Matthew Adams is an associate professor and co-director of the materials and structures (MatSLab) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, New Jersey. His research focuses on the sustainability, resiliency, and long-term durability of innovative cement-based materials. He also studies how governmental policy both supports and hinders the adoption of sustainable practices in construction. He is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute, where he is currently chairman of the Committee on Recycled Materials in Concrete; and he is also a member of ASTM, International where he chairs the Subcommittee on Testing for Strength of Concrete. He was named a Richard P. Nathan Policy fellow at the Rockefeller Institute for Government in 2020. Adams has received research funding from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Jersey Department of Transportation, the American Concrete Institute Foundation, and the US Department of Transportation.

Nicola Armacost has served as the mayor of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, since 2019, and before that as trustee since 2009. As mayor, she has championed sustainability initiatives and building local resiliency to climate change. Under her leadership, Hastings-on-Hudson is currently the highest-ranking Clean Energy Community (CEC) and Climate Smart Community (CSC) in New York State. The municipality adopted the New York Stretch Energy Code; expanded financing for energy efficiency through Open C-PACE financing; passed a Low-Embodied Carbon Concrete Resolution; invested in EVs, alternative fuel infrastructure and resiliency planning; promoted “buy local” initiatives; dedicated over 85 percent of municipal-owned open space as parkland; and supported local pollinator pathway initiatives.

Mayor Armacost is also the managing director of Arc Finance, whose mission is to link the fields of finance, energy, water, and sanitation. Arc’s financial institution partners have provided access to clean energy for over 4.5 million people in a range of countries including Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nicaragua, and Haiti. Arc’s partners offer financing for distributed solar, roof-top solar, e-vehicles, as well as micro- and mini-grids. Previously, she worked at Women’s World Banking, a global microfinance network, and is an advisor to a number of companies focused on the off-grid energy space.

Kevin M. Bronner has served as public service professor and adjunct professor at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany since 1995. He has taught courses in governmental accounting, microeconomics, strategic planning, financial management, the operations of the capital markets, and on regulation issues. He is a public finance expert in the areas of governmental accounting and financial management.

From 1970 to 2003, he served on the staff of utility related agencies including the New York State Department of Public Service, the New York State Energy Office, and the New York State Consumer Protection Board. He participated in the areas of accounting and finance for electric and natural gas, steam, water, and telephone companies. He was also recognized as an expert quantifier and computed the largest dollar amount disallowances for utilities in the history of the New York State Public Service Commission. He worked on numerous financial, operational audits, and management audits, where he detected internal control violations and developed recommendations and an implementation plan to correct them. He was also instrumental in introducing competition for New York State utilities. In addition, he also participated in the first energy master plan for New York State in the 1970s. Bronner worked for several years at the State University of New York Research Foundation. He also served for eight years as a councilperson for the Town of Colonie. 

He has produced numerous public finance analyses that studied issues such as the New York State property tax cap, the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, and accounting issues for other post-employment benefits. He has presented comments to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) on numerous issues and he has testified before the GASB. He examines bond rating changes for local governments in New York State and has analyzed numerous audits conducted by the Office of the New York State Comptroller for local governments. He has also presented comments to Moody’s Investor’s Service concerning their bond rating methodology for state and local governments.

During 2022, he acted as a moderator for the Federal Reserve Panel at the University at Albany and he also participated in a training program for the members of the Zimbabwe Parliamentary staff during July.

Kevin holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration-accounting, a Master’s degree in public finance, and a Ph.D. in public administration from the State University of New York at Albany.

Theodore Endreny is a professor in the Department of Environmental Resources Engineering at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). His scholarship involves developing i-Tree software to guide strategic land cover changes that deliver needed ecosystem services, reduce pollution, and improve human well-being. Endreny teaches courses in engineering hydrology and hydraulics, river form and process, and applications of i-Tree tools. He is a member of the National Academies Grand Challenge Scholars Program, Engineers Without Borders, provides university service for SUNY ESF, and serves on the editorial board for npj Urban Sustainability, Hydrological Processes, and the International Journal for River Basin Management. He was the recipient of a SUNY Chancellor’s Internationalization Award, the US nominee for the IEEE GHTC Global Humanitarian Engineer of the Year, Management Innovation Award for the i-Tree Hydro model from New York American Public Works Association, and the Fulbright Commission Distinguished Chair in Environmental Sciences at Parthenope University, Italy. Endreny earned a BS in natural resources management at Cornell University, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in river basin management in Trujillo, Honduras, and as a research associate with the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, DC. He earned an MS in soil and water engineering from North Carolina State University as a research scholar with the Environmental Protection Agency and earned a PhD in water resources engineering from Princeton University as a research scholar with the National Aeronautics Space Administration.

