Janet Ady, Ph.D., is the Chief of the Education, Interpretation, and Partnerships Division for the Bureau of Land Management’s National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships directorate. The division provides national level program support, training, and products for environmental education, interpretation, volunteer management, and partnership programs; leads the Junior Ranger initiative to connect people with nature; and coordinates the BLM youth and stewardship programs. Previously, she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an environmental education and training specialist, the Chief of the NCTC Division of Education Outreach, and a Senior Advisor. Janet received a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation, with an emphasis in Environmental Education, a Master’s degree in Natural Science and a doctoral degree in Sustainability Education from Prescott College in Arizona, with a focus on engaging youth in conservation science.

Julie Dunlap, Ph.D., is a founding member of the Community Ecology Institute Board of Directors. She has a doctorate in social ecology from Yale University and teaches about environmental history and management at the University of Maryland University College. A freelance writer, her works range from natural history books for children to essays about climate change.  She is the Education Chair for the Audubon Society of Central Maryland and Kids Team Leader for Interfaith Oceans. Julie’s writings, teachings, and outings seek to nurture, explore, and celebrate intergenerational relationships with the natural world.

Alvin Findlay, is a founding member of the Community Ecology Institute Board of Directors and participant in the Columbia Families in Nature program with his family. His career in the accounting industry focuses on the helping non-profits achieve their financial goals and develop strong accounting functions and procedures.Alvin has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and a background comprised of supervising, managing and participating in full cycle accounts payable, full cycle accounts receivable, invoicing, full cycle payroll, crate to grave contracts administration, internal auditing as well as innovative and resourceful reporting and procedural documentation, in large, medium, and small enterprises. 

Buffy Illum has a M.A. in International Development from Aalborg University in Denmark where she lived for more than a decade working with and promoting cultural competency, diversity and inclusion in health care and the private sector. She has an extensive background in particpatory research methods and has written and managed six-figure grants. She has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from UC Santa Barbara. She is a Columbia, MD native and is currently completing a certification in Permaculture Design from Oregon State University.

Ana Maldonado (MD) specializes in Internal Medicine and works with the International Refugee Center in Baltimore. Hailing from Puerto Rico, she believes that health care is a basic human right and is focused on providing underinsured patients with the best possible access to primary care.  An active CFIN participant, Dr. Maldonado sees the clear links between time spent in nature and improved well-being for individuals and within communities.

Denise Mitten, Ph.D., is internationally recognized for her innovative scholarship in outdoor and environmental pedagogy, ethics, leadership, and gender. She was involved in the early wave of sustainability in the 1970s, including ecosystem modeling.  After her forest ecology graduate work at Yale University, she worked with Donella and Dennis Meadows (Limits to Growth) at the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College.  Dr. Mitten continued in research and education combining ecosystem sustainability and social sustainability (the ethic of care) with expert outdoor skills to help people learn sustainable community building skills though outdoor living and travel. Other efforts in sustainability included her work with designing the Baldwin school project to help working poor youth understand the intersection of health, nutrition, physical activity and economics. With a passion for teaching and group dynamics, Denise initiated programs to strengthen bonding between parents and children and a leadership program for women felons. As a writer and consultant Denise has advocated and written about caring and compassionate leadership combined with expert outdoor skills since 1985.  She developed an intensive and award winning leadership training and apprenticing program for women, opening the door to outdoor leadership to many women. Dr. Mitten currently directs graduate programs in sustainability at Prescott College. 

Betsy Wier, Ph.D., is responsible for the Environmental Change and Health Program at the One Health Institute at Colorado State University. Her scholarship and research leverages local and traditional knowledge to expand the analysis and understanding of complex social-ecological problems and to empower communities to advocate for policy changes. Prior to higher education, Betsy had over 15 years of experience as a senior manager and technical advisor for international development and humanitarian relief programs worldwide. Her field experience includes the design of community-based field programs, research, and evaluation using participatory, community-engaged methods. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from the Josef Korbel School for International Studies, University of Denver and a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education from Prescott College.