Marliz Arteaga, Church Engagement Coordinator
Dr. Marliz Arteaga cultivates our Hispanic church network to advance our Urban Tree Planting Initiative in Central Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. She builds relationships, provides resources, and empowers churches to live out their faith through tangible care for God’s creation.
Originally from the Bolivian Amazon, Marliz holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering, a master’s in Sustainable Development and Practice, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida. As an environmental and social scientist, educator, and sustainable development practitioner, she has taught at universities across Latin America and the U.S.
Rooted in her Christian faith, Marliz sees her vocation as a calling to steward the earth and serve vulnerable communities. In her free time, she enjoys reading and traveling with her husband and two boys—and baking bread and cooking traditional dishes from their home country.
Verónica Godoy, Texas Conservation Project Director
Dr. Verónica Godoy directs our Conservation Project in Central Texas. She leads community partnerships to restore the Bull Creek Watershed and to offer programs to the Spanish-speaking community to in the Austin area.
Originally from Argentina, Veronica worked as a scientist and college instructor in plant molecular and cellular biology and conservation biology before moving to Austin, Texas in 2015, where she lives with her husband and twins. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and PhD in Biological Sciences from The National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina. Veronica finds plants fascinating and enjoys the diversity and beauty of Texas native trees and wildflowers on her daily walks with her dog, Nacho.
Read Veronica’s staff Q&A here.
Noah Guthrie, Nashville Conservation Coordinator
Jenna Henderson, Director of Community Engagement
Jenna directs our communications activities and programs to connect individuals and churches to our work. Whether developing our online platform or cultivating our church program and resources, Jenna loves inviting people into the joyful work of caring for creation as part of the life of faith.
Jenna earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Wake Forest University and a Masters degree from Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, where she first learned about A Rocha’s work. She has worked with a number of nonprofits including Habitat for Humanity, Northern Ireland and Saint Thomas Health Services in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives. Jenna loves spending time in Tennessee’s great outdoors with family and friends and tending to her native plant garden.
Liuan Huska, Director of Communications
Liuan Huska leads the communications team in telling compelling, evidence-based stories that show the beautiful things that can happen when the people of God respond practically and faithfully to creation’s groans. She brings over a decade of journalism and writing experience at the intersection of ecology, embodiment, and faith.
Liuan is the author of My South American Classroom, a picture book for traveling families, and Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness, a book weaving memoir, theology, and sociocultural critique. She is a regular columnist for Sojourners magazine.
Read Liuan’s staff Q&A here.
Dave Lamb, Associate Director
Rev. Dave Lamb has followed a vocational path of Christian ministry and outdoor adventure. He has been a pastor, wilderness trip guide, camp managing director, citizen science volunteer, and even a National Park ranger. He holds a B.R.E. from Clarks Summit University, an M.Div. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and has served on several nonprofit boards including the Au Sable Institute. Dave has a passion for the Great Lakes and lives with his wife in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan.
Ben Lowe, Executive Director
Since his first encounter with A Rocha as a Wheaton student in 2003, Rev. Dr. Ben Lowe has served on A Rocha staff teams and boards, nationally and internationally, most recently as Deputy Executive Director of A Rocha International. Ben’s training as a scientist and a minister inform his leadership and development of A Rocha USA’s national strategy and team.
Originally from Singapore, Ben was the founding national organizer of Young Evangelicals for Climate Action and has served on the boards of A Rocha USA, A Rocha International, the Au Sable Institute, and Christians for Social Action. He is the author of multiple books and his work has been featured in media outlets including Audubon Magazine, Christianity Today, and The New York Times. He has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from Wheaton and a PhD from the University of Florida focused on the human, religious, and ethical dimensions of environmental change and conservation. Ben is based in the warm and watery state of Florida, USA, where he can often be found kayaking on the Indian River Lagoon.
Brittany Michalski, Director of Conservation
Brittany works closely with the Associate Director on financial operations, manages the Conservation Internship Program, and helps our Affiliated and Conservation Projects meet their goals. She brings expertise in conservation planning and a passion for loving and serving God into her role.
