Michael Soulé, PhD. is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. He has written and edited nine books on biology, conservation biology, and the social and policy context of conservation. He has published more than 170 articles on population and evolutionary biology, fluctuating asymmetry, population genetics, island biogeography, environmental studies, biodiversity policy, nature conservation, and ethics.

Reed Noss is a writer, photographer, lecturer, and consultant in natural history, ecology, and conservation and serves as Chief Science Advisor for the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. He was formerly Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor of Biology at the University of Central Florida. He received a B.S. in education from the University of Dayton, an M.S. in ecology from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from the University of Florida. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Conservation Biology, Science Editor for Wild Earth magazine, and President of the Society for Conservation Biology. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His recent research topics include disturbance ecology; road ecology; ecosystem conservation and restoration; and vulnerability of species and ecosystems to sea-level rise. He has more than 300 publications, including eight books. His most recently published books are Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation (Island Press, 2013) and Fire Ecology of Florida and the Southeastern Coastal Plain (University Press of Florida, 2018). He is currently working on a book on the endangered ecosystems of North America. 

Andy Kerr is the Czar of The Larch Company and consults on environmental and conservation issues. The Larch Company is a for-profit non-membership conservation organization that represents the interests of humans yet born and species that cannot talk. He is best known for his two decades with the Oregon Wild (then Oregon Natural Resources Council), the organization best known for having brought you the northern spotted owl. Kerr began his conservation career during the Ford Administration.

Through 2017, Kerr has been closely involved in with the establishment or expansion of 46 Wilderness Areas and 47 Wild and Scenic Rivers, 13 congressionally legislated special management areas, 15 Oregon Scenic Waterways, one proclaimed national monument (and later expanded).  He has testified before congressional committees on several occasions.

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Mary Ellen Hannibal is a science writer, journalist, and gifted storyteller. Rewilders will recognize her as the author of Spine of the Continent (2012) in which she described the project of linking protected areas from the Yukon to Mexico that stems largely from the visionary work of Dave Foreman and Michael Soule. In Citizen Scientist, (New York: The Experiment, 2016), she succinctly defines citizen science as “the widening practice of noncredentialled people taking part in scientific endeavors.” Long a participant in citizen science projects in California where she lives, concerned about such threats as global climate change and extinction, she wondered if the volunteer efforts of amateurs like her would really make any difference in addressing such monumental threats. Many conversations with scientists collaborating with “citizen scientists” convinced her that these dedicated amateurs, working with scientists, are cause for hope.

Tom Butler Tom is Vice President for Conservation Advocacy for Tompkins Conservation. He is a longtime conservation activist and writer who has concentrated primarily on wilderness and biodiversity.His books include Wild Earth: Wild Ideas for a World Out of Balance, which features collected essays from the conservation journal he edited from 1997 to 2005, and Wildlands Philanthropy: The Great American Tradition, a celebration of the natural areas established over the past century through private initiative and funding. In addition, he is a founding board member and the current president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust, the only land trust in the northeastern United States focused exclusively on protecting forever-wild landscapes. He and his family live in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains.

Kim Crumbo is the Senior Carnivore Advocate for Wildlands Network. Kim cultivates partnerships with an eclectic array of conservationists in his work to implement the Western Wildway. Among his responsibilities, he helps to initiate new wilderness and national monument designations, leads recovery efforts for the Mexican wolf and other keystone species, and serves as Director of Conservation for Grand Canyon Wildlands Council.

Joan Maloof, Professor Emeritus at Salisbury University, founded the Old-Growth Forest Network to preserve, protect and promote the country's few remaining stands of old-growth forest. The preservation of unique and beautiful tracts of land as National Parks is often called America’s Best Idea. Now it is our turn to ensure that future generations can experience native forests in their mature diversity and complexity.

author of:

The Living Forest: A Visual Journey into the Heart of the Woods (2017)

Nature's Temples: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests (2016)

Among the Ancients: Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests (2011)

Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest (2005)

Brock Dolman is the co-founder and program director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Sonoma, CA. He co-directs the WATER Institute, Permaculture Design Program and Wildlands Program. He has taught Permaculture and consulted on regenerative project design and implementation internationally in Costa Rica, Ecuador, U.S. Virgin Islands, Spain, Brazil, China, Canada, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba and widely in the U.S. He has been the keynote presenter at numerous conferences and was featured in the award-winning films The 11th Hour by Leonardo DiCaprio, The Call of Life by Species Alliance, and Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution by Vanessa Shultz. In October of 2012, he gave a City 2.0 TEDx talk. Brock completed his BA in the Biology and Environmental Studies departments at the University of California Santa Cruz in 1992, graduating with honors. For over a decade, he has served as an appointed commissioner on the Sonoma County Fish & Wildlife Commission.

Keith Bowers, Biohabitats founder. In the early 1980s, an outdoorsy, nature-loving undergrad named Keith Bowers had an epiphany. Keith had been studying landscape architecture at the University of Virginia when he met Ed Garbisch, a pioneering practitioner of marsh restoration along the Chesapeake Bay. “Wait a minute,” thought Keith. “I can apply my education to restoring the places I love?” After graduating in 1982, Keith started Biohabitats, an ecological restoration company. 36 years later, with a mission to “restore the earth and inspire ecological stewardship,” Biohabitats has become one of the most recognized names in ecological restoration and conservation. 

Louisa Willcox, Grizzly Times Founder.

Working for Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Louisa has advocated for grizzly bear preservation for over 30 years. She specializes in developing comprehensive strategies that succeed because they work on multiple scales using various approaches, including grassroots organizing and outreach, education, media and communication, policy analysis, lobbying, coalition development, and public protest. She and a handful of others have prevented Yellowstone grizzly bear delisting for over two decades. Louisa has a BA from Williams College and a Masters of Forest Policy from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2014, she was given a lifetime achievement award from Yale. 

Dr. David Mattson, Grizzly Times Founder

David has studied both grizzly bears and mountain lions for the last 35 years, including 15 years of intensive field investigations in Yellowstone. He is also intrigued by what goes on in peoples’ heads, especially that which is relevant to understanding policy dynamics and the role and effects of scientific information. Dr. Mattson has pursued his interests as a Research Wildlife Biologist and Station Leader with the U.S. Geological Survey, as Western Field Director of the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative, as Lecturer & Visiting Senior Scientist at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and as part of the Advisory Team for People & Carnivores.

Diana Hadley, Co-President of Northern Jaguar Project. Diana is a founding board member of NJP. Retired as director of the Arizona State Museum’s Office of Ethnohistorical Research, she specializes in the history of land use and ecological change in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. Diana holds degrees in archaeology and history, and is the former operator of a family ranch. She has organized conferences on grassland restoration, Native American sacred sites, deforestation in the Sierra Madres, and restoration of the Santa Cruz River. Diana has also served on the board of directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH, Audubon Research Ranch, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, and the Center for Desert Archaeology.

George Wuerthner is an ecologist, former river ranger for the Alaska BLM and backcountry ranger in the Gates of the Arctic NP in Alaska. He has visited more than 400 designated Wilderness Areas and approximately 200 National Park units. A prolific author, he has published 38 books including such titles as California Wilderness Areas, Alaska Mountain Ranges, Nevada Mountain Ranges, Montana’s Magnificent Wilderness, Forever Wild: The Adirondacks, Welfare Ranching-the subsidized destruction of the American West, Yellowstone: A Visitor's Companion, Protecting the Wild: Parks and Wilderness--Foundation for Conservation. and Wildfire; A Century of Failed Forest Policy. 

George is a well-known writer on conservation issues, having published 38 books and innumerable articles, essays, and opinion pieces. He’s given hundreds of presentations around the country on Wilderness, wildfire, livestock grazing, wildlife protection, and other public land issues. George is also a wildlands explorer extraordinaire, having hiked and paddled in more than 400 designated Wildernesses and more than 180 national park units.

Brad Meiklejohn is Alaska State Director for The Conservation Fund, where he has worked since 1994.   Brad has directed conservation projects protecting over 300,000 acres of wild land in Alaska, New Hampshire and Nevada.  Brad is also the President of the American Packrafting Association, with over 2,000 members in 30 countries. Brad is a conservationist, birder and wilderness explorer and has completed packraft expeditions on 6 continents. Brad served as Associate Director for the Utah Avalanche Center during the 1980’s, and as President of the Patagonia Land Trust.   Brad is a past board director of The Murie Center and the Alaska Avalanche School.  

