Speakers

For biographical information on conference speakers, please click here. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

LUIS GARDEN ACOSTA
Body and Soul opens with a keynote address by Luis Garden Acosta, a leading voice for human rights and environmental justice. He is founder and president of El Puente, a community human rights institution that promotes leadership for peace and justice through the engagement of youth and adults in the arts, education, scientific research, wellness and environmental action. Under his leadership, New Yorkers have built parks and open spaces as well as mapped one hundred Brownfield sites focused on human rights. For his lifetime commitment to integrating community building and political work, Garden Acosta received the Heinz Award for the Human Condition in 1998.

TERESA HEINZ
Teresa Heinz is the chairman of The Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies. The New York Times has called her “one of the nation’s leading philanthropists”.  Named by Utne magazine as one of 100 American visionaries (“people who could change your life”), she is recognized as one of our premier environmental leaders. And she has been a long-time and tireless educator and advocate on behalf of women’s health and economic security. With her husband, Senator John Kerry  of Massachusetts, she is co-author of This Moment on Earth: Today’s New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future.

RICHARD LOUV
Richard Louv is a futurist and journalist focused on family, nature and community. He is the author of seven books, including, most recently, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin). Among his other books are Childhood's Future (Anchor), and The Web of Life, (Conari). He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and other newspapers and magazines.

In addition to his writing, Louv is chairman of Children & Nature Network, a non-profit organization helping build the movement to reconnect children and nature. He is a member of the Citistates Group, an association of urban observers, and serves on the member of the board of directors of ecoAmerica.

Richard Louv's appearance is made possible by a grant from Garden Club of Allegheny County, a member of Garden Club of America.

MICHAEL DIBERARDINIS
Michael DiBerardinis is Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.  At DCNR, he is working to look beyond the traditional mission as the stewards of our public lands, to one of advocacy and leadership on broad environmental issues around land and water.  Under Secretary DiBerardinis's leadership, DCNR has undertaken such initiatives as the Pennsylvania Wilds, a nature tourism effort in the north-central part of the state; TreeVitalize, a public-private partnership to restore tree cover in southeastern Pennsylvania; and has led efforts to promote statewide land conservation, build sustainable communities and create outdoor connections for citizens and visitors.

MODERATORS AND PANELISTS

Rohit T. Aggarwala
Director, New York City's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability

Seung-il Ahn, Ph.D.
Director of Green Seoul Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government

Tim Almaguer
Executive Director, Friends of Patterson Park

José Almiñana, ASLA
Principal, Andropogon Associates, Ltd., Philadelphia

Duane Ashley
Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Pittsburgh

David Bahlman
Executive Director, President and CEO, Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois
Chair, Board of Trustees, National Association for Olmsted Parks

Julie Bargmann
Associate Professor, University of Virginia

Thomas Baxter
Executive Director, Friends of the Riverfront, Pittsburgh

Bob Becker
Chief Executive Officer, New Orleans City Park

Barry Bessler
Chief of Staff, Fairmount Park Commission, Philadelphia

Charles Beveridge
Editor of The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted and co-author of Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape

Kathy Blaha
Principal, Kathy Blaha Consulting, LLC

Michael Boland
Chief of Planning, Projects, and Programs, The Presidio Trust

Fred Bonci
Principal, LaQuatra Bonci Associates, Pittsburgh

Paul Bramhill
Chief Executive, GreenSpace, United Kingdom

Joseph (Jody) Brooks
Brooks Consulting, Atlanta

Mario Browne
Project Director, Center for Minority Health, University of Pittsburgh

John Buck
Soil Scientist and Project Manager, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., Pittsburgh

Victor Calise
Accessibility Coordinator, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

Denys Candy
Managing Partner, Pittsburgh Community Partners Institute

Margaret Carreiro, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Louisville

Meg Cheever
President & CEO, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Fiona Cheong
Creator, "Reimagining Our City," Pittsburgh

Steve Coleman
CEO, Washington Parks & People

Carol Coletta
President and Chief Executive Officer, CEOs for Cities; host of public radio's Smart City

Curtis Cravens
Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program Coordinator, New York State Division of Coastal Resources

