Carri Beer, AIA Owner of CommONEcology Regenerative Design Studio in Baltimore, Maryland
Ms. Beer graduated with a master of Architecture degree from Texas Tech University with special study in sustainable design. She has experience with commercial and residential projects, government clients and private residential clients. Ms. Beer became one of Maryland’s first LEED Accredited Professionals in 2001 and consulted on several of the region’s early LEED projects. She received her Permaculture Design Certificate from Charm City Farms in 2017 and an Advanced Permaculture Social Systems Design certification from the Permaculture Women’s Guild in 2020. Ms. Beer is project architect and manager on new high performance, healthy homes and small community buildings, permaculture -based landscape design, and regenerative neighborhood planning. She focuses on creating architecture and places that are whole restorative systems and address high energy performance, building science, healthy indoor air quality, natural materials, resiliency, site and water restoration and social equity.

As a regionally-recognized water resources practitioner and leader for 32 years, Mr. Der 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, 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 successfully leading major new initiatives to regulate and restore Chesapeake Bay water resources. His specialties include water resource permitting, compliance, assessment, Clean Water Act, wetland and waterway compliance, NPDES, TMDL, and stormwater management. Mr. Der is an appointed industry representative of the U. S. EPA. He is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council Citizens Advisory Committee, Maryland Patuxent River Commission, and Montgomery County, Maryland Executive’s Water Quality Advisory Commission.

Lori A. Lilly, CEP, CBLP Executive Director at Howard EcoWorks, Maryland
Ms. Lilly is a natural resource management professional with an M.S. degree in Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science and over 15 years of cumulative experience in watershed planning and implementation, project management, water quality monitoring and grant writing. She is a leader and an independent thinker with a passion for environmental issues and a demonstrated commitment to improving water resources through grassroots efforts. Ms. Lilly initiated, developed and managed a debris management program in flood-prone Ellicott City, Maryland and provides local and regional leadership for biochar soil amendments to reduce runoff and enhance the effectiveness of best management practices. Ms. Lilly founded Howard EcoWorks in 2016, to be a regional force for social and environmental change. EcoWorks engages and educates the community about environmental sustainability and restoration, while creating pathways to green jobs through workforce development programs.

Peter I. May
Assistant Research Professor, University of Maryland, Department of Environmental Science and Technology
Professor May has a PhD degree from the University of Maryland’s Marine, Estuarine, Environmental Sciences (MEES) program. He has more than 30 years of experience in the environmental sector and has a strong knowledge base in the ecological sciences working in applied restoration projects in municipal, state and federal government, NGO’s and the private and academic sectors. Professor May has a comprehensive background in urban coastal ecologies, the ecology and restoration of tidal marshes, and urban stream and big river system restoration. He has applied his skills to numerous projects throughout Maryland and Washington, DC. These projects have involved applications of novel ecotechnologies as well as tidal wetland restoration planning, design, implementation and monitoring, stream and forest restoration, watershed management and neighborhood to city scale low-impact development projects in urban areas. He has a strong academic and applied background in the emerging fields and philosophies of ecological engineering, embodied energy and environmental accounting. Professor May is currently an assistant research professor at UMD’s Department of Environmental Science and Technology and Affiliated Faculty in the Landscape Architecture Program.

Chris Mourlas Residential Reforestation LLC, Native Landscapes: Environmental Services, Maryland
Mr. Mourlas is an experienced environmental contractor with 30+ years in the restoration industry. He is a certified arborist and a Certified Chesapeake Bay professional landscaper. Mr. Mourlas has been involved in the restoration and management of hundreds of acres of forest, wetland, stream and buffer environments throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic. Also, he is a certified herbicide applicator in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Mr. Mourlas is dedicated to comprehensive solutions to invasive species management and the re-establishment of diverse native habitat communities within multi-use urban and rural open spaces including woodland patches, stream and lake edge buffers and the “soft edge” transitional areas.

Ms. Toker is an experienced sustainability professional, real estate lawyer and urban policy expert with a history of working at the intersection of urban real estate development, economic development, sustainable cities, green building and infrastructure, and restoration of small-scale natural areas in the urban space. In her work as president of Urban Ecosystem Restorations (UER), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit urban land trust, she has been actively engaged in developing and implementing creative solutions to the many environmental challenges facing our urban areas. Ms. Toker received her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and her B.A. degree, with University Honors and Distinction, from Stanford University. Ms. Toker is currently pursuing a Master of Environmental Leadership and Environmental Management at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment (expected May 2022). She is also a certified Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional, a LEED Accredited Professional, and Weed Warrior in Montgomery County (for invasive plant removal).