Kirk Robinson is the founder and executive director of the Western Wildlife Conservancy.  He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to founding Western Wildlife Conservancy, Kirk earned a Ph.D. in philosophy and taught courses at universities in Montana and Utah for 15 years.  His favorite activities are exploring the wildlands of the American West and trying to learn to play fiddle tunes on acoustic guitar.

Nicole Rosmarino, Ph.D. helped found the Southern Plains Land Trust and is currently its Executive Director.  She served as the caretaker for SPLT-protected land from 1999-2002, during which time she monitored for trespass and to record flora and fauna observed several times per week, while residing in Pritchett, Colorado.  She now resides in Centennial, CO.  Nicole received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2002.  Her Ph.D. is in policy science/political science, and her academic focus was on biodiversity preservation.  She has been actively involved in efforts to protect prairie wildlife since 1994.

Vance Russell is the Biodiversity Lead at Ecosulis, which provides a variety of services including rewilding, wildlands plans, and approaches to landscape-scale conservation. Prior to coming the UK, he was California Director of Programs for the National Forest Foundation and Director of Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program working with farmers and ranchers throughout California. Vance is chairman of the board for Groundswell International, serves as a trustee for the South Downs National Park Trust and one of the founding members and former board member of the Wild Farm Alliance 

Brian J. Miller received a PhD from the University of Wyoming in behavioral ecology and conservation of black-footed ferrets and was then awarded a Smithsonian Institution Fellowship at their Conservation and Research Center. Brian worked with the conservation of the endangered black-footed ferret for a decade, then lived in Mexico for five years beginning an ongoing research project on jaguars and pumas in the dry tropical forest of Jalisco, Mexico. After seven years as a Coordinator of Conservation and Research at the Denver Zoological Foundation, Brian accepted a position to develop conservation and education programs at the Wind River Foundation. His main research interest concerns the role of highly interactive species (keystones) in regulating ecosystem processes, and how to improve protection for those species when designing reserves. He has published 200 scientific articles, seven books, and has been on the board of five conservation organizations. He has helped start two protected areas, one of which is Rio Mora NWR. In 2009 he was given the Denver Zoo’s Annual Conservation Award.

Camilla Fox is the founding Executive Director of Project Coyote, a national non-profit organization headquartered in Northern California and a coalition of scientists and educators promoting coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science, and advocacy. With 25+ years of experience working on behalf of wildlife and wildlands and a master’s degree in Environmental Studies, Camilla’s work has been featured in several films and international media outlets. A frequent speaker on these issues, Camilla has authored more than 70 publications is co-author of two books: Coyotes in Our Midst and Cull of the Wild and co-producer of the companion award-winning documentary Cull of the Wild. She produced and directed the recently released documentary film KILLING GAMES ~ Wildlife in the Crosshairs which aims to inspire a national movement to end wildlife killing contests in the U.S. In 2006, Camilla received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Marin Humane Society and the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award from the Animal Welfare Institute. She was named one of the 100 Guardian Angels of the Planet in 2013 and the 2014 Conservationist of the Year Award by the John Muir Association. In 2016 she was honored with the Grassroots Activist of the Year Award by the Fund for Wild Nature. 

Jon Leibowitz joined Northeast Wilderness Trust in 2017 to serve as Executive Director.  He served as the Executive Director of the Montezuma Land Conservancy in the Four Corners region of Colorado.  During his time at Montezuma Land Conservancy, he completed 23 conservation easement transactions that protected over 13,000 acres and also lead the organization in expanding its mission through the implementation of outdoor-focused educational programming.  Joining NWT is a return to New England for Jon and his family.  He earned a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy and a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School.  In his spare time, Jon enjoys hiking and long distance backpacking and has completed the Long Trail.  Upon trading the dry desert canyon country of the Four Corners for New England, he looks forward to many years of exploring the Northern Forest’s wild areas.

Gary Lawless is a poet, bioregional advocate, and co-founder of Gulf of Maine Books, in Brunswick Maine. 