Dick Dadey
Executive Director, Citizens Union, New York, NY

Marinela Servitje de Lerdo de Tejada
Director, Papalote Museo del Niño, Mexico City; Former President, Pro-Bosque de Chapultepec Trust

James V. Denova
Vice President, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Michael DiBerardinis
Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Christian DiPalermo
Executive Director, New Yorkers for Parks

Richard Dolesh
Director of Policy, National Recreation and Park Association

Herbert Dreiseitl
Landscape Architect, Atelier Dreiseitl, Uberlingen, Germany

Caryn Ernst
Associate Director of Conservation Vision Services, Trust for Public Land

Sylvia Fields
Executive Director, Eden Hall Foundation, Pittsburgh

John Flicker
President, National Audubon Society

Mark Focht
Executive Director, Fairmount Park Commission

Carol Franklin
Principal, Andropogon Associates, Ltd., Philadelphia, PA

Mindy Fullilove, MD
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Public Health, Columbia University

Timothy Gallagher
Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Alexander Garvin
President and CEO, Alex Garvin Associates, Inc.; Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and Management, Yale University; author of The American City: What Works, What Doesn't

Richard Gelb
Performance Measures Manager, King County (Seattle), WA

Tony Genco
President and CEO, Parc Downsview Park, Inc., Toronto, Ontario

William Gilchrist
Director of Planning, City of Birmingham, Alabama

Geoffrey Godbey, Ph.D
Professor Emeritus, Recreation, Park and Leisure Management, Penn State University

Phil Gruszka
Director of Park Management and Maintenance Policies, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Flip Hagood
Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Student Conservation Association

Peter Harnik
Director, Trust for Public Land's Center for City Park Excellence

Marijke Hecht
Director, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy's TreeVitalize Program

Brian J. Hill
Program Officer, Richard King Mellon Foundation

Eloise Hirsh
Project Administrator, Staten Island Fresh Kills Park

Diane P. Holder
President and CEO, UPMC Health Plan

John Hopkins
Landscape Architect; Urban and Environmental Planner; Project Sponsor for the London Olympic Parklands and Public Realm at the Olympic Delivery Authority, London

Tessa Huxley
Executive Director, Battery Park City Parks Conservancy

John M. Jakicic, Ph.D
Chair and Professor, Department of Health and Physical Activity, University of Pittsburgh and Director, America on the Move in Pittsburgh

Kevin E. Jeffrey
Deputy Commissioner for Public Programs, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

Dan Jones
Chairman and CEO, 21st Century Parks, Louisville, Kentucky

K B Kabuta
Senior Youth Leader, Great Plains Restoration Council

Bruce Katz
Vice President and Director of Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings Institution

Liam Kavanagh
First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Dina Klavon
RLA, ASLA, Klavon Design Associates, Inc.

Lucy Lawliss, ASLA
Historical Landscape Architect; Cultural Resources Manager, National Park Service

Kang-Oh Lee 
Secretary General of Seoul Green Trust, Seoul

Charlie Lord
Director, Urban Ecology Institute, Boston College

Caroline Loughlin
Master List Editor, co-author of Forest Park

Rhonda Macdonald
Commercial Manager, Parks Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Jarid Manos
Founder and President, Great Plains Restoration Council

Barbara McCabe
Parks Coordinator, Philadelphia Department of Recreation

Michael McClary
Board Member, Wynnefield Heights Civic Association; Chairperson, Parks Committee

Vernice Miller-Travis
Executive Director, Environmental Support Center

Timothy J. Mitchell
General Superintendent, Chicago Park District

Velma Monteiro-Tribble
Chief Operating Officer and Assistant Treasurer, Alcoa Foundation

Catherine Nagel
Executive Director, City Parks Alliance and National Association for Olmsted Parks

Shawn Norton
NPS Climate Friendly Parks Program, Climate Leadership in Parks (CLIP) Tool

Patricia O'Donnell, FASLA
Principal and Founder, Heritage Landscapes, Charlotte, VT

Dan Onorato
Chief Executive, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Stuart Ord
Melbourne Regional Manager, Parks Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Marion Pressley, ASLA
Principal, Pressley & Associates, Inc.

