperson of the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition and a founding member of its biosafety/biosecurity committee.

Dr. Kuiken has provided expert testimony in front of the U.S. National Security Agency Advisory Board, the U.S. National Academies of Science, the United Nations Bioweapons Convention, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, has been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, and is a regular speaker on public policy issues related to nanotechnology and synthetic biology.

Dr. Kuikem got his B.S. in Environmental Management and Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology. He earned an M.A. in Environmental and Resource Policy from The George Washington University. Dr. Kuiken then earned his Ph.D. from Tennessee Tech University where his research focused on the air/surface exchange of mercury associated with forest ecosystems.

Theanne Schiros
Asst. Professor, Science & Sustainability
Fashion Institute of Technology
Co-founding Scientific Advisor, AlgiKnit

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Theanne Schiros, PhD, is Assistant Professor at FIT, where she teaches physics, chemistry and sustainability courses. She is the FIT coordinator and faculty lead for the international Biodesign Challenge, guiding students on how to rethink textiles through technology, biology and sustainable design. Dr. Schiros is also a Visiting Scholar and Principal Investigator at Columbia University in the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), as well as the diversity liaison, working collaboratively across the center to explore 2-D materials for next generation, post-silicon electronic devices, and catalysts for clean energy applications. Schiros is engaged in international sustainable development with organizations such as Engineers without Borders (Haiti) and the Finca Morpho Permaculture collective (Costa Rica).

Dr. Schiros has published her work in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has been the recipient of multiple grants to support this work, including the National Geographic Chasing Genius Award (Sustainable Planet), and was the United Nations ECOWAS Fellow for Sustainable Energy Engineering, the NYSERDA Fellow, and an EFRC Fellow for next generation photovoltaic devices at Columbia University in the area of nanomaterials science and engineering. She is the co-founder of Algiknit, a start-up developing kelp-based biomaterials and bioyarn for sustainable textiles in a closed loop life cycle.

Mary Ellen Hannibal
Author
Citizen Scientist

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Mary Ellen Hannibal is an award-winning author and journalist.

Her most recent book, Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction, was named one of the best titles of 2016 by the San Francisco Chronicle. Reporting deeply, Hannibal digs into the origins of today’s tech-savvy citizen science movement – tracing it back through centuries of amateur observations by writers and naturalists.

Prompted by her novelist father’s sudden death, she connects the activity of bearing witness to nature today with a broad inquiry into time, place, and purpose. Hannibal’s previous books include The Spine of the Continent, about which Publisher’s Weekly said, “This is what science writing should be: fascinating and true.” Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Science, Anthropocene, Nautilus, and many other publications.

She is a frequent speaker and emissary between science and a general audience.

Mitchell Joachim
Co-Founder
Terreform ONE

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Mitchell Joachim is a leader in ecological design and urbanism. He is a co-founder of Terreform ONE and Terrefuge, and is on the faculty at Columbia University and Parsons. Formerly he was an architect at Gehry Partners and Pei Cobb Freed, and he has been awarded the Moshe Safdie Research Fellowship.

Joachim won the History Channel and Infiniti Design Excellence Award for the City of the Future, and Time Magazine‘s “Best Invention of the Year 2007” for his Compacted Car with MIT’s Smart Cities. His project, Fab Tree Hab, has been exhibited at MoMA and widely published. He was chosen by Wired for “The 2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To.”

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“The ideas that we proffer are based on off-the-shelf existing technologies. We just change the solution-bases and do things that aren’t necessarily as obvious. We don’t have a problem with thinking about science fiction — in fact we actually embrace it.” — Mitchell Joachim

The Venice Biennale. He earned: PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MAUD Harvard University, MArch Columbia University.