With more than 14 years in the horticulture and arboriculture industry, Rob Shaut joined Casey Trees, an Urban Forestry non-profit, in March of 2018. He has contributed to the operational efficiency and the expansion of their scope of work. Thanks to the leadership of Rob, Stormwater Low Impact Development and Best Management Practices are now an integral part of the Casey Trees portfolio, along with tree installation, pruning, and maintenance. Previously, Rob completed the two-year Professional Horticulture Program at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, studied at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and received a Bachelor of Science from Clemson University in business management. He spent five years working as a project manager and garden designer for Shimizu Landscape Design, a Maryland-based design and build firm. He worked for two years as a project manager for Cotswold Gardens, a design and build firm in West Grove, Pennsylvania. Rob is a certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. He is currently a member of the MAC-ISA Board of Directors and the TREE Fund Board of Directors. As the Director of Tree Operations at Casey Trees, Rob focuses on increasing canopy coverage, storm water mitigation, heat island mitigation, and phytoremediation. Casey Trees targets lower canopied areas and equity emphasis areas around our nation’s capital.

John Perlin is a Professor and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Physics at University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of the newly released edition of A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization.

Perlin says, “It is my hope that the new edition of A Forest Journey will make clear the imperative humanity faces, because losing our forests would not merely be the end of nature, it could mean the end of us.”

Originally published in 1989, the book’s comprehensive coverage of the major role forests have played in human life …….earned it recognition as a Harvard “Classic in Science and World History” and as one of Harvard’s “One Hundred Great Books.”

In the new edition, Perlin cites data on how humanity has cut down half the trees on the planet in the last 12,000 years, and that deforestation continues at an alarming pace with 15 billion trees removed per year. That’s 500,000 square miles of forested land lost since the first edition of A Forest Journey was released.

Perlin is also the author of three other books: A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology; From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity; and Let It Shine: The 6000-Year Story of Solar Energy.

Perlin lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Sarah C. Low is a business management consultant, ecologist, and educator. Sarah has been a change-maker in municipal governments, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. She is the Founder of Tacoma Tree Foundation, an organization formed to help grow a greener, healthier, and more connected Tacoma. Sarah is now the principal and owner of Strategic Nature, LLC, which specializes in helping organizations and individuals make meaningful changes.

Hugh Weldon gained early knowledge of horticulture working on vegetable farms in Ireland – his home country. He earned a horticulture certificate from the practical experience he gained which led him to a supervisory position with a landscape nursery with 30 staff members. He was in the position for 5 years. Hugh then worked as a foreman in a flower and bulb nursery for two years where he continued to broaden his horticulture background.

He emigrated to the U.S., for greater opportunities in the horticulture industry in 1993 and worked with an arborist learning all aspects of tree care, planting, pruning, and removal. With tree experience under his belt, Hugh worked with a company to learn numerous aspects of landscape maintenance of residential and business properties which included snow removal.

In 1995 Hugh applied for a grounds position at Villanova University and continued his education earning a Horticulture Degree from Temple University. After several promotions and numerous years of work, Hugh became the Horticultural Supervisor followed by Horticultural Manager. He can now say he has been happily tending the staff and the landscape at Villanova University for over 27 years.

Mayor Tim Schultz has been a resident of Hatboro for over 20 years. Devoted to his community, Tim has served in the capacity of Borough Historian, a member of the Hatboro Tricentennial Committee, Chairman of the Hatboro Holiday Parade, and the President of the Greater Hatboro Chamber of Commerce.
Mayor Schultz also joined the national Mayors for Monarchs program in 2020 dedicated to improving pollinator survival across America.
Tim is also the proud owner of Bright House Creative Services, LLC, and loves being behind a camera. In addition to his photography business, Tim is a Realtor at Class Harlan Real Estate.
Tim, along with his wife DJ and five children, have a passion for all things Hatboro and have dedicated themselves to improving the Borough in every way possible.
Tim’s strong leadership and devotion to the Hatboro community shines through his work as President of the Greater Hatboro Chamber of Commerce and now as Mayor.

