Faculty

Jacqueline Gillon is a community builder, facilitator and published poet. As the community engagement specialist for Thriving Communities Institute, a program of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, her focus is the physical restoration of Buckeye, Woodland Hills and Mount Pleasant. Jacquie serves on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Land Conservancy. She is co-chairs Black Environmental Leaders and serves on the Cleveland City Planning Commission’s East District Design Review Committee.

Jason “Jay” Sweat has spent 14 years at the Office of Economic Adjustment, currently serving as a Project Manager. Prior to joining OEA, he worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and as a city-county planner in Ohio and Florida. Mr. Sweat earned a dual Master of Science in Public Administration and Urban Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Akron.

Jayne Miller believes in strong communities, which are anchored by thriving park systems that enable emotional, intellectual, and physical development. Before joining the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Jayne served as superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Under Jayne’s leadership, the Minneapolis Parks system was named #1 among U.S. city park systems for the last five years. She is committed to bringing all of Pittsburgh’s parks to the same standard of excellence.

Jeff Appel is a practicing attorney in Salt Lake City. He is also a member of the board of directors of a land trust, and has extensive experience with both water rights and conservation easements.

Jennifer Kuszmar coordinates an urban open space grant program at Sonoma County Ag + Open Space.

Jennifer Moore-Kucera leads the Farmers Combat Climate Change program at American Farmland Trust that focuses on regenerative farming practices, farmland protection and clean, renewable energy. AFT’s climate team has developed novel tools and continues to influence policy and programs at state and national scales, including supporting states involved with the US Climate Alliance. Moore-Kucera has been a leader in soil health research and outreach via previous positions in academia and the USDA.

Jennifer Plowden is a senior conservation economist at The Trust for Public Land, where she has managed projects to quantify the economic value of parks, conservation and trails for over 40 communities-including municipalities, counties, and states across the country-as well as nationwide. Jennifer previously conducted research at Boston University and worked for Blue Hill Heritage Trust in coastal Maine. She holds a master’s degree in Resource Economics and Policy from the University of Maine.

Jerome Faulkner is a member of NRCS Easement Programs Division in Washington, D.C. He is the NRCS national grassland reserve program manager and the ACEP-ALE national program manager. He has been working with NRCS easement programs in many aspects including restoration planning, acquisition, and program implementation at the state and national level. He is the Easement Programs Division RCPP point of contact and routinely assists the national RCPP team with easement programs.

Dr. Jerry Franklin is a world-renowned forest ecologist who has been called “the father of new forestry.” He is a professor of ecosystem analysis in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington. A leading authority on sustainable forest management and the maintenance of healthy forest ecosystems, Dr. Franklin was responsible for integrating ecological and economic values into harvest strategies. The only forest ecologist in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Franklin has published hundreds of articles and received numerous awards including the Pinchot Medallion from the Pinchot Institute for Conservation. His most recent book is Ecological Forest Management (Waveland Press).

Jessica Carter connects people to the magic of redwoods as the Director of Parks & Public Engagement at Save the Redwoods League. She oversees projects that improve recreational infrastructure and expand visitor capacity in redwood parks as well as education and outreach programs that engage new and diverse audiences to inspire visitation. Prior to joining the team at the League, Jessica was Chief of Business for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, where she led a complex portfolio of nonprofit, commercial and interagency partnerships that together served over 5 million visitors each year and resulted in substantial park improvements and revenue generation. She has an MBA from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Berkeley. Jessica realized how critical outdoor access is to the wellbeing of individuals, communities and the planet while managing a youth development program early in her career, so she loves introducing people to the incomparable experiences offered by the ancient redwoods and giant sequoia.

Jessica Jay is the founder/principal attorney of Conservation Law, P.C., a law firm devoted to ensuring the permanence of land conservation through sound transactions. Jessica represents easement holders and landowners conserving working landscapes and environmentally significant land in the Rocky Mountain West. She guides easement holders, professionals, and landowners in educational workshops, and the next generation of land conservationists in her Land Conservation Law courses at Vermont Law School and Denver University Law School. Jessica collaborates with the conservation community to defend easements and incentives, shape emerging law, and inspire new endeavors in land conservation.

