[plenary speakers]
[click on names for expanded bios]

David Abram, an ecologist, anthropologist, and philosopher, author of Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.

Lois Gibbs, environmental activist who became a household name in the fight to clean up Love Canal, a key event that led to the creation of the EPA's "Superfund" to locate and clean up toxic sites in the United States, author of Love Canal, The Story Continues.

Brian Halweil, senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, author of Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket.

David Orr, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin, one of the foremost speakers on sustainability, and author of many books including The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift, The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention, and Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect.

LaDonna Redmond, a community food security activist working in Chicago, and President and CEO of The Institute for Community Resource Development (ICRD). Her writing has appeared many places, including Orion Magazine, New Farm and The New York Times.

Michael Shuman, Vice President for Enterprise Development in Bucksport, Maine, and author Going Local: Creating Self Reliant Communities for the Global Age, and The SmallMart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition.

Christopher Uhl, Professor of Biology at Penn State who has focused on the ecology of rainforests, and most recently on the role of universities in creating sustainable world, author of the book Developing Ecological Consciousness: Paths to a Sustainable World.

Judy Wicks, founder of The White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, national leader in the local, living economies movement, co-founder of both the national Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), and the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN).



[regional speakers]

Dr. Peter W. Bardaglio is Provost and Vice President for academic affairs and Professor of History at Ithaca College. Before joining Ithaca College in July 2002, Bardaglio served as interim vice president and academic dean and professor of history at Goucher College. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in history from Stanford University, and his A.B. in history and English from Brown University. His book Reconstructing the Household: Families, Sex, and the Law in the Nineteenth-Century South (University of North Carolina Press, 1995), was awarded the 1996 James Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians for the best book published on the history of race relations in the United States. He has also written numerous articles and essays on U.S. racial ideology, 19th-century southern women and families, and the Civil War. His recent work has focused on higher education issues such as campus sustainability, liberal education, and change leadership.

Robert Foster is Professor of Anthropology and Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Rochester. Before coming to Rochester, he taught in The College of the University of Chicago as a William Rainey Harper Postdoctoral Instructor. Here at Rochester, he was a finalist for the Student Association's Professor of the Year Award in 1993; he was nominated again in 1998 and 2002. Since 1996, he has been a member of the steering committee of the graduate program in Visual and Cultural Studies. Prof. Foster did intensive field research in the Tanga Islands, Papua New Guinea in 1984-85 and 1992; he visited most recently in 2002 with his 14 year-old son, Andrew. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. In 1997, he began to study commercial advertising and soft drink consumption in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. His book, Coca-Globalization: Following Soft Drinks from New York to New Guinea, is scheduled for publication in December 2007 by Palgrave Macmillan. His current research interests include nationalism, globalization, mass media, material culture and mass consumption. His research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Australian-American Educational Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Spencer Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities

Derrick Hazle is currently Executive Director of Leadfreeby2010, which is an Advocacy and education based agency with the mission to end lead poisoning by 2010. Mr. Hazle is the current Board president of the Rochester fatherhood resource Initiative, an agency that does Job training and case management for fathers and their Families. Mr. Hazle also sits on the Fair Housing Committee advisory board as well as the Healthy Homes advisory committee. Mr. Hazle is the former Director of The IN CONTROL program that focuses on teen pregnancy prevention and young fathers, he also is the former VOA Parole program Director, and Center for youth services gang intervention Director. Mr. Hazle is also President of ICU consulting, which provides not for profit management consulting, and workshop seminars on parenting and community issues. Mr. Hazle has been featured in many national and local conferences, magazines and local TV, and news articles.
Mr. Hazle is a graduate of Charlotte High School and a member of the Rochester City School District Hall of Fame, Monroe Community College, and Roberts Wesleyan College Not- for profit Management Leadership program, and is currently working on a dual masters program at Empire State College and Colgate Divinity School. Mr. Hazle is a father of two, and enjoys riding motorcycles, reading, public speaking, and traveling. President of St. Peter and Paul's Head start Parents group. Founding member of SWADCO faith based group. Chair of The Community re-entry house committee for MICLA. Former ABC Advisory Committee board. Member of the local NAACP. Mr. Hazle is also a member of the Sector 4 advisory committee, a Mosiac partnership member, a current member of leadership Rochester and the Heat is on committee action group.

Hank Herrera founded The Center for Popular Research, Education and Policy, devoted to participatory action research, capacity-building and policy development with communities seeking to achieve self-reliance. Through C-PREP Hank provides management services for the New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group and the Rooted in Community Network of youth engaged in community food security projects. Previously he did neighborhood revitalization work in the predominantly African American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the northeast quadrant of Rochester, New York. He co-founded the NorthEast Neighborhood Alliance and Greater Rochester Urban Bounty, an urban agriculture and regional food system infrastructure project funded by the Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Initiative. Hank serves on the Board of FoodRoutes Network, a national organization that provides marketing infrastructure for local food systems; the Institute for Food and Development Policy; Food First, devoted to the elimination of the injustices that cause hunger; and the Center for Whole Communities, dedicated to nurturing the relationship between people and the land. Hank is a psychiatrist, a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and a Kellogg National Fellow. He maintains a part-time private practice of psychiatry in Rochester.