Susan Fassler serves as the director of sustainable operations at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), where she manages custodial and grounds operations and leads the college’s Office of Sustainability. She also co-chairs the statewide UUP Environmental Issues and Advocacy Committee and sits on the board of the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust. She holds a BS in environmental studies and a MPS in environmental science, both from ESF, and a master’s in public administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Jacob Gedetsis coordinates SUNY ESF’s Writing Resource Center and teaches environmental writing and research courses in its Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications program. Gedetsis is the co-founder and director of Write Out, a community writing collective that partners local writers, artists, and university students with youth-focused after-school programs in Syracuse.  Write Out holds weekly, year-round writing and storytelling workshops with students from the ages of 6-18. His work centers on community-engaged scholarship and creative work that uses participatory, action-based methodologies for humanities research, coalition building, and collective action. He is particularly interested in how public arts and environmental humanities projects generate a more inclusive and connected community through creative expression.

Travis R. Glazier was appointed by the county executive to serve as director of the Office of Environment for Onondaga County in March of 2015. In this role, Glazier is responsible for county policy matters related to environmental protection, rehabilitation, and preservation. In addition, the director acts as the liaison between the county, state, and federal governments, as well as private interests, in environmental matters on behalf of the county executive. The Office of Environment is a chartered department whereby the director is also responsible for ensuring federal and state directives are followed by the county.

Glazier started his career with Onondaga County in 2010 working for the Department of Water Environment Protection (WEP). In 2011, he was appointed by the county executive to serve as the director of intergovernmental relations and in 2014, was appointed to the position of deputy commissioner of facilities management.

Prior to serving on the county executive’s senior staff, Glazier founded a small internet company, CampaignBase.com, where he was CEO from 2005-10. The company specialized in website software for political organizations, nonprofits, and advocacy groups.

From 2002-05, Glazier served on the district staff of Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (NY24), where he worked on issues related to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), veterans, the US Department of Defense, and the US Department Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Glazier is a lifelong resident of upstate New York and holds a BA in politics with a minor in environmental studies from SUNY Potsdam and an executive master’s in public administration (EMPA) from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He is a member of the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCCRA) Board and a former member of the Onondaga Citizens League (OCL) Board. He and his wife, Christa, reside in Liverpool with their sons Gabriel and Sebastian.

Ariella Knight is a MFA industrial design candidate at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. With a broad arts/tech background, her current work focuses on access and sustainability and explores how social and disruptive design can facilitate new and more equitable systems and products. Most recently, her Compostable Kidswear centered apparel end of life and explored how using biofibers such as milkweed and cattail could decouple fabric blends in outdoor kidswear.

Dan Kwasnowski is the planning director for the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency or SOCPA, a combined city/county planning agency. He lives in the Village of Marcellus, New York, with his wife Karen and two children, Jonah and Colden. Kwasnowski is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has been working as a planner in varying applications for 21 years including as a town planner/director for eight years, a private consulting planner and entrepreneur for six years, a river restoration specialist, a hydropower regulatory and environmental specialist, and as the executive director of a land trust in Lake Placid. He is an avid mountain and road cyclist with volunteer experience planning, designing, and building a variety of mountain bike and multiuse trails and trail systems.

Rachel Leibowitz is an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and is a co-director of its Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation. She has taught courses in the history of architecture and landscape architecture at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her prior practice in design and in public history includes positions at two Chicago architecture firms; the Historic Preservation Division of the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development; and the state historic preservation offices of Texas and Illinois. Most recently, Leibowitz served for five years as the deputy state historic preservation officer and head of the Preservation Services Division for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. She has received fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, the American Council of Learned Societies/Luce Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the Society of Architectural Historians, among others. She currently serves on the boards of the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation, the Preservation Association of Central New York, and the Barry Lopez Foundation for Art + Environment, and she is the book review editor for Buildings + Landscapes, the journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

Amanda Mazzoni is a principal planner in the Energy Management Program of the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNY RPDB).  She is one of the statewide NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities (CEC) coordinators, serving municipalities throughout the five counties of Central New York, which includes Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties. As a CEC coordinator, Amanda assists municipalities in completing clean energy projects, including installing EV charging stations, converting streetlights to LEDs, building efficiency upgrades, and renewable energy projects. Prior to working as a CEC coordinator, Amanda assisted municipalities in developing greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans as part of the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Pilot Program, which has since developed into the broader CSC Certification Program and now the CSC Coordinator Program.

