Benjamin Vogt is owner of Prairie Up, formerly Monarch Gardens, offering garden design, online classes, workshops, webinars, and guidebooks. He is the author of A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future, as well as Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design. His forthcoming book, Unlawning America, will be released by Timber Press in 2026/27. Benjamin’s work has been featured in Dwell, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Midwest Living, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He is based in Nebraska and works nationally.

Benjamin will join us virtually.

Alrfred “Freddy” Bascom is a Tree Planting Supervisor at The Maryland Forest Service and a Program Manager for the 5 Million Trees Initiative. Freddy has supported The Maryland Forest Service as a member of the 5 Million Trees team since October 2023 (Tree Planting Specialist) and has been the Tree Planting Supervisor for Maryland's Eastern and Southern region since August 2024. Freddy has conveyed the importance of planting native trees and shrubs, planned and coordinated tree planting projects on private and public lands, supervised tree plantings, and has worked with community groups and community members to increase participation in Maryland's Five Million Trees Initiative. Freddy is also a United States Air Force Veteran, a proud alumni of the Maryland Veterans Conservation Corps (Maryland Park Service), Nature Photographer, and Gardener.

Vanessa Bright LMSW, is the founder of the Maryland Reentry Resource Center and Greenlift, blending mental health, reentry support, and business leadership to promote resilience and empowerment. She holds a Master of Social Work from Catholic University and an MBA from Howard University, integrating clinical expertise with business strategy. Her work emphasizes nature-inspired therapy and sustainable employment for returning citizens through environmental stewardship. Vanessa is also the author of Create Your LifePlan Now: Your Roadmap to Reentry, a guide for incarcerated individuals preparing for returning home.

Gabe Cohee joined the Resilience Authority in October 2024. Prior to that, he worked at the Department of Natural Resources providing technical and financial resources to communities and governments to address non-point pollution through nature-based and natural solutions. Gabe directed the state’s Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund for over 10 years, leading the investment of more than $500M into local projects that improved water quality, habitat, and climate resilience. In his final year at the department, Gabe served as a liaison to the Chesapeake Bay Program working across the watershed states and District of Columbia to develop goals for continued success in Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection.

Jens Geratz - bio coming soon

Brian Glazer is a professor in the Department of Oceanography, in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and cofounder and CEO of Hohonu, Inc. As an oceanography professor, his research focuses on understanding how ocean chemistry, physics, and biology work together, in extreme environments like deep-sea underwater volcanoes, but also throughout coastal watersheds. He is a self-described non-engineer, but a hard-core “tinkerer”, and has always worked closely with engineers to build new sensors, instruments, and data solutions to better understand the environment.

Brian will join us virtually.

Karen Jennings - bio coming soon

Dr. Rattan Lal is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University; an Adjunct Professor of the University of Iceland and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute; and a Visiting Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. Dr. Lal is widely recognized globally as a pioneer in soil-centric agricultural management to improve food security globally and develop climate-resilient agriculture through soil carbon sequestration, sustainable intensification, enhancing use and efficiency of agroecosystems, sustainable management of soils, and soil health.

Austin Lewis is the Owner of Bay Life Brokerage, Maryland's only life insurance brokerage using business to clean and restore the Chesapeake Bay.

Follow Austin on Instagram: @baylifebrokerage

DeAndre Myers - is a 29 year-old native of Annapolis, MD and a returning citizen who last year successfully completed the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Workforce Initiative of the Maryland Reentry Resource Center. Through it, he earned both CREWS and CBLP-A certificates from the Chesapeake Conservation Landscape Council, Anne Arundel County's credentialing authority for professional restoration landscapers.  

Deandre currently works for Glen Burnie-based iStormwater LLC,  carrying out best stormwater management practices for commercial properties, shopping centers and community facilities.  He attended Rising Star High School in Baltimore and earned his high school  diploma, online, in 2022 from the Stratford Career Institute. 

Erik Michelsen is a Deputy Director for Anne Arundel County’s Department of Public Works, heading its Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration. He works to facilitate the recovery of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries through supporting robust restoration projects and rigorous scientific monitoring efforts, bolstered by broad stakeholder partnerships.

Susan Smith Pagano, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Biology at Rochester Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on avian ecophysiology and nutritional ecology, in particular the role of diet for migrating songbirds at stopover sites in the Northeast. Since arriving at RIT in 2010, she has engaged in projects that investigate the nutritional quality of native fruits for birds and the potential implications of non-native plants for migratory bird health and migration success. In addition to her work at RIT, she is a fellow of the American Ornithological Society and is affiliated with the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory.

Susan will join us virtually.

Abigail Piegols is a Tree Planting Specialist at the Maryland Forest Service specializing in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. She began working with the Maryland Forest Service in September of 2024. She honed her tree planting skills in Washington state working with a public utility as a nursery coordinator. Abby is a Towson University alumni and when she isn't organizing community tree plantings, you can find her rowing on the South River or walking her dog around Annapolis.

Jamie Pullen earned a Master's degree in 2014 from James Madison University, focusing on understory dynamics and invasive species. Since 2015, She’s served as the head biological science technician for BiodiversiTREE at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, overseeing the daily operations of this large-scale restoration experiment. Jamie is passionate about understanding how biodiversity influences forest health and resilience to environmental challenges. She’s excited to share BiodiversiTREE's insights and explore with you the power of biodiversity in shaping resilient forests.

Jeff Ratteree is a Project Manager for Anne Arundel County's Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration. I have been with the County for 7+ years doing both design and construction of large and small scale projects. Each project has it's unique challenges and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the Maritime Conference Center BMP project with you.

Anne Roderer has a long track record in sustainability planning, design, and construction as a campus architect, Anne is now focused on restoration and resilience building at the watershed scale. After recently completing a Masters of Environmental Management, Water Resources, program at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, she is excited to be living back in MD, serving the City of Annapolis in their Stormwater Group, and for opportunities to collaborate with stellar community, scientific and practitioner partners committed to restoring the Bay.

Michael Rossberg is the City of Annapolis Stormwater Program Manager. He has a Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. Over 15 years of combined civil/stormwater experience in the consulting and public sector.

Brennan Smith works as a Senior Engineer with Anne Arundel County. He currently specializes in MS4 permitting and compliance, with a strong focus on GIS spatial analysis and cartography, and an interest in streamlining workflows for watershed assessment, protection and restoration.

Jasmine Wilding is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland. She currently is a stormwater management engineer with the City of Annapolis and prior was the MS4 program manager for Queen Anne’s County. She has over fifteen years of engineering project management experience. She holds a bachelor’s of science in Environmental Engineering and a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She also manages flood mitigation and resiliency projects in Eastport.