When you ask Basil Camu what he thinks about himself, he'll tell you he is incredibly lucky. He has family he loves dearly, friends and colleagues who inspire him, and every day he gets to care for trees, soil, and flowers. He pursues his purpose and passions as the co-founder of Leaf & Limb, a tree care company in Raleigh, NC, and Project Pando, a non-profit that aims to connect people to trees. He is a Treecologist, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, Duke graduate, Wizard of Things, and author of the book From Wasteland to Wonder – Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Seattle Times, Forbes, Gardenista, The Joe Gardener Show, The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast, A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach, and a number of other publications and podcasts.

When Basil is not having fun at work, he likes to pull invasive plants from his pocket forests, contemplate on his front porch, and go hiking with his family.

Neelam Patil, M.Ed., MFA, is a Climate Literacy and Science Teacher in the Berkeley public school system. She was awarded TIME Innovative Teacher of the Year 2022 by TIME Magazine based on her work teaching children they can do something about climate change. Ms. Patil spearheaded the planting of the first Miyawaki schoolyard forests in North America in Berkeley, California. While teaching her students about deforestation, they wanted to do something immediate and impactful. They demanded, ‘Let’s plant trees!’, and the rest is history.

Ms. Patil has been an educator since 2000. Her work specializes in empowering children to face the most pressing challenges of our time through climate resilience, mindfulness, plant based culinary education, and youth urban forestry. She is a certified SKY Breath instructor and recently founded a non-profit, Green Pocket Forests, whose mission is to green urban spaces using the Miyawaki method.