Ashley Miles
Ashley Miles is the Administrative Production Assistant at Ruppert Nurseries and has held other positions such as In-House Salesperson and Inventory Manager. Ashley has been with Ruppert since 2013. She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Ashley is also a Certified Professional Horticulturalist. Ashley is an enthusiast of the natural world. Trees have inspired her both personally and professionally and she is grateful that trees have been the focus of her career.

Kelly Lewis
Kelly Lewis is the General Manager of Ruppert Nurseries. Kelly was raised in the nursery business working at a family Garden Center from the time he was old enough to be of any help. After a two-year vocational horticulture program in high school, he started working full-time for the family business in a variety of roles and learned the business side of the horticulture industry. After years of traveling the country as a purchaser for the garden center, he decided being a grower was a better fit for the agricultural lifestyle he desired. Starting in 1994 for Ruppert Nurseries, Kelly first worked sales but quickly transitioned to managing the then relatively small tree-growing farm. Since that time, the farm has grown to over 900 acres and planted more than 250,000 trees. Kelly has always been fortunate to be able to attend countless trade shows, seminars, and educational events during his career. Including the first two-year EAGL class (Executive Academy for Growth and Leadership) where he earned a certificate in Applied Horticulture Business from Texas A&M with Dr. Charlie Hall. Kelly has served on the Northern Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, The Maryland Nursery, Landscape, and Greenhouse Association, Montgomery County Horticultural Advisory Board, and on the Board for Trees for The Future.

Jill Rose is the State Forest Pathologist with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Bureau of Forestry since September 2019. Previously she was the Forest Health Programs Manager and State Forest Pathologist for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Plant Industries Division for 17 years.

Jill’s studies included an Associate Degree in Wildlife Technology from Penn State University from the DuBois campus and a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Sciences from the University of Idaho. Jill also holds a Master of Science degree in Plant Pathology from Washington State University.

Steve Shreiner is the president and founder of Schreiner Tree Care established in 1986. He is a Master Arborist, and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. Steve has proven success in developing long-standing client and vendor relationships, many of which are twenty-five-plus years strong. He also enjoys working with clients who care about their trees, landscape, and the greater community. Shreiner has served on various local arboreta, environmental education and business boards.

Sir Tim Smit KBE (Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. This began a lifelong passion for regeneration and putting his passion and energy into his work. He has followed his occupations embracing his many interests from Archaeology through music to wreck diving, Rare Breed animal husbandry, and building restoration. In 1990 he ‘discovered’ and then restored ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ with John Nelson and remains a director. Heligan is now one of the UK’s best-loved gardens having been named ‘Garden of the Year’ by BBC Countryfile Awards in March of 2018. Tim’s book The Lost Gardens of Heligan won Book of the Year in 1997.

Today, Tim is Executive Chair and Co-founder of the multi-award-winning Eden Project in Cornwall. Since its opening in 2001, over 23 million people have come to see a once sterile pit, turned into a cradle of life. Eden contains world-class horticulture and startling architecture symbolic of human endeavor and our dependence and unbreakable part in the systems of the natural world.

Nan Sterman is a California native, garden expert, garden designer, author, botanist, and award-winning communicator. Nan has long been dedicated to the transformation of planted landscapes from overly thirsty and resource-intensive to climate appropriate and sustainable.

In addition to designing gardens, Nan works hard to connect plants to people and the planet. Some examples of that work include:

· Her award-winning public TV show, A Growing Passion which Nan hosts, produces, and writes. Forty-eight episodes air on KPBS TV in San Diego, on CREATE TV, and are available online at www.AGrowingPassion.com.

· Nan’s most recent book, Hot Color, Dry Garden, is a guide for creating color-filled, waterwise gardens. She’s written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines, too.

· In 2014, Nan founded the San Diego Gardener Facebook group, where more than 16,000 people discuss plants and gardening in Southern California.

· At the beginning of the COVID quarantine, Nan co-founded Grab & Grow Gardens to support food-insecure communities during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. To date, Grab & Grow Gardens has supplied more than 26,000 starter vegetable gardens for families and seniors in need across the region.

· Nan leads tours to garden adventures around the world, including Europe, South Africa, Costa Rica, and the US.

· In 2022, Nan kicked off the online Garden School, targeted at passionate home gardeners. In addition to a monthly garden membership, Nan teaches online and in-person seed-starting workshops every spring.

