Jennifer Jewell - is the host of the national award-winning weekly public radio program and podcast Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden.

Jewell is the author of The Earth in Her Hands, 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants (Timber Press in 2020), and Under Western Skies, Visionary Gardens from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast (Timber Press, May 2021), and, What We Sow, On the Personal Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds (Timber Press, 2023).

Jewell’s greatest passion is elevating the way we think and talk about gardening, the empowerment of gardeners, and the possibility inherent in the intersection between places, environments, cultures, individuals and the gardens that bring them together beautifully – for the better of all the lives on this generous planet.

cultivatingplace.com; Instagram @cultivating_place; Facebook @cultivatingplace.NSPR.

John Whittlesey - is a nurseryman, garden designer, and author who has spent many years designing and installing climate-appropriate gardens with the purpose of attracting more wildlife into the garden. His book, The Plant Lovers Guide to Salvias, was published by Timber Press in 2014. He is a strong believer that we become more connected to our garden spaces when our gardens become more than just pretty places, but rather are vibrant habitats where birds and insects thrive.

canyoncreeknurserydesign.com

Dave Hunter - Dave Hunter is the founder/owner of Crown Bees, an innovative solitary bee company headquartered in Woodinville, WA. With over two decades of hands-on experience with native bees, Dave has been instrumental in shaping the commercial Mason bee industry. He helped establish the Orchard Bee Association (OBA), which has revolutionized Mason beekeeping practices and helped establish standards for ethical beekeeping while optimizing efficiency for farmers and gardeners alike. In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Dave co-authored "The Mason Bee Revolution."

crownbees.com Instagram: @crown_bees

Jessica Fox - Jessica Fox is a conservation biologist leading efforts on water management, pollinators, environmental markets, ecosystem services, sustainability and related work. She currently works for the Electric Power Research Institute, (EPRI), a non-profit organization focused on environmental science related to electricity generation and use. In 2018, Ms. Fox launched the EPRI Power-in-Pollinators Initiative, which is now the largest effort in North America for electric power companies to collaborate on pollinator conservation research and projects. Previously, Fox led EPRI’s Energy Sustainability Interest Group from  which became the largest collaborative forum in the industry to advance critical issues related to sustainable electricity.

epri.com/pollinators;Facebook: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) | Facebook

Emil Petrinic -Emil is a photographer, writer, and community scientist who enjoys learning about native bees and their interactions with plants and sharing that knowledge with others through applying his visual storytelling skills. You can often find him participating in bioblitzes working on improving local surveys of native bee ranges and populations, and occasionally leading bee walks. When he's not outside looking for bees, he's on iNaturalist helping identify observations of native bees from the West Coast of North America. Emil enjoys gardening and bonsai, among other hobbies.

Amanda Niemela -Amanda Niemela graduated from UC Berkeley last year with a B.S. in Genetics and Plant Biology. She has been a researcher at the Urban Bee Lab for 3 years and acts as the project taxonomist, working to identify the many bee species curated at the lab.

Tora Rocha - is the founder and leader of Oakland’s Pollinator Posse, a volunteer group that creates “pollinator corridors” in and around Oakland. As a supervisor for Oakland’s Public Works Agency, Tora has helped turn Oakland’s parks into an urban oasis for so many of our winged and feathered friends - and she wants to share that knowledge with gardeners near and far!

pollinatorposse.org Instagram: @pollinatorposse