Barzen, Jeb

Jeb Barzen, Ecologist at Private Lands Conservation LLC in Spring Green, WI
Mr. Barzen has a B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. degree from University of North Dakota. Both degrees are in Wildlife Biology. For more than 28 years he directed the Field Ecology Department at the International Crane Foundation. That work focused linking crane conservation to private landowners and to meeting the needs of both as well as the needs of ecosystems in which both cranes and people live. Such efforts were based in the concepts of ecosystem restoration. Projects occurred in Wisconsin, China and throughout Southeast Asia. After leaving ICF, Mr. Barzen has used his experience through Private Lands Conservation LLC to focus on developing the economic drivers that will help people implement conservation at ecologically meaningful scales while incorporating ecosystem restoration into those goals.

Mr. Der as a water resources practitioner and manager for 33 years, he provides regulatory and scientific expertise for public and private sector clients, with a commitment to equitable and sustainable solutions to complex projects while specializing in creative linkages between ecology and engineering. Mr. Der has been in private consulting practice since 2001, first as an associate and Director of Environmental Services for two civil engineering firms in the greater Washington, DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas, then, since 2013, principal of his own consulting firm, Andrew T. Der & Associates, LLC. He previously completed 17 years of service with the Maryland Department of the Environment as a manager leading major new initiatives to regulate and restore Chesapeake Bay water resources. Specialties include regulation and compliance; assessment; watershed and feasibility studies; advocacy; nonpoint source pollution; wetland, forest, and stream mitigation/restoration; and water quality. Mr. Der also has extensive expertise in various other federal, state, and local resource regulatory and pollution programs; is an Academy of Board-Certified Environmental Professionals (ABCEP) Certified Environmental Professional (CEP) by eminence; publishes industry-related articles; provides expert testimony and media interviews; and is an appointed industry representative of the U. S. EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council Stakeholder’s Advisory Committee.

Dr. Jairo Garcia develops innovative policies and educational programs to make communities and cities cleaner, sustainable, resilient, and equitable. He is the lead author of Atlanta’s Climate Action Plan, and he led a collaborative effort with more than 40 stakeholders to the 100 Resilient Cities application, awarded to the City of Atlanta in 2016. Dr. Garcia is a member of the Georgia Research Roadmap steering committee, an initiative of the Georgia Climate Project lead by University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Emory University, which has a goal of improving understanding of climate impacts and solutions in Georgia. He received the Individual Climate Leadership Award by the EPA in 2017 and the Green Ring Award by the Climate Reality Project. These awards recognized Dr. Garcia’s leadership in addressing climate change and engaging organizations, peers, and partners. He represented the Mayor of Atlanta at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, and he presented at an event organized by the International Urban Cooperation Programme related to global cooperation to address climate change. Dr. Garcia’s publications on urban sustainability, climate change and sustainability education are numerous. His academic experiences include a position as a research assistant and two teaching assistant positions at Columbia University, a faculty adjunct and thesis advisor position at Concordia University, and faculty adjunct positions for the UCLA-Extension Program, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Garcia holds an engineering degree, an MSc degree in Management of Information Technologies, an MSc degree in Sustainability Management, and a doctoral degree in Educational Technology and Sustainability.

Pennington Marchael  is a Landscape contractor based in Brooklyn and Bedford Hills NY.
Throughout his career he has cultivated a deep understanding of horticulture and ecology which he uses to execute successfully vibrant landscapes. Mr. Marchael has over ten years of experience in project management, landscape construction, and maintenance. In those ten years he has installed and maintained meadows from Virginia to Northern New York with a total of over one hundred fifty acres installed and many more maintained and monitored. Previously working with Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, Eastern Land Management, JW Townsend and other firms. His present focus is growing his business, Pennington Grey, where he aspires to train a new generation of land managers that will lead the landscape industry away from traditional practices and towards a more sustainable and dynamic approach.