Nan’s approach to gardening dates back to the 1970s when she was involved in the first wave of the sustainability movement. She trained at the Integral Urban House in Berkeley, California, earned a botany degree from Duke University, a master’s in biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a master’s in instructional design from San Diego State University.

Prior to delving into the gardening world, Nan created curricula, training programs, and educational materials for Fortune 500 companies, zoos, aquaria, and not-for-profit organizations. Her ability to take complex information and create effective educational programs is one of her greatest strengths, and a major source of her successes.

Anthony Tresselt is a certified arborist, arboricultural safety consultant, trainer, and 30-year student of arboriculture and tree climbing. He is a lead instructor with Arboriculture Canada (ArbCan) Training and Education. As a part of the amazing ArbCan team, he travels, educates, facilitates, and writes helping to spread the word about safe, efficient arboriculture.

Anthony’s mission as an arborist, leader, educator, and human is to have a positive impact of growth and achievement on everyone he interacts with whether in person, through books and articles, or through online media. To quote his mentor and philosophy professor, Dr. R. Ginsburg, “Teaching is the hope I practice.”

He is also a regular contributor to several arboricultural trade magazines and has two works of fiction based on trees and tree climbing novels published, Free Falling: An Arboreal Novel and Fall Factor both can be found on Amazon.

Andrew Bunting is Vice President of Horticulture and leads the utilization of planting and design to promote environmentally sound gardening practices at PHS (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society). Andrew has elevated each of the departments he oversees and has increased the brand and visibility of PHS through their respective work.

Andrew received his Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science from Southern Illinois University. Prior to arriving at PHS, Andrew worked at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Chanticleer Garden, and the Scott Arboretum for a tenure of 27 years. He has received the American Public Gardens Association’s Professional Citation, Chanticleer Scholarship in Professional Development, and the Certificate of Merit from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. He also serves on the Board of Magnolia Society International. Andrew published his first book in 2015, The Plant Lover’s Guide to Magnolias.

Andrew enjoys bird watching, travel and, of course, gardening.

Christy Rollinson is the Forest Ecologist at The Morton Arboretum. As a research scientist, much of her work looks at how individual trees, forest communities, and ecosystems respond to changing weather and climate. Christy’s work involves a variety of approaches, including tree rings, phenology and citizen science, and computer modeling. Christy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Environmental Studies from Oberlin College and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Ecology from Penn State University. At The Morton Arboretum, Christy has been highly involved with science and climate change communication to a variety of professional and non-professional audiences.

Anelle Ammons is an ISA Certified Arborist® and ISA Certified Arborist Utility Specialist®. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and a Master of Horticulture Science from North Carolina State University. Anelle works as a contract Utility Arborist and spends her free time gardening, hiking, and writing children's adventure books.

At the intersection of power tools and creativity, John Mahoney found his niche – turning otherwise forgotten urban green waste into dazzling works of art. Born into a family of tree workers, arborists, and creatives, it was no mystery that Big John would find himself carving his own legacy into the Urban Forest just as his dad did before him. When he began chainsaw carving at the age of 22, John witnessed the emotional connection people had to his wood art pieces that could have otherwise so easily become mulch or firewood.  

Covered in sawdust and immersed in the competitive beard world, John found himself at a crossroads between one-off artistic ventures and a desire for a greater purpose. He found himself itching to raise awareness for the importance and value of urban trees as a precious bioresource, from their carbon capturing capabilities to their unique, unrivaled beauty. This practice has turned into a mission of salvaged wood stewardship.  

Today he oversees Street Tree Revival, an Urban Wood Recycling program founded by West Coast Arborists, Inc. (WCA, Inc.) California’s leading tree maintenance and management company for communities who care about trees. His primary purpose is creating quality, one-of-a-kind lumber while making a lasting positive impact on our environment.

Tahia Devissher is a Banting Research and Teaching Fellow at the UBC Faculty of Forestry. She studies how to manage forests and other greenspaces in and around cities to support human well-being and build social-ecological resilience to climate change. She is also interested in developing practical strategies to strengthen the relationship between urbanites and nature. In past work with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Tahia led research to support climate change adaptation working with local communities, NGOs and governments in more than 20 countries across the Global South. In most of her projects, she applies interdisciplinary approaches by integrating methods from quantitative modelling to participatory mapping, and qualitative assessment. Tahia has a Ph.D. in ecosystems science from the University of Oxford.

Mike Toffan is the founder and Executive Director of Project Forest. In October of 2020 Project Forest launched with a mission to create a community of environmentally responsible businesses with a unified mission to Rewild the Canadian Landscape One Forest At A Time. Mike is passionate about restoring disturbed landscapes across Canada, specifically to restore ecological function to non-productive agricultural lands with Conservation groups and Indigenous communities.

An outdoor enthusiast and wildlife advocate, Mike knew early in life that he wanted a job that let him explore nature. As the founder of Project Forest and a Professional Forester, he’s contributed to the reforestation of tens of thousands of hectares across Western Canada during his career. Aside from earning his Bachelor of Science. in Forest Business Management, Mike also has a Technical Diploma in Forest Technology from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). His happiest moments are in the field, among the trees, where he gets to make an impactful difference every day where it matters the most, Our Environment!

Brice Dorwart is an ISA-certified arborist and utility specialist. He has worked for the last 11 years with Davey Resource Group, on a utility vegetation management contract with a major power company in Pennsylvania. He has volunteered extensively with the PHS TreeTenders program, helping various neighborhood clubs around the city of Philadelphia, especially with their young street-tree pruning efforts. He loves planting trees, but he also has a passion for controlling the invasive exotic tree species in preserved wooded areas near his home outside Philadelphia.

Heather Andrews is a published author, photographer, and speaker who routinely works with homeowners and businesses to create sustainable native pollinator habitats. She grew up as one of 12 grandchildren in North Carolina, and often took walks on her Granddaddy Andrews acre garden, where she learned about pollinators and increasing yield.

During the growing season, you will find her in her monarch waystation, Cat-a-pillar Haven, videoblogging on her new YouTube Channel, Garden Thoughtfully. She encourages gardeners to provide wildlife habitat and fuel for native pollinators and improve vegetable yield via pollinator hedgerows/corridors. She combines information from her career in clinical research to guide her messaging, and routinely creates actionable video content to enable gardeners to create a pollinator paradise in their own backyard.

She is a two time recipient of the “Garden of Distinction” award by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for Her Monarch Waystation, Cat-a-Pillar Haven in 2020, and for a pollinator Garden she designed for the Historic Craighead House in collaboration with the Penn State Master Gardeners. Her award winning photographs and articles have been featured in magazines and on Medium.

David Barmon

Epilogue LLC, Urban Lumber and Plant Based Sustainability Advocate

David Barmon is owner of Epilogue LLC, a small scale sawmill business just South of Portland Oregon. He co-owned Fiddlehead LLC, a Portland, Oregon-based landscape construction company for 15 years. David has milled hundreds of thousands of board feet of lumber and installed countless edible landscapes and rain gardens in the Portland area. In a former career, David spent almost a decade as a Japanese qualified flight attendant for United Airlines.

David has been a powerful advocate for the urban lumber movement over the last decade. He has successfully leveraged private industry, non-profit organizations, and government to push for transformational changes in the urban forestry system. In addition to his hands-on experience procuring, milling and creating value-added products from urban lumber, David draws from a broad set of skills, including writing, public speaking, lobbying, small business ownership, non-profit management, and policy work. He is currently working on his first book, Wood From the City, the Urban Lumber Handbook.

David has spoken at several conferences including Wood at Work (McGill University 2017 and University of Toronto 2018), the prestigious International Living Future Conference, TEDx Kelowna, and the Mid Atlantic Urban Wood Forum (Virginia Department of Forestry). David was the 2019 keynote speaker at Australia National University’s first every urban lumber conference. David was named Sustainable Business Oregon’s Emerging Leader in 2013. His work and ideas have been featured in many publications such as Oregon Public Broadcasting, Green Builder, Sunset, Dwell, and Residential Architect. In 2015 David helped pass legislation through the State of Oregon to fund the world’s first urban lumber tree planting feasibility study. The study, called the Clackamas County Urban Lumber Pilot focused on how to intentionally plant, maintain and harvest urban trees for lumber.

David is fascinated with the physical world and all of the amazing information our modern society is about to forget. He believes our religion, culture, cities, food, clothing, smartphones—basically everything—comes down to understanding plants and rocks.