Karen Purcell
Project Leader for Urban Bird Studies, Cornell Ornithology Lab

Susan Rademacher
Parks Curator, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Luke Ravenstahl
Mayor, City of Pittsburgh

Anthony Reed
Archivist, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, National Park Service

Richard Reed
Executive Vice President, The Pittsburgh Foundation

Joan M. Reilly
Senior Director, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Philly Green Program

Will Rogers
President, The Trust for Public Land

Marilyn Saba
Education Consultant, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

Gary Saulson
Director of Corporate Real Estate, The PNC Financial Services Group

Steven Schuckman
Parks Superintendent of Planning and Design, Cincinnati Parks

Dick Skrinjar
Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Pittsburgh

Laura Solano
Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

Liza Stearns
Education Specialist, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

John Swintosky, ASLA
Landscape Architect, Louisville & Jefferson County Parks and Recreation

Tupper Thomas
Administrator, Prospect Park; President, Prospect Park Alliance; Board Chair, City Parks Alliance

Ron Tipton
Senior Vice President of Programs, National Parks Conservation Association

Lisa Kunst Vavro
Assistant Professor and Director, Landscape Architecture/Landscape Studies, Chatham University

Russell Watkinson
Director of Parks, Conservation and Lands, Australian Capital Territory Department of Territory and Municipal Services

Marlane Weslian
Neighborhood Development Officer, Slavic Village Development, Cleveland

Nathan Wildfire
Sustainable Policy Coordinator, East Liberty Development, Inc., Pittsburgh

Andrew Wiley-Schwartz
Assistant Commissioner, Division of Planning and Sustainability, New York City Department of Transportation

Randy Worls
Chief Executive Officer, Oglebay Foundation, Wheeling, West Virginia

Byoung-E Yang
President, Seoul Green Trust, Seoul

Shabih-Ul-Hassan Zaidi
Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Christian Zimmerman, ASLA
Vice President, Prospect Park Alliance

Kyung-Jin Zoh, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul


TOUR GUIDES AND MOBILE WORKSHOP LEADERS

Louis Astorino, FAIA
Founder and Chairman, Astorino

Dan Biederman
President, 34th Street Partnership and Bryant Park Corporation

Diane Bossart
Education Manager, Green Building Alliance

Linda McKenna Boxx
President, Allegheny Trail Alliance, Pittsburgh

Michael Edwards
President and CEO, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership

Michael Eversmeyer
Highland Park (Pittsburgh) resident and Principal Architect

Senator Jim Ferlo
Pennsylvania State Senator, 38th Senatorial District

Laura Fisher
Senior Vice President, Allegheny Conference on Community Development

Mike Gable
Deputy Director, City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works

David Hance
Registered Architect and President, Highland Park Community Development Association

Arleyn Levee
Landscape Historian and Olmsted Scholar

Karen Lukas
Urban EcoSteward, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Doug MacGregor
Education Director, Fort Pitt Museum

Kevin McMahon
President and CEO, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Christine Mondor
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University

Cynthia Morton, Ph.D
Associate Curator and Head of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Edward (Ted) Muller
Professor of History and Director of the Urban Studies program, University of Pittsburgh

Tamica Mickle
Regional Program Manager, Student Conservation Association

Tom Murphy
Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, 1994 - 2006

Edward Patton
Director of Capital Projects, Riverlife, Pittsburgh

Charlie Pepper
Deputy Director, National Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Richard Piacentini
Executive Director, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Kirk Savage
Associate Professor of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh

Christina Schmidlapp
Former Project Director, Allegheny Commons Initiative

Ellis Schmidlapp
President, Landmarks Design Associates

Thomas Schmidt
Vice President and Legal Counsel, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Lisa Schroeder
Executive Director, Riverlife Task Force

Brenda Smith
Executive Director, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association

Dianne Swan
Executive Director, Rosedale Block Cluster

Tom Swisher, RLA, ASLA
Landscape Architect, Pennoni Associates, Inc.

David J. Vater, RA, AIA
Architect and Contributing Editor, Whirlwind Downtown Walking Tour

Shaun Yurcaba
Main Street Manager for Vandergrift, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation