1. Aleksandra Dawson, Town of Hadley Conservation Commission - is an attorney specializing in Planning and Environmental law. She is the chair of the Hadley Conservation Commission, legal Services Director for MACC, and environmental representative to the Massachusetts Highway Design Task Force. Ms. Dawson also writes an environmental column for the Hampshire Gazette, and is the co-author of the MACC Conservation Commission Handbook-- a key resource for information on environmental law and policy. She is the 2006 recipient of a life time achievement award from the EPA.
2. Judith S. Eiseman, The Kestrel Trust - is a consultant on environmental, land use, and citizen-action issues. She is the Board Chair of the Kestrel Trust, serves on the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition and as a Trustee of the Water Supply Protection Trust representing the Swift River Valley Historical Society. In addition to serving on several local and regional boards and statewide committees, she served on the Executive Committee of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for twenty years. She coordinates the Connecticut Valley Summit, is the Past President of Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, now serving on the Presidents' Council, and currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters (MLEV).
3. Richard A. Jacobson, is the Assistant Director for Inland Fisheries Management with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He is a Certified Fisheries Scientist, and has been distinguished as a Research Fellow by the American Institute of Fisheries Research Biologists. He is the Past-President of the American Fisheries Society’s Northeastern Division, and Southern New England Chapter; Past-Secretary/Treasurer and Regional Director of the Instream Flow Council; and Past-President and Board Member of the Connecticut Rivers Alliance. In 2004, Mr. Jacobson received the National Conservation Professional Award from Trout Unlimited for his work in river restoration.
4. Kirt Mayland, Trout Unlimited - is the Director of the Eastern Water Project for Trout Unlimited, a program which focuses on developing and promoting changes to the Eastern state policy related to instream flow protection, regulation of withdrawals of ground and surface water, and water supply planning. Before TU, Kirt practiced at an environmental law firm in Connecticut and as a corporate attorney in New York City. Kirt is also on the board of directors of the Northwest Conservation District and the Sharon Audubon Society, a member of the Fisheries Advisory Council and a participant in the Coverts Forest-Wildlife Conservation Project.
5. Thomas Millette, Mt. Holyoke College - is the founder and director of the GeoProcessing Laboratory at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where he also is an Associate Professor of Geography & Geology. Previously he served as Director of the Laboratory for Spatial Analysis in the Dept. of Geography at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Millette's research interests are in the application of geographic information systems and remote sensing to regional planning and environmental management. In 2005 Millette was part of a three institution research collaboration that was awarded $1.6 million from the National Science Foundation to further develop aerial sensor packages for light aircraft and apply them to detailed forest metrics modeling.
6. Rob Moir, Ocean River Institute - is the Director of the Ocean River Institute with a proven history of institutional management and marine policy success. Dr. Moir has been a leader of the efforts to promote citizen science and environmental monitoring, to advance ecosystem-based management in particular for ocean, coastal and estuarine systems, and to clean up the Boston Harbor, as founder of the Salem Sound Coastwatch (1987), as president of the advocacy organization Save the Harbor/Save the Bay for six years (1990-96), and through his appointment by the Secretary of Interior to the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership (1996-2000). Dr. Moir was awarded a Switzer Environmental Fellowship and the James Centorino Award for Distinguished Performance in Marine Education by the National Marine Educators Association.
7. Marc Taylor, is Chairman of the Board of River Network. He is a physician and an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. He serves as Chairman of the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition, President of the Housatonic Valley Association and is the Director of Rivers Alliance of Connecticut.