Mazzoni received her master’s degree in the spring of 2013 in environmental studies with a policy focus from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She has been working at the CNY RPDB in the Energy Management Program since then.

Jenni Minner, PhD, is the director of associate studies and associate professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. She also serves as director of the Just Places Lab, a platform for research and creative action centered on community memory, imagination, and the just care of places. Her research and teaching focus on equitable land use planning and climate action through the reuse and adaptation of buildings and landscapes. Minner serves on the Expert Advisory Committee to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. She co-founded the Circularity, Reuse, and Zero Waste Development (CR0WD) network and is the faculty mentor to the Cornell Undergrad Research to Action-Youth program.

Rebecca Morgenstern Brenner, MPA, is a senior lecturer in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University with additional collaborations as a faculty fellow at Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, and as a faculty associate at Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Morgenstern Brenner is co-lead for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Higher Education Service-Learning and Leadership Special Interest Group.

Morgenstern Brenner teaches courses on environmental policy, environmental justice, vulnerability and resilience, disaster policy, and project management. Her research and practice focus on translating values into practice and policy and working with communities to reduce vulnerability and build resilience. To do this, Morgenstern Brenner collaborates with international and domestic partners to create innovative approaches that address and improve social and environmental conditions. Her current research and practice include managed retreat and equity, environmental justice, bridging policy with science, climate change education, and building disaster resilience with vulnerable communities.

Morgenstern Brenner is a co-principal investigator on grants through the Atkinson Center, including a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to investigate managed flood retreats focusing on how equity and restoration intersect. Another grant is a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund to assess and understand flooding policy and the implications of buyouts with cooperative housing. The third grant is an Atkinson Academic Venture Fund, a community-based project focusing on equity and illegal dumping in Flint, Michigan.

Steve Powers serves as the chair of the Town of New Lebanon’s Climate Smart Communities Task Force (CSC) and has guided the town to a regional leadership role in the Climate Smart Communities program and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Clean Energy Communities program while mentoring neighboring towns. Powers was born and raised in Philadelphia. After college, where he majored in environmental studies and participated in a work-study at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he took off for Asia, where he spent the next 18 years living in Nepal, working as a mountain guide and organizer of treks and expeditions. In Nepal, he helped set up and run the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP) to educate local guides and tourists on mitigating their environmental footprint while in the Himalayas. In addition to serving as chair of New Lebanon’s Climate Smart Communities Task Force, Powers also serves on the Town’s Conservation Advisory Council and Zoning Rewrite Committee. He continues to operate and organize tours worldwide through his company, Hidden Treasure Tours.

John Pumilio, LEED green associate, certified energy manager, and certified health coach, is the director of sustainability at Colgate University. Since 2009, he has led Colgate’s sustainability program and effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2019. Over that time, the university has reduced its campus carbon footprint by 46 percent and in 2019 became the first college or university in New York State to achieve carbon neutrality. Successes to date include a reduction in energy, water, and paper consumption while increasing renewable energy, recycling, and overall awareness of sustainability on campus. In 2016, John co-founded (with Chris Henke) the Hamilton Climate Preparedness Working Group and has been working closely with the Town and Village of Hamilton, New York, to achieve and maintain New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Certification.

Tom Roach has served as mayor for the City of White Plains, New York, since 2011. Tom has spearheaded critical renewable energy initiatives including streamlining the residential solar permitting process and completing a large-scale community solar portfolio using nine city-owned sites, the largest municipal solar energy deployment in Westchester County, New York. The 6.8 megawatt (MW) community solar portfolio will triple the amount of solar energy produced in Westchester County. Today, under Mayor Roach’s leadership the City of White Plains’ total solar generation capacity is 13.5 MW, which amounts to approximately 220 watts per capita, placing White Plains among the top 10 cities in the nation for solar generation.

His environmental and sustainability initiatives also include the banning of the dirtiest heating oils; creating the first dedicated bike lanes in Westchester County; establishing a network of electric vehicle charging stations in municipally-owned parking structures; replacing all of the city’s street lights, as well as the lighting in several city-owned garages, with LEDs; initiating textile recycling; and designing and constructing a pollinator meadow.