Jessica is associate director of Greenbelt Land Trust, a leading land trust in Western Oregon. She oversees fundraising, outreach and operations of the land trust and works closely with the board and staff leadership team to ensure coordination with the organization’s vision, programs, and operations. Jessica serves on the board of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts and is active in local advocacy groups working on affordable housing and homelessness, watershed management, and community storytelling.

Jessica Yoder, a shareholder at McDonald Jacobs is a CPA with over 15 years of experience specializing in nonprofit organizations. She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Goshen College. Jessica is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Oregon Society of CPAs. She has served on various boards and committees including Everence Association Inc. and Schoolhouse Supplies, Inc.

Jessie Norriss leads community engagement and outreach on Upstream Tech’s Growth and Partnerships team. In this role, she seeks to understand how technology can enable efficient conservation planning and decision-making at scale. Previously, Jessie worked at the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife to develop a geospatial tool to evaluate wetlands for their In-Lieu Fee Program. She also currently serves on the Advisory Board for Living Observatory, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on wetland restoration. Jessie holds a master’s degree in water resource engineering and environmental policy from Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Texas.

Jill manages the day-to-day operations of Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC) and oversees the implementation of board-directed strategic initiatives. Her background in communications and marketing drives her work on fundraising and raising awareness of BLC’s work in the community. She has a bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is a certified Professional Community and Economic Developer. Experience gained in her previous role, working on public policy issues for a local watershed organization, inspired her to start BLC’s first Public Policy Committee. Growing up in a small, Nebraska farming community gave her a love and appreciation for open spaces. When she’s not in the office, Jill enjoys hiking, reading and indulging her creative side by trying new recipes.

Jimmy Daukas focuses on American Farmland Trust (AFT)’s efforts to help farmers, ranchers and landowners reduce GHG emissions, sequester carbon, expand renewable energy and adapt to a changing climate. He has managed projects developing new policy solutions, creating ecosystem service markets and field-testing innovations. Jimmy led AFT to become an Impact Partner supporting US Climate Alliance states to increase carbon sequestration and reduce GHG on agricultural land to ensure agriculture realizes its potential as an essential element of state climate plans.

Joan Dwoskin has served as in-house counsel with The Nature Conservancy for 20 years, where she currently provides legal support for the Georgia and Oklahoma Chapters. She also chairs the Conservancy’s Conservation Easement Legal Practice Team, advising the organization on easement drafting, monitoring, enforcement and conflict resolution. Joan has a wide range of experience, including providing legal advice on fee and conservation easement transactions, military buffering programs, stewardship of conservation lands, managing litigation related to conservation easements, and government grants. She served two terms on the Land Trust Alliance Symposia Program Committee.

Jody Olson is the Senior Director of Federal Relations for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

John is a board member of the Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy.

Jon Leibowitz has worked in private land conservation since graduating from Vermont Law School in 2011. Jon is executive director of Northeast Wilderness Trust – the only regional land trust in the Northeast focused exclusively on Forever-Wild conservation. He was previously the Executive Director of Montezuma Land Conservancy, in Cortez, Colorado. Jon serves on the board of Vermont Parks Forever and is on the Rewilding Leadership Counsel. He lives in Middlesex, Vermont.

Jon Wickersham acts as North Coast Land Conservancy’s conservation director where he works to builds a strong rapport with local landowners, county officials and state and federal wildlife departments to advance North Coast Land Conservancy’s work conserving and connecting the landscape of the Oregon Coast from the Columbia River to northern Lincoln County. The North Coast Land Conservancy works by acquiring or otherwise managing lands for their habitat value. They are currently working with the Arch Cape Water and Sanitary Districts to protect Arch Cape’s drinking water source using a community forest model.

Jonathan Wachter has been conservation project planner at Marin Agricultural Land Trust since 2018. Jonathan holds a doctorate in soil science from Washington State University, where he worked on developing strategies for improving soil health and economic performance of pasture and crop land.

Judy Anderson of Community Consultants, LLC has worked in the land trust sector for over 30 years. She currently assists nonprofit organizations on practical strategic conservation initiatives incorporating local communities, climate change, governance, communications and community-based fundraising strategies. Judy also provides coaching on inclusive conservation, easement drafting and stewardship, and building greater community relevance to ensure land trusts withstand the test of time. Prior to her work as a consultant Judy was executive director of the Columbia Land Conservancy.