Previously with Care of Creation as the Outreach Specialist, Brittany has worked extensively with A Rocha International’s climate action program, Climate Stewards, and Marine Conservation program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology and a Masters degree in Environmental Conservation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Sparta, Wisconsin with her husband and two rescue dogs Pippin and Rosie, where she is an avid gardener and vegetable fermenter (think kimchi, sauerkraut, and hot sauce).
Read Brittany’s staff Q&A here.
Jenny Ramirez, Environmental Educator
Jenny leads outdoor adventures for our Austin-based program, Picnics en el Arroyo, bringing families together to explore nature and deepen their understanding of local flora and fauna.
Jenny graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. During her studies, she was fascinated with medicinal plants and plant identification. Post-graduation, her work experiences as part of a microbiology research and development team in Austin, Texas have led her to appreciate the role of microbes in our world. In her free time, Jenny blends her love for nature with Austin’s vibrant city life and enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, and sunsets.
Read Jenny’s staff Q&A here.
Ron Rienstra, Director of Church Partnerships
Rev. Dr. Ron Rienstra leads A Rocha USA’s Churches of Restoration program, along with other initiatives designed to equip congregations that recognize climate change as an existential challenge—one of scope and consequence unlike any humanity has faced before—and that our Christian faith compels us to confront it. He helps resource churches across the country that are eager to bring creation care to the center of their discipleship efforts, offering both theological grounding and practical support for faithful, courageous responses.
Ron is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and is the professor of preaching and worship arts at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary, and he joined the A Rocha USA board in 2022 before stepping into his current staff role.
He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife Debra, with whom he co-authored Worship Words: Discipling Language for Faithful Ministry. They have three grown children, a tangle of instruments in the living room, and a backyard they are slowly rewilding. Ron’s work is animated by a vision of the church as a refugia community—offering shelter, resilience, and renewal amid ecological disruption.
Read Ron’s staff Q&A here.
Robert Sluka, Lead Scientist, Marine Conservation
After living for extended periods of time in Australia, India, and Great Britain, Dr. Robert Sluka now lives with his family in Titusville, Florida where he directs research at our Florida Conservation Project and serves as Lead Scientist for A Rocha International’s Marine Conservation Programme. Bob’s research focuses on marine biodiversity conservation, plastic pollution, and fisheries, particularly in marine protected areas.
Bob has a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Miami in coral reef fish ecology and is an associate of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. His ultimate goal is to glorify God by transforming oceans and communities through holistic marine conservation. Bob’s lifelong passion for the ocean and all its creatures means he spends as much time as possible in or near the water, especially along the Canaveral National Seashore near his home.
Associates
Ed Brown, Senior Associate for Churches and Theology
Rev. Ed Brown joins A Rocha USA after 25 years in the creation care movement, including 20 years as founding director of Care of Creation and 10 as the first Lausanne Catalyst for Creation Care. He is convinced that mobilizing the church is the key to an ongoing and effective movement. To that end, he works with A Rocha USA staff and affiliated churches to encourage creation care mobilization at the congregational level
Ed lives in Madison, WI with his wife Susanna and has four adult children and three grandchildren. He holds a position as a Fellow at the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and works with the University’s Loka Initiative on Creation at the Crossroads, an ongoing outreach to pastors of evangelical churches. Ed has written two books, Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation and When Heaven and Nature Sing: Exploring God’s Goals for his People and His Creation.
Heidy Sumei Chuang, Artist Partner
Heidy is a Taiwanese-American artist specializing in floral design and painted media. She holds a BFA in painting from Washington University, an MFA from Boston University, and graduate studies in Orvieto, Italy. Her work has been exhibited at Blooming Resilience, Waterfall Gallery (NYC), Bergdorf Goodman X Waterfall Gallery (NYC), and Gordon Conwell (Italy). Her solo exhibitions include the Butterfly Project at L’Abri (MA), Butterflies of A Rocha (France), and Diary of Israel’s Beauty (NYC). She has worked as an Artist Resident at A Rocha France, taught at L’Abri, Switzerland, and received the Y. Chang Art Award (Paris, France). Her floral works have been featured in Architectural Digest, Harvard Art Museum, and the Boston Public Library.