Andrew Roblee is the founder and president of Roblee Historic Preservation, based in Auburn, NY. Roblee holds an MA in historic preservation planning from Cornell University and a BA in history from Wells College. He lives in Auburn with his wife, Devon, and his two boys, Alex and Arthur. Roblee has served on the City of Auburn Historic Resources Review Board, as the current president of the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY), and as a member of the Circularity, Reuse, and Zero Waste Development (CR0WD) working group. Roblee is a believer in the idea that all disciplines are connected and can inform each other, no matter how different they may seem. He also enjoys long-winded discussions about historical trivia, reading about old plaster, staring at buildings, and writing mediocre songs on the piano and guitar.

Joseph Seman-Graves is the city planner for the City of Cohoes and an experienced community planning and development manager specializing in environmentally sustainable solutions focusing on emerging clean energy technologies. He has developed community-wide planning strategies in urban and rural settings and is skilled in project management, policy analysis, grant writing, coalition building, and public speaking. Seman-Graves previously served as a construction project manager in Seattle, Washington, a natural resource planner with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and a GIS project manager with the Seattle Trails Alliance and Climate Action Associates of New York.

Seman-Graves spearheaded the development of a groundbreaking floating solar demonstration project, making history as the country’s first municipally owned and operated initiative. This project is crucial in Cohoes’ efforts to decarbonize historic city-owned buildings and achieve 100% renewable energy usage for governmental operations.

Seman-Graves’s achievements include securing $35 million in grant funding, identifying $14 million in energy savings over 20 years, and completing $7.47 million in capital projects for the City of Cohoes. He has been featured in articles by the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the Associated Press. Seman-Graves serves on various county and state boards, including vice chair of the Capital District Transportation Committee’s Planning Committee and Albany County Land Bank board member. He collaborates across stakeholders to achieve clean energy, climate and economic resiliency, housing, and transportation goals. His dedication to sustainable innovation and fiscal responsibility significantly enhances community resiliency and sustainability. Seman-Graves holds a graduate degree in urban and regional planning from the University at Albany, with advanced graduate certificates in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial analysis, and urban policy, focusing on brownfield remediation strategies.

Sarah Smiley is director of municipal membership and transaction manager for Energy Improvement Corporation (EIC), a non-profit local development corporation which administers Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing on behalf of its member municipalities across New York State. Sarah joined EIC in 2017 and manages the rollout of Open C-PACE, EIC’s open market commercial PACE program. Sarah works with local governments and community stakeholders to activate this innovative finance tool that can transform buildings through energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy and that encourages sustainable development. In October of 2020, Sarah took on the role of transactions manager, working with Open C-PACE capital providers to facilitate the finance application and closing process.

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MLS, LEED AP, is the executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System serving Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, and Ulster Counties in New York and is the co-founder and current president of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI). For over 20 years, she has worked with public libraries across the globe to ensure library services are relevant and responsive so that our communities thrive. She is active in the New York Library Association (NYLA), currently serving on their Legislative Committee; and in the American Library Association (ALA), most recently chairing their new Council Committee on Sustainability, and serving on the board of the Center for the Future of Libraries. She was recognized as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2010 and was recognized with the NYLA Outstanding Service to Libraries Award in 2018. Aldrich is an adjunct professor at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University and has written three books: Sustainable Thinking; Resilience; and Libraries and Sustainability: Programs and Practices for Community Impact. She has been invited to speak around the world on the topic of libraries and sustainability.

Kaitlin Stack Whitney is an assistant professor of science, technology and society at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Part of her research portfolio focuses on how science informs state and local environmental policy, in topics such as pollinator protection and food waste. She previously worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Pesticide Programs and Office of International and Tribal Affairs.

Dr. Lemir Teron is a faculty member at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). His research focuses on urban sustainability, energy policy, and environmental justice.  He received his PhD from the University of Delaware and completed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supported postdoc at the Environmental Cooperative Science Center at Florida A&M University. He currently serves on the energy working group of the forthcoming New York State Climate Impacts Assessment. Teron was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Faculty Member for Teaching Excellence Award by the SUNY ESF Undergraduate Student Association and he received a 2020 Unsung Hero Award at the 35th Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Syracuse, New York, for his commitment to racial and environmental justice.

Gretchen Worth leads the Susan Christopherson Center for Community Planning’s (The Christopherson Center) work with New York State communities on planning issues at the intersection of climate resiliency, equity, and the built environment. The Christopherson Center is a founding partner of Circularity, Reuse, and Zero Waste Development (CR0WD), a collaborative network advocating for more sustainable treatment of our built environment, including the development of a circular construction economy in which deconstruction and building material reuse are the norm, rather than demolition and the creation of vast amounts of landfill waste. Worth has a bachelor’s in journalism and master’s degrees in historic preservation planning and global development.