Christopher "Creek" Iversen grew up across the Catskills in Otsego County, but has lived most of his life in the mid-Hudson Valley where he worked as a naturalist, environmental educator, summer camp co-coordinator, and progressive teacher before becoming a sustainable community farmer.  Creek taught natural science and music at the Randolph School of Wappingers Falls, an experiential school dedicated to the greatest possible self-fulfillment of every child. In the 1990's Creek was the Resident Naturalist at John Burroughs Sanctuary in West Park.  Creek transitioned from teaching to farming in 2008, beginning as an apprentice at Common Ground Farm in Beacon.  He has also managed farms at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm in Shelter Island, Brook Farm Project in New Paltz, and Whirligig Farm in Hurley, always working hard with his crew and extended farm family to incorporate education, music and the arts, and community celebrations into the life of the farm. Creek is the co-founder of the Seed Song Farm & Center in Kingston NY.

Karen Hadley began serving as instructional coach for elementary social studies in the Onteora Central School district three years ago after 20 years as a classroom teacher.  Her primary objective is to adapt and update the NYS Social Studies Resource Toolkit to fit the students and teachers in our district. Karen models and coaches teachers using this content and the inquiry method of instruction, supported by primary sources and civic engagement.  She has also developed reading resource libraries for grades K-3 and 4-6 to support New York State's new Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework, and to promote justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (J.E.D.I.).  

Kristy Zukswert earned a B.A. in Biology from Boston University in 2016 and went on to earn a M.S. in Adolescence Education in Biology from the University of Rochester in 2017. She’s been teaching ever since and is currently a high school Chemistry & Biology teacher in the Arlington Central School District. In January 2024 she became a New York State Master Teacher and also joined the Mid-Hudson Teaching Center team. As someone who enjoys the outdoors and teaches science with global lens, Ms. Zukswert is a huge proponent of collaboration and is passionate about environmental justice issues and climate change solutions. When not teaching, Ms. Zukswert volunteers at church, hikes, and skis.

Laura Wyeth is a horticulturist and educator whose mission is to help people connect with and understand plants, particularly the plants that make up our local biodiversity. She is a Lecturer in Biology at SUNY New Paltz, teaching courses in botany and managing the campus greenhouse where she mentors student interns in the art and science of growing plants.

Lyndsey Wells is currently employed in the Hyde Park Central School District as a K-5 Math Academic Intervention Specialist. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Childhood Education from SUNY New Paltz, she went on to complete a graduate degree in STEM Education. During her master’s program, she was a graduate assistant supporting the college’s afterschool program, the Numeracy Club. As a result, she learned how to integrate design thinking into the STEM curriculum, which resulted in a co-authored article with Dr. Nataly Chesky published in a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics journal. Throughout her teaching career, she has observed that children and adults alike are motivated by principles of design when placed in the context of helping others. She aims to develop empathy as a driver of STEM problem-solving and innovation. This interest is continuing with work to use the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals as a vehicle for the design of a multi-disciplinary framework that engages young learners in solution-based thinking to solve problems in their own communities.

Samrat Pathania is a former software engineer who currently teaches mathematics, physics, and computer science at Wallkill High School in Wallkill, New York. He is a New York State Master Teacher Emeritus and co-founder of the Educator Collective for Environmental Justice. Samrat is a passionate advocate for inquiry-based and climate solutions-centered STEM education, inside and outside the classroom. He is co-author of A Full Axiomatic Development of High School Geometry, a graduate level mathematics textbook. Samrat is the sole winner of the 2017 STEM Teacher Scholarship from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation He is also a clean energy coach with New Yorkers for Clean Power and has presented many talks and workshops on practical climate solutions. He lives in New Paltz, NY with his family in a net-zero home. 

Scott Beall has enjoyed nearly 30 years experience in K-12 classroom teaching in mathematics, Music, sustainability and climate, STEM program designs and interdisciplinary studies.  He holds a masters degree in mathematics education from Stanford University and has worked extensively as a professional developer for K-12 teachers internationally and throughout the United States.  Throughout his career, and as lead presenter and program designer for six summer institutes in the Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation, Mr. Beall has worked to implement his vision and model of education curricular reform (www.noboundary.org) toward holistic interdisciplinary pedagogy, systems thinking, ethics, youth empowerment programs and sustainability.  He has worked as an adjunct professor in graduate programs and is the author of a ground breaking curricular publication integrating music and mathematics--Functional Melodies (Key Curriculum Press). 

Tom O’Dowd is a Hudson Valley native and lifelong science educator and land steward who loves teaching kids about the wonders of science and training educators to keep the wonder alive. After graduating from UVM with a B.S. in environmental studies, Tom served as an outdoor science teacher in California’s redwoods and at a Bay Area Spanish immersion school. Tom went on to get an M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan with a focus on behavior, education, and communication which he put to use for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and then Bard College. Tom was an independent educator for various non-profits and schools while earning an MAT and certification in teaching biology for grades 7-12. Tom served as a middle and high school teacher before returning to conservation work with the Kingston Land Trust where he now serves as Land Stewardship Coordinator.

William Gunther earned his BS in Biology and Secondary Education from Marist College and a MSEd from SUNY New Paltz. With a teaching career beginning in 2011, Mr. Gunther has experience in both high school and middle school science. Now in his tenth year at Valley Central Middle School in Montgomery, NY, he teaches 8th grade general science and a high school level biology course for accelerated students. Mr. Gunther is part of a cohort brought together through The New York Environmental Justice and Decarbonization Summer Institute, run by Educator Collective for Environmental Justice (ECEJ) and World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative. Mr. Gunther is also part of the New York State Master Teacher Program. He looks forward to working with other passionate educators with a mind towards incorporating environmental justice and climate lessons throughout the curriculum.