Heidy’s work with A Rocha in the USA and internationally has shaped her artistic practice and in her Boston community, where she developed a pollinator project in Somerville, MA, the most densely populated urban neighborhood in New England. What began as a grassroots effort to plant milkweed in the margins, within an abandoned lot, has expanded into a growing network of native plant gardens – a pollinator corridor known as “The Butterfly Project.”
Heidy’s passion as an artist is to create a unique space for the environmental conservation movement, where small things are dignified, death is surpassed by rebirth, and vulnerability reveals an unexpected strength. Heidy’s works invite us to pause and notice the intrinsic artistry and wonder of creation, and the ‘why’ behind our care of creation. Her collections span mountain tops, urban streets, and quiet gardens, capturing the poetry and ineffable beauty that surrounds us, highlighting our planet’s wondrous yet vulnerable habitats and species.
Jeffrey Greenberg, Associate Scientist
Dr. Jeffrey K. Greenberg’s research has been widely focused on tectonic-petrologic and environmental investigations from Egypt, North Carolina, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Kosovo, Virginia, Kentucky, and the Republic of South Africa. He has also supervised student-oriented research and outreach, with many professional articles, maps, guidebooks, and meeting abstracts. Jeff received a Bachelors in Geology from Florida State University, Masters in Geology/Geophysics from the University of Kentucky, and a PhD in Geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He then spent eight plus years as a state geologist and Associate Professor of Environmental Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 1986 to 2018, he was a professor and 20-year Chair of Earth and Environmental Science at Wheaton College in Illinois. He served as President of the Affiliation of Christian Geologists twice, Issues Chair for the former Christian Environmental Council, Visiting Faculty for YWAM (Youth With A Mission), Director of the Wheaton College Science Station (twice), and currently coordinates the SWIRL (Stormwater Indian River Lagoon ) initiative as Associate Scientist for A Rocha USA.
As long as the Lord allows, Jeff hopes to contribute his experience to training and inspiring younger people in creation stewardship.
Terrie Clouse
Terrie has recently retired after a 35+ year career as an information technology professional, leading software development organizations in the financial services sector, electronics manufacturing, a Christian non-profit, US Department of Defense, and the United States Air Force. She has a passion for partnership, coaching and mentoring others, theology and environmental stewardship. Terrie has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, an MBA, and an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary (where she learned about A Rocha).
Terrie enjoys adventures such as international travel, skiing, hiking, racing her bike across Portugal and hiking the “W” in Patagonia. She lives in Gunnison, Colorado with her husband. They have one adult son who is also an avid outdoor enthusiast.
Liz Dong
Liz is a financial advisor and a CFP® practitioner. She holds her BA from Northwestern University and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Liz and her husband live in the Chicago area with their dog, Miso. They love hiking, camping, and exploring the great outdoors whenever they can.
Nancye Saunders Drukker
Nancye has worked with Bible Study Fellowship International as a Teaching Leader and Area Advisor for fourteen years. She has degrees in Clinical Nutrition from Baylor University and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School of Allied Health and a M.A. in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. She and her husband live in the Texas Hill Country, where she enjoys hiking and volunteering with ecological surveys as a Texas Master Naturalist.
William Farland
Bill is a retired independent consultant in toxicology and environmental and public health, and Professor Emeritus in Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University (CSU). Formerly, Bill served as Vice President for Research at CSU from 2006-2013, following a 27-year federal career at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in cell biology and biochemistry.
Bill has participated with and supported multiple educational, public health and safety, and environmental non-profit organizations over his career. Bill and his wife, Lucy, attend Christ Church Anglican in Austin, Texas, where they spend their winter and spring months, before migrating to the coast of Maine for the summer and fall. Bill enjoys fly-fishing, golf and woodworking throughout the year.
Angela Torres Kantola
Angela is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where she worked with West Indian manatees and Sherman’s fox squirrels in Florida, endangered species recovery across the southeastern U.S., and then as deputy director of the collaborative Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. She’s been involved with several Christian environmental organizations, is a fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, and volunteers with local sustainable living and community science initiatives.