He and his wife Beth Leonard care-take the old farm of Henry Beston & Elizabeth Coatsworth (both acclaimed authors of the mid-20th century), near Damariscotta Lake.  

Gary’s score of poetry collections includes Poems for the Wild Earth and Caribou Planet.  His new book of poems is How the Stones Came to Venice, and his poetry blog.

Shelley Silbert joined Broads in 2012, bringing 20 years of experience in the fields of conservation and sustainability. She served as Associate Director for San Juan Citizens Alliance from 2011–2012, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Northern Arizona University from 2003–2011 where she advanced environmental and Native American programs. From 1994–2003, she directed The Nature Conservancy’s Northern Arizona Program, managing three nature preserves and working on conservation priorities, ecological restoration, regional planning, and public open space campaigns. She grew up in Tennessee, and fell in love with the wide open spaces of the west on a backpacking trip. Fluent in Spanish, she has worked in various Latin American countries.

Shelley has an M.A. in Watershed Management (Dryland Forestry specializations) from the University of Arizona. As Executive Director, she is responsible for the implementation of the Strategic Plan and setting the vision and direction of the organization, along with the Board of Directors. She determines the wild lands advocacy agenda, achieves fundraising goals, and represents Broads to the media, to our members, to our partner organizations, and to the great wild world.

A native of New Jersey, Jamie discovered his passion for Wild Nature surrounded by meadows
and forests near his home and on a family outing in an old growth forest in the Quebec wilderness. In 1986 he bought a log cabin in northern New Hampshire where he still lives.

In 1985 Jamie became involved with Earth First!, and his “Preserve Appalachian Wilderness Proposal” appeared in the May 1987 issue of the Earth First! Journal. The following year, working as a reporter for the local weekly, he stumbled upon news that former Diamond International timberlands were for sale. Jamie quit his job and formed first “Preserve Appalachian Wilderness” (PAW) and later “Northern Appalachian Restoration Project” (NARP) to fight the destruction of wild areas and spectacular old-growth in northern New England.
NARP published the Northern Forest Forum from 1992 to 2002.

Jamie continues to advocate for big wilderness and continental-scale wildlands networks. He is an author who has written Einstein in America, You Had a Job for Life, and numerous articles, and he currently working on a history of the forests of Northern New England from the time of the glaciers until today.

Eileen Crist received her Bachelor’s from Haverford College in sociology in 1982 and her doctoral
degree from Boston University in 1994, also in sociology, with a specialization in life sciences
and society. Between 1989 and 1991 she lived in Amherst, MA where she studied
environmental evolution (Gaia theory) with Lynn Margulis. Following two post docs after
graduation from Boston University (at University of California, San Diego and Cornell), she
accepted a position at Virginia tech in the Department of Science and Technology in Society
where she has been teaching since 1997. She is author of Images of Animals:
Anthropomorphism and Animal Mind. She is also coeditor of a number of books, including Gaia
in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion, and Earth Ethics in and Age of Crisis, Life on the Brink:
Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation, and Keeping the Wild: Against the Domestication of
Earth. Eileen is author of numerous papers and contributor to the late journal Wild Earth. She
lives in Blacksburg, Virginia with her husband Rob Patzig where they also teach yoga together.

Susie O’Keeffe lives at the headwaters of the Sheepscot River in Maine where she is helping
degraded land regenerate, and creating a forage forest.  She occasionally teaches classes on rewilding and reciprocity at the College of the Atlantic,  and works on an independent project
entitled, “The Art of Reciprocity”.  Susie holds a Master’s of Science with distinction in Environmental Management from Oxford University, England. Fluent in French, her professional
experience ranges from comprehensive environmental policy to program creation and direction in the fields of local, organic agriculture and wildlife conservation. Previously Susie worked with a variety of environmental organizations including the Resource Renewal Institute, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, and Maine Farmland Trust. Her writing has appeared in Spring: A Journal of Archetype and Culture, Phylogeny, the Spoon River Poetry Review, and The Maine Review. In addition to writing poetry and teaching, Susie is an amateur
photographer and gardener. Susie is a member of our Rewilding Leadership Counsel, and is on
the board of the Northeast Wilderness Trust.