Trinity Pierce is the Chicago Region Trees Initiative senior stewardship manager at The Morton Arboretum. She collaborates with community organizations and members to increase awareness and foster action through plantings and ongoing care in order to grow a more diverse, more abundant, and more equitably distributed urban forest. A Certified Arborist, she holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan with a background in history, ecological restoration, and urban green space reconciliation.

Katherine Mills, General Manager for Munstead Wood, is an experienced heritage professional with 14 years in the National Trust. Having run some of the charity’s most significant and popular properties, including Nymans, West Sussex, and Polesden Lacey, Surrey, UK; Katherine was responsible for the final purchase and acquisition of Munstead Wood in April 2023. 

Since acquiring the property, Katherine has recruited a team of individuals to care for the house and garden as well as develop plans for restoring Gertrude Jekyll’s home, providing future access, and securing its long-term future.

Jehane Samaha is the National Urban Nursery Specialist with the US Forest Service. She develops trainings and networking for both urban foresters and nursery growers to improve tree stock quality, enhance connectivity in the urban nursery pipeline, and promotes climate-adaptive genetics for urban trees.

Jehane is based in Philadelphia, serves on the board of UC (University City) Green, and previously worked at PHS (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) and the Morris Arboretum. She is an ISA Certified Municipal Arborist® through the International Society of Arboriculture, and completed a master’s thesis at UBC (University of British Columbia) on street tree species selection.

Della Fetzer is a biologist and entrepreneur. Her company, Rebel Cultures, partners with foresters, farmers, conservationists, greenhouses, and universities to develop low-cost and biodiversity-conscious propagation solutions for seed-scarce plants, and plants that can't be efficiently propagated from seed by using new approaches to tissue culture.

Jamie Biddle is the founding partner and CEO of Verdis Investment Management, a single-family office. He sets the strategic direction of the firm and overseas investment activities, operations, and finance. Jamie is behind portfolio construction, manager sourcing and selection, due diligence and risk management. He is an active member of the Investment Committee.

Jamie brings more than two decades of investing and operating experience across asset classes and industries. Prior to forming Verdis Investment Management in 2004, Jamie was President and CEO of Orcom Solutions. Orcom was an outsourced customer care and billing service for electric, gas, and water utilities across North America. The company was originally purchased by a group of private equity firms (including the Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners) led by Jamie and was sold to Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS) in December 2003. Jamie began his career as a VC at EnerTech Capital Partners, funding technologies in energy and power.

He earned his Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Jamie is the Chairman and President of Andalusia Historic House, Gardens and Arboretum and Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Museum Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

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 40 years. 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 also worked 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 got promoted 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 Middleburg, Pennsylvania before earning a place in the Professional Horticulture Program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. At Longwood, he gained in-depth experience in woody plant propagation and management, later transitioning to a full-time Nursery Horticulturist role.

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, is an encyclopedia that unites classic illustrations, science, folklore, and mythology about more than 400 bird species around the world.

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 York State.

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 passionate about the industry and helping it 'raise the bar.'

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 leaders looking to run their business better and increase the quality of their production.

Celine Colbert is Pennsylvania’s Tree Canopy Coordinator, dedicated to enhancing urban forestry and promoting sustainable tree management across the state. As a Board Certified Master Arborist with a background in forestry, Celine collaborates with local governments, organizations, and communities to implement effective tree planting and maintenance programs offering technical assistance, grant matchmaking, and tools such as the DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) TreeKeeper.

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

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 by 2040. 

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, Massachusetts; the Nasami Farm, a native plant nursery in Whately, Massachusetts; and the expanded seed-processing and storage facilities to support the new Northeast Seed Network. The Network is a regional initiative led by the Native Plant Trust to create a sustainable source of seed to meet the increased demand for native plants.

Johnson has an extensive background in environmental horticulture and biological science from his long-standing career in conservation and botanic garden administration and leadership at Smith College. 

Johnson’s affection for native plants was born from a childhood spent exploring the great outdoors in Wisconsin. His appreciation for the importance of protecting the rarest of plants is from his graduate studies working with threatened orchids on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.

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 earned her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the CUNY (The City University of New York) Graduate Center. Dr. Paltseva’s research focuses on urban soil contamination, particularly heavy metal pollution, and its impact on urban agriculture, ecosystem health, and public well-being. Utilizing advanced technologies, such as portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF), she works on innovative soil remediation strategies in urban environments. 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, promoting environmental education and sustainable land practices. As the author of the Urban Soil Guide, Dr. Paltseva provides practical advice for soil testing and management in urban settings.

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 projects in the City of Philadelphia. Since then, he has held many roles mainly focusing on developing the programs technical skills training. He enjoys working with program members onsite and taking advantage of every learning opportunity that presents itself during the various projects they are assigned. 

Currently, Carlos is the Director of Social Enterprise Operations overseeing the installment and operation of the Philadelphia Reforestation Hub-Urban Wood Sawmill, a private and non-profit partnership with PPR (Philadelphia Parks and Recreation)  and Cambium Carbon designed to support the city’s goal to lower wood waste, improve its tree canopy cover, and meet their workforce development goals. The Reforestation Hub provides advanced training for PowerCorpsPHL members in Sawmill Operation and related fields in tree care. Carlos is working towards becoming a certified arborist and remaining an active member of the arboriculture community. 

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 need. The ambitious goal, set to replicate the number of trees planted in the Foundation’s first 50 years in only five years, has helped spur remarkable growth within the organization and expanded the Foundation’s global reach. Lambe’s leadership is rooted in three guiding principles, including supporting a quality team, bringing an increased focus to planting trees, and instilling a belief that the Foundation’s work can make a lasting difference.

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 U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other high-profile industry events where trees and climate intersect. Lambe is also frequently used as a resource for top news outlets and has been featured on The Weather Channel, CNN, The Washington Post, Associated Press, TIME, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and NPR. Lambe is the author of the book Now is the Time For Trees and even helped set a Guinness World Record for the most people watering plants simultaneously.

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

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 is an internationally recognized, award-winning science communicator who is professionally trained as a conservation biologist. She came to Longwood after making significant contributions in science communications at The Morton Arboretum, serving as a Botany in Action Fellow for three years at Phipps Conservatory, and teaching science communication at collegiate and professional levels.

Jessica holds a Ph.D. in Biology from West Virginia University, an MS in Conservation Science and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a BS from Muskingum University. She is an Editorial Advisor for the Journal Plants, People, Planet. She was the 2020 Emerging Horticulture Professional from the American Horticultural Society, as well as a Chanticleer Scholar in 2022.

Annaliese Bischoff is a Western Massachusetts artist and landscape architect. For the past decade, she has been collecting drawings and etchings of trees by Frank A. Waugh, founder of the Landscape Gardening Program at what is today the University of Massachusetts Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning.

Annaliese received a bachelor’s degree in art from Brown University and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She began her academic career at Kansas State University, where Waugh had studied a century earlier. She taught for forty years at the University of Massachusetts department that Waugh founded. 

Marshall Green is a fourth-generation owner and the dedicated nursery manager at Primex Garden Center in Glenside, Pennsylvania. After growing up around Primex, Marshall attended New England Culinary Institute and pursued a career as a chef in Philadelphia. In 2014 Marshall came home to Primex where he settled in as the woody plants buyer and nursery manager. As the woody plants buyer, Marshall is well attuned to current plant trends and is always looking for the next ‘it’ plant. You can easily spot him in the nursery, typically donning a wide-brimmed straw hat, eager to help and share his extensive knowledge.