Angela and her husband, Don Wallace live in the foothills above Littleton, Colorado with an abundance of wildlife and natural beauty. They enjoy hiking, kite-flying, and high-altitude gardening both outdoors and in a year-round passive solar greenhouse.
Laura Kaufmann
Laura currently serves as the Senior Director of Corporate Engagement at the New York Hall of Science, a hands-on, interactive STEM learning museum for children in Queens, NY. Prior to this role, she was the Director of Institutional Giving at Echoing Green, an organization that finds and launches the next generation of social innovators. She has also mobilized funding for international exchange and global leadership development programs and worked in global church planting.
Rachel Lamb, Board Chair
Rachel is currently the Senior Climate Advisor and agency lead for natural climate solutions at the Maryland Department of the Environment. She is also an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). In addition to earning a PhD in Geographical Sciences from UMD, Rachel holds graduate degrees in Public Policy, and Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology. Rachel enjoys visiting U.S. National Parks whenever she can and has been to more than 250 sites.
Jonathan Moo
Jonathan is the Lindaman Chair and Professor of New Testament and Environmental Studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. He is the author or co-author of a number of essays and books on Christian faith and ecology, including Let Creation Rejoice (IVP) and Creation Care: A Biblical Theology of the Natural World (Zondervan). He loves introducing students to the beauty of wild places, including on a January-term course he offers at Tall Timber Ranch in the snowy North Cascades. He enjoys hiking and backpacking, cross-country skiing, fly-fishing and helping his wife Stacey grow food in their backyard garden.
Caroline Park
Caroline is a Deputy Section Chief with the Fisheries and Protected Resources Section, NOAA Office of General Counsel (D.C. area), where she provides legal advice on domestic and international fisheries issues. She is a Georgetown (J.D., L.L.M.) and Stanford (B.A. American Studies) grad. She enjoys playing violin and singing with her quartet, playing piano and guitar, and writing/arranging music.
David Swanson
David is the founding pastor of New Community Covenant Church and the founder of New Community Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to healing community trauma through restorative practices. He lives with his wife and two sons on the South Side of Chicago. David is a former Director of Church Planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church and the author of Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity and Plundered: The Tangled Roots of Racial and Environmental Injustice. On most Tuesday mornings you’ll find him wandering around Jackson Park looking for birds.
David Yim
Bio coming soon!
Kara Ball
Called by her Christian faith to care for God’s creation, Kara brings 20+ years of
conservation and environmental experience to equip people of faith and
communities to conserve, protect and restore creation.
Kara has served multiple faith-based and community organizations to equip houses of worship in low tree canopy neighborhoods to plant and care for trees that will bring the benefits of cooling, health, and beauty to all in these communities. Her work has also encompassed developing and implementing habitat conservation programs with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, where Kara launched their first place-based conservation office in the Sideling Hill Creek Watershed, as well as a strategy with National Wildlife Federation to grow philanthropic support for habitat conservation, climate change, and environmental education priorities.
Kara is accredited as both a Master Naturalist and a Tree Steward, which better enables her to share the benefits of conservation with her community. She holds a
Master of Environmental Policy with a focus on sustainable economic development, and a Master of Business Administration. Kara and her husband the Rev. Dr. Jim Ball enjoy hiking the Potomac Heritage Trail in all seasons and visiting as many national parks as possible.
Vera Ayers Bowen
Vera is a third generation owner of the Shield Ranch which manages ranch lands for conservation and nature education. Currently she serves as the President of El Ranchito, a nature immersion camp for under-served children. She is also President of the Shield Ayres Foundation, a nonprofit family foundation supporting human services, social justice and environmental conservation. She earned a BA from the University of the South. She lives in Austin, Texas
Ellen Davis
Ellen F. Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. The author of twelve books and many articles, her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues, particularly the ecological crisis and interfaith relations. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (Cambridge University Press, 2009), integrates biblical studies with a critique of industrial agriculture and food production. Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship and Ministry (Westminster John Knox, 2014), explores the prophetic role and word across both Testaments of the Christian Bible. Preaching the Luminous Word (Eerdmans, 2016) is a collection of her sermons and essays, and Opening Israel’s Scriptures (Oxford University Press, 2019), a comprehensive theological reading of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.
A lay Episcopalian, she has long been active as a theological consultant and teacher within the Anglican Communion, especially in East Africa. Her newest book, with painter Makoto Fujimura and Rabbi Shai Held, Light within Light: Psalms and the Arts of Insight (forthcoming from Baylor University Press, 2026) explores various “slow arts” – poetry, painting, preaching, translation, theology – as modes of biblical interpretation.
Jason Fileta
Selected as a citizen delegate to the 2005 G8 Summit in Scotland, Jason advocated to the US delegation for fairer trade practices, debt cancellation for impoverished nations, and increased poverty-focused development aid. This led him to join Micah Challenge USA in 2005, a global movement of churches and organizations holding leaders accountable to their promises to combat poverty and injustice. While at Micah Challenge, he organized advocacy delegations to multiple G8, G20, UN summits and General Assemblies, advocating to high-level delegations from over 40 nations, but more importantly creating spaces for protest, prayer, and training for individual Christians who felt called to respond to systemic injustice.
He co-founded and served as the first executive director of the Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary, and was a contributor and editor of Live Justly, a book that has been used by over 250,000 people around the world
Steven Garber
Steve is the Senior Fellow for Vocation and the Common Good for the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. A teacher of many people in many places, he was the founder and principal of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture, and recently served as Professor of Marketplace Theology and Director of the Masters in Leadership, Theology and Society at Regent College, Vancouver, BC. The author of several books, including Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, his most recent is The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work. One of the founders of the Wedgwood Circle, he continues to serve as a consultant to colleges and corporations, facilitating both individual and institutional vocation. A husband, a father and a grandfather, a he has long lived in Virginia, near Washington DC, living a life among family, friends, and flowers.
Katharine Hayhoe
Katharine is Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy and Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. She is an atmospheric scientist who studies climate change, one of the most pressing issues facing humanity today. But Katharine may be best known to many people because of how she’s bridging the broad, deep gap between scientists and Christians— work she does in part because she’s a Christian herself. She’s been named by Christianity Today as one of their 50 Women to Watch, she serves as the World Evangelical Alliance’s Climate Ambassador and as the science advisor to the A Rocha USA, the Evangelical Environmental Network, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, and she currently hosts the PBS digital series, Global Weirding: Climate, Politics, and Religion.
Katharine is currently the Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and co-directs the Climate Center at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Colgate University and Victoria University at the University of Toronto.
Rick Lindroth
Rick is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Ecology (emeritus) and former Associate Dean for Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focused on forest systems, with a special emphasis on global environmental change. Rick is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America, the Entomological Society of America, and the American Scientific Affiliation. Currently, Rick serves as a Distinguished Fellow of the Lumen Center (Madison, WI). He is a member of the Biologos Voices Speakers Bureau, and speaks and writes to public audiences on topics such as creation care, climate change, and science denialism/communication.
Ruth Padilla-DeBorst
Ruth serves as a Professor of World Christianity at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. She yearns to see peace and justice embraced in the beautiful and broken world we call home. A wife of one and mother of many, theologian, missiologist, educator, and storyteller, she has been involved in leadership development and theological education for an integral mission in her native Latin America for several decades. She serves with Resonate Global Mission, leading the Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios (CETI – www.ceticontinental.org, a learning community with students across Latin America), coordinating the Networking Team of INFEMIT (International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation –www.infemit.org), and furthering missional leadership formation processes with the Christian Reformed Church of North America.
She serves on the board of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. She lives with her husband, James, in Costa Rica as a member of Casa Adobe, an intentional Christian Community with a deep concern for right living in relation to the whole of creation (www.casaadobe.org). Her studies include a Bachelors in Education (Argentina), an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Wheaton College), and a PhD in Theology (Boston University).
Debra Rienstra
Debra Rienstra’s most recent book is Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth (Fortress 2022), a book that combines theology, nature writing, and biological principles to consider how Christians must adapt our faith and practice for a climate-altered planet.
She is currently working on the next book, called Refugia Church, to appear with Fortress Press in early 2027. In connection with her work on faith and climate change, Debra speaks frequently to church and faith groups, hosts the Refugia Podcast, and writes the Refugia Newsletter on Substack.
Debra is professor of English at Calvin University, where she has taught since 1996, specializing in creative nonfiction, early British literature, and environmental literature. She and her husband have three grown children. She lives in Michigan in the Grand River watershed.
Perri Rosheger
Perri is Vice President of Community Engagement at the H.E. Butt Foundation. She has been in leadership with the Foundation for almost two decades.
In addition to oversight of two programs based in the Foundation’s nearly 2,000-acres of pristine Hill Country property, Perri leads an effort to build and launch programs and initiatives based in communities where the Foundation’s employees live and work.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Perri worked in fundraising leadership roles in the mental health, healthcare, and social services sectors. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University and lives in Boerne, Texas with her husband, John, and lively cat. They have three adult daughters.
Steven Purcell
Steven has been the Executive Director of Laity Lodge since 2006. From 1997-2002, he was the Director of Conferences and Retreats at Schloss Mittersill, in Mittersill, Austria. Prior to that, he attended Regent College in Vancouver, B.C., where he studied Spiritual Theology with an emphasis on its integration with the arts. Steven lives with his family in Boerne, TX.
T’Noya Thompson
T’Noya is a consultant for the North American Association for Environmental Education. Being born and raised in the Bahamas fostered a deep connection to the ocean that inspired a career path at an early age for T’Noya. She began her career at Moody Gardens in the Animal Care Department, where she served several roles including, connecting with communities in various capacities for twelve years. After Moody Gardens, she worked at Galveston Bay Foundation for two and a half years as the Advocacy Programs Manager. She educated and encouraged action to improve the overall health of Galveston Bay, Texas’ largest estuary. T’Noya is now the Environmental Education Specialist at the North American Association for Environmental Education. Here, she works with various partners on eeWORKS, eeBLUE, and developing an evaluation portal with Duke University.
Currently, T’Noya is also the Conservationist-In-Residence with Conservation Nation, and a Conservation Impact Fellow, Marine Conservation with the Cincinnati Zoo. Additionally, she serves as a Community Learning Leader for Miami University’s Project Dragonfly’s Global Field Program. She serves as the Board Chair for the Vermilion Sea Institute. She is currently in Class Eight of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders Program. T’Noya is also a member of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation governing council, Science Partnerships Committee, serves as the Vice-Chair for the Public Participation and Education Committee for the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, and is on the Advisory Council for A Rocha USA.
T’Noya holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and an M.A. in Biology from Miami University through Project Dragonfly’s Global Field Program. She is passionate about wildlife, environmental education, and supporting conservation and equity through community engagement. In her spare time, she enjoys growing in her faith, spending time with her wonderful family, meeting new people, and exploring when traveling.
Kyle S. Van Houtan
Kyle is a Research Scientist at Duke University. Previously he served as CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center and chief scientist of the Monterey Bay Aquarium where he oversaw the Aquarium’s research, including programs devoted to sea otters, white sharks, and plastic pollution.
Dr. Van Houtan concurrently holds an adjunct professorship at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and is an adjunct at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). His research explores global change, biodiversity conservation, historical ecology, and ethics. In 2012, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama for his pioneering research on how climate regulates sea turtle populations.
Dr. Van Houtan earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, a Master of Science from Stanford University, a Ph.D. from Duke University, and completed postdoctoral research at Emory University. Before joining the Aquarium, he served as a program leader for NOAA in Hawaii where he led initiatives across the Pacific in protected species and climate.
His work has been featured on National Public Radio, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Nature, Science, National Geographic, Wired, Smithsonian, Scientific American, and more. He lives in Florida with his wife and two children.
Jonathan Walton
Jonathan Walton is the creator of the Emotionally Healthy Activist Course and podcast, and the author of 5 books, including “Twelve Lies that Hold America Captive.” He is also a co-founder of KTF Press, and co-host of the Shake the Dust podcast. He has a degree in Creative Writing from Columbia University and an MA from the City University in New York in the Study of the Americas.
Currently, he works as a Senior Resource Specialist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He develops resources around Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, including execution of one-off workshops, cohort experiences, and conferences.