ABOUT US

Prof. Martin Storksdieck

Martin Storksdieck is the director of Oregon State University’s STEM Research Center, and a professor in OSU’s College of Education. The Center consists of a team of professionals from various disciplinary backgrounds who conduct applied research on learning and teaching around STEM and environmental education, informal education, science communication and science engagement at the intersection of research, policy and practice. Prior to joining OSU, Martin directed the Board on Science Education and the Roundtable on Climate Change Education at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.  Currently, he serves on the Science Advisory Boards for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel (Germany). He is also the Chair of Trustees for TERC, a nonprofit R&D organization in Cambridge, MA and serves as a board member of the Tree Media Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Martin is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He holds Master’s degrees in biology and public policy and a Ph.D. in education.

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Lin Morgan Barrett

Lin embraces life! Having lived long and well it is hard to hang a single shingle on her “office” door. A few themes resonate: mother of wonderful children, outstanding athlete, social activist, basketball coach, avid outdoors woman, community organizer and fundraiser. Lin’s career as a social activist, began at the age of 5,  shaped by growing up in West Oakland and San Francisco’s Mission District. She was active in Free Speech, Voter’s Rights, Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform movements. Early memories include stories from her Quaker grandfather about her family’s role in the Underground Railroad and organizing labor unions. Throughout her life, she has been influenced by her contemporary Rep. John Lewis who urged: “Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out!” 

 

Lin graduated from Holy Names University and UC Berkeley School of Criminology (M.S. - Administration of Justice and Forensic Psychology). For 30 years, she worked in corrections and was a forensic psychologist for the Courts. She is in her 61st year as a basketball coach (State of California CIF Model Coach of the Year -2009). In the 90’s, her focus shifted to rural communities and helping build consensus and positive economic, environmental and social results from the violent “Timber Wars.” As a very successful fundraiser she raised many millions of dollars for social, health and youth programs. As we entered the new millennium, she is researching, consulting and supporting individuals and organisations, who are working to address climate change, which she considers the most pressing issue of our time.

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Raymond Baltar
Raymond grew up in Berkeley, California where his father co-founded the Berkeley Ecology Center in 1969.  He had an early awareness of environmental issues that profoundly influenced his love of the magnificent natural world and unfortunately the knowledge of its rapid deterioration. First choosing an artistic career recording backgrounds for environmental portraiture he eventually followed his father’s footsteps and is now working for an Ecology Center based in Sonoma, California.  There he serves as educator on environmental issues,  especially those related to climate change and regenerative agriculture.   
 

He received a B.A. in Art Photography from San Francisco State University and has spent most of his adult life as a professional photographer in three distinct but related visual disciplines: first as a  photojournalist, then as a commercial photographer, then primarily as a portrait photographer. In 2003 he read the book The Ecology of Commerce by businessman and environmentalist Paul Hawken, sparking a long journey into environmental advocacy. He was elected to the Executive Committee of the Redwood Empire Chapter of the Sierra Club in 2006 which led to an advisory position with Solar Sonoma County in 2007.  In 2008 he became a Fellow with the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy in 2008 and in 2009 he joined the “Green MBA” graduate program at Dominican University of California where in 2011 he earned an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise.  For his capstone project he co-wrote a business plan for for the Sonoma Compost Company for a biomass energy facility that also produced a soil amendment called Biochar   Ever since, as Biochar Projects Manager and as Director of the Sonoma Biochar Initiative he’s been developing and promoting the biochar industry through the Sonoma Ecology Center. There he currently works full-time managing and contributing to grant and consulting projects that involve biochar education and field research, biochar production, marketing, and use, technology vetting, and economic development. 

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Stephan McGuire, Executive Director

Through University of Vermont, Stephan is a certified dignity and end-of-life therapist living in Rome, Italy. Dignity Therapy is individualised, narrative psychotherapy reducing psychosocial & existential distress promoting dignity, meaning & hope for end-of-life clients & their loved ones. From there is is also directing Tree Media Foundation where focusing on environmental, humanitarian & action campaigns. Through University of Massachusetts he earned a Bachelor's Degree in sustainable development and a double Master's Degree in creative & critical thinking & in international relations. Also, he holds a degree in permaculture through Permaculture College of Australia as well as learning of biodynamics / Steiner / Waldorf / anthroposophy. A dual citizen of Ireland & USA, Stephan has visited 45+ countries thus far. A member of The Swedenborg Foundation & the International Academy of Consciousness finally he's currently pursuing a PhD doctorate in psychology.

 

Leila Conners

Leila Conners founded Tree Media Group in August of 1996. With a background in international politics, Leila set out to build a production company that creates media to support and sustain civil society by telling inspiring stories. Currently, Leila is writing and directing We the People 2.0 about nature rights; and her longtime project, Into Eden, about how we can change our society and ourselves in the face of disintegrative forces that threaten everything from the biosphere to our economic system. Leila most recently produced a documentary film on the explosion of urban farming in Detroit called Urban Roots. Leila’s first feature-length documentary, The 11th Hour, was co-created with Leonardo DiCaprio. The film included 54 leading thinkers and scientists about the state of the world and the state of the human condition. She has written a feature film script for Ridley Scotts' Scott Free Productions on the state of the oceans. Leila has also been published in newspapers and magazines around the world including the International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Yomiuri Shimbun and Wired Magazine among others. Projects over the last 10 years with TreeMedia Group include work with the Council on Foreign Relations, NASA, JPL, Norman Lear, Green Cross International, Harvard University, and Hollywood studios among others. Her article on “Death and American Culture” was published in War, Media and Propaganda, published by Rowman and Littlefield.

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