Amy Kedron is a Gilbert Moore Fellow at the State University of New York at Buffalo pursuing a Law degree and a PhD in American Studies. Her PhD dissertation will examine local first initiatives as a means of furthering social and economic justice. She has two degrees from Columbia University where she studied the intersection of race, economics and institutional change. There she worked as a research assistant to Manning Marable, noted scholar and director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. She has presented her academic work at conferences internationally at schools such as UCLA, Columbia and York University. Blending theory and praxis Kedron is the co-founding director of a local first initiative in Buffalo, New York called Buffalo First. She has both worked in and has conducted research on the nonprofit sector for over ten years. At the age of 19 she became the vice president of Sub Board One, Inc., a $6 million student service organization at SUNY Buffalo. She has also researched nonprofit business ventures under Gar Alperowitz at the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives in Washington D.C. Her findings have been published by the NCESA in Yes! Magazine.

Elizabeth Henderson farms at Peacework Farm in Arcadia, New York with her partners Greg Palmer, Ammie Chickering and Katie Lavin. Peacework provides the organic vegetables and herbs for Genesee Valley Organic Community Supported Agriculture. With Robyn Van En, Elizabeth wrote Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (Chelsea Green, 1999) A new updated edition is coming out in the fall of this year.

Patrick Keeler is the new urban farmer and school garden manager for the food-based educational School-Community Garden Project of Rochester Roots, Inc. He has worked as an organic farm apprentice at both the Poughkeepsie Farm Project in Dutchess Co., and at Peacework Farm in Wayne Co., New York. Patrick hails from Syracuse, which he left to pursue a BA in French and European Union Studies at American University in Washington, DC. After a brief hiatus from higher education he served espresso drinks and later volunteered with a sea turtle rescue program on the island of Zakynthos, Greece. Patrick then received his MA in Environmental Policy from Clark University in Worcester, MA in 2005 where he focused on the organic farming social movement and its responses to the development of the USDAs National Organic Program. Patrick is helping to create the first season of Rochester South Wedge Farmers Market alongside his devoted Market Team. He loves to cook with celeriac, heirloom tomatoes, and cinnamon basil, is inspired by Mediterranean cuisine and white sage, and his favorite vegetable is currently the parsnip. Patrick hopes to one day open his own local-foods restaurant/lounge and to never cease learning.

Wayne Kimo Knox has an extensive musical background. Originally trained as a classical musician, he studied flute at the Eastman School of Music. He then took up bass guitar and played with Rochester Jazz musicians. He started playing classical guitar in high school, and took up lute in college. Kimo feels that there are many interesting parallels between lute and Slack Key guitar, with the use of alternative tunings, deep bass notes and tablature that was popular in medieval and renaissance lute music. He has studied with Keola Beamer, John Keawe and Kevin Brown at the Aloha Music Camp. Kimo also plays the ukulele (concert/baritone), Ipu Heke, To’ere, and various other percussion instruments, and teaches ukulele and slack key guitar. See www.whknox.com for more on Kimo’s day job. His first two CDs Ke Ao Nani (2005) and Kaupoa (2006) are available at www.CDBaby.com

Jan McDonald is the Director of Rochester Roots, Inc. a local organization leading the way in developing the innovative Rochester Roots School-Community Garden Project. Inspired by experiential learning models, Jan designed a project that integrates social justice, sustainable agriculture, education, healthy eating and entrepreneurship. She believes that the best way to change the future of this planet is to educate its youth about sustainability from a very early age.

Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. After a decade of graduate study and staff research in sustainable agriculture at Cornell, Gay answered a calling to work in environmental ethics. During a three-year stint at Cornells Program on Ethics and Public Life, she worked on global warming, the social psychology of environmental ethics, and the environmental, psychological, and spiritual costs of over-consumption. She then served as the executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust for seven years, providing innovative and visionary leadership and transforming the organization at all levels to become a significant force for land protection in upstate New York.
Since 2003, Gay has led Sustainable Tompkins in designing and implementing an integrated program to advance the creation of a more sustainable regional community. She also serves as one of the Regional Coordinators for the Southern Tier Energy $mart Communities Program.

Elizabeth McInerney founded the Rochester Farm Connection, a listserv connecting Rochester area consumers with local sustainable farmers. The list was started three years ago, and now boasts 400 consumers and 40 farmers. Before becoming a stay-at-home mother to three boys, Elizabeth worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Kodak.


Doug Miller is an Entrepreneur with a passion to manifest life & world changing initiatives that reflect sustainability, innovation, harmony, health and peace. His interests lie in entrepreneurship, sustainability, health, computers/web design and community. Doug received his M.B.A. in Health Care Administration and Entrepreneurship from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester, and his B.A. in economics from the University of Rochester. Doug co-founded Organic Alley Café, Market & Studio, which promotes local networking, small business, sustainability and healthy eating & living – an “eco life center.” He has helped start two other successful companies. Doug serves as Vice-President of the Pittsford Chamber of Commerce, has previously served as Vice-President and Treasurer of the Pittsford School Foundation. Doug loves to teach children (and adults) about organic foods, sustainability and healthy living and is in the process of writing a children’s book series about sustainability with his wife, Molly & his children Emily 9, Meghan 7 & Griffin 1. Since 1994, Doug has worked at the University of Rochester and currently serves as the Medical Center’s Intranet Webmaster. He has helped start two other successful companies.

Douglas Rice moved to New York City in 1984 to pursue a career as a sound designer, returning to Rochester in 1992. A Rochester native, raised in a family that placed a high value on community service, he has always had a passion for the arts, particularly public art. From this passion the idea of ARTWalk was born as a natural outgrowth of the creative environment where he lived, the Neighborhood Of The Arts (NOTA). ARTWalk is a chartered museum that exists solely within the public right-of-way.
ARTWalk is a project addresses many issues, including walkability, civic engagement, improvement of the public realm, and creating district recognition. Doug Rice will bring experience from dealing with these issues with each ARTWalk project. ARTWalk is a 2003 US Conference of Mayors "City Livability" award.

Richard M. Ryan is a Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Education at the University of Rochester. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, an award-winning teacher and researcher, and Editor-in-Chief of the psychological journal Motivation & Emotion. He is a widely published researcher and theorist in the areas of human motivation, development, and psychological well-being, having published over 200 articles and chapters. He is the co-developer of Self-Determination Theory, a widely researched general theory of human motivation that has been applied in dozens of studies concerning the connections between materialism and happiness, the motivations behind ecologically friendly behaviors, and the impact of nature on wellness. Ryan is a member of Simplicity Forum, an advocacy group for less damaging lifestyles. He is also a psychotherapist and consultant to numerous organizations.

Michael Warren Thomas hosts radio shows about gardening, restaurants, travel, & wine every Saturday and Sunday morning on WYSL 1040 AM. "Naturally Green," "For the Love of Food," and "Discover the Finger Lakes" air every Saturday from 9-12 noon. On Sundays "Savor Toronto" and "The Grapevine" are from 9-11 am. For details and archives visit www.SavorLife.com.
Michael's goal from the beginning has been to promote the small, independent family-run businesses. He recently launched www.SavorIndependents.com, a site that helps find independent businesses and allows web visitors to give on these businesses. Independent businesses are the backbone of our community, and critical to keeping Rochester the unique place that it is. It matters where people spend their money, Savor Independents!

Kumu Victoria Kaiulani Visikowas born with a Hawaiian soul and at the age of four began her life’s journey into the Hawaiian culture. She has studied, performed and taught Hawaiian/Polynesian dance for 40 years. She has been influenced by and has studied with several Kumu hula (hula masters). Her primary source of inspiration has come from Auntie Nona Beamer. Kaiulani teaches the "Beamer" style of Hula. She has attended Hula workshops in Hawaii and on the mainland including the Beamer Family's "Aloha Music & Hula Camp" and "E Pili Ka Kou" with Kumu Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Keali'i Ceballos, Sonny Ching, Charles Kaupu, George Holokai, Kealoha Kalama, Leialoha Amina Lim, Michael "Keala" Ching and she attended Mapuana de Silva's Uniki Workshop. Kumu Victoria Kaiulani also teaches Hawaiian Dance & Culture at the University of Rochester in the Spring semester.

Liz Walker As the co-founder and executive director of EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI) since 1991, Liz Walker has dedicated her full-time work to bring this internationally acclaimed project from vision to reality (see the Ecovillage web site) Her book, EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture,(2005, New Society Publishers) has helped to introduce the concept of ecovillages to a broad audience in the U.S. and other countries. The book was recently published in Korea and has also been translated into Japanese. A review by Permaculture Magazine (published in the U.K.) said, "As the age of cheap oil draws to a close, we need living experiments in the reweaving of human-scale, locally-based social economies. As an illustration of how we can begin this process...EVI is without match." Liz Walker has been interviewed about EVI for special programs on CNN, PBS, NPR, Voice of America, and feature articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Popular Science, Residential Architect and Mother Earth News, as well as Japanese, Spanish, Arabic and Korean media. She is a contributing writer to the Cohousing Journal, Communities Magazine, and Green Horizon Quarterly. Walker is a founding member of the sustainability partnership between Ithaca College and EVI, and lectures widely in academic and community settings. She promotes ecovillage development through workshops offered around the U.S., Japan and the Phillipines. She is a co-founder and Board member of Gaia Education, a new initiative of the Global Ecovillage Network. Gaia Education has developed curriculum on creating sustainable communities that has been endorsed by the United Nations as an official contribution to the UN Decade for Education on Sustainable Development.