Amy Greene, nature centers director, oversees operations and programming for the Belle Isle Nature Center, supporting stewardship, connection, and equitable access to nature for metro Detroiters. Before joining the Detroit Zoological Society, she spent 13 years teaching science in the metro Detroit area.

Sam is a project manager for the Great Lakes Commission’s aquatic invasive species program. In this role, she coordinates the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative, the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework, the Invasive Mussel Collaborative and the European Frog-bit Collaborative, as well as providing staff support to the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species.

Dr. Missy Stults is the Sustainability and Innovations Director for the City of Ann Arbor. In this role, she works with all city operations, residents, businesses, the University of Michigan, nonprofits, and others to make Ann Arbor one of the most sustainable and equitable cities in America and to implement the A²ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan. Prior to joining the City, Missy worked with cities and tribal communities around the nation to advance their climate and sustainability goals, including during her time as the Climate Director at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and as a consultant to philanthropic organizations. Missy has a PhD in urban resilience from the University of Michigan, a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and undergraduate degrees in Marine Biology and Environmental Science from the University of New England.

Dr. Andrew (Andy) L. Vander Yacht is an Assistant Professor of Silviculture & Forest Ecosystem Management in the Department of Sustainable Resources Management at SUNY ESF. He teaches silviculture, fire ecology and management, and forest management for wildlife. Broadly, he seeks to: 1) understand how disturbance, particularly fire, affects the structure, composition, health, and resiliency of temperate forested ecosystems, and 2) how this knowledge can inform modern forest management. Specifically, he works to advance silvicultural practices in NY and beyond as he explores historical disturbances in forests, plant-soil-fire feedbacks, forest carbon management, fuel ecology, pyric herbivory, the restoration of disturbance-dependent biodiversity, and fire effects on ticks and tick-borne disease. Before SUNY ESF, Andy earned a B.S. in Biology at Hope College (Holland, MI) and M.S. (Wildlife Science) and Ph.D. (Natural Resources) degrees from The University of Tennessee.