Working Groups of COBALT/Team Zostera

Juliana Bohórquez

Founder of Meráki®, she works with socio-ecological transformation processes at a global level in the context of Bioregions. She leads social mobilization processes and as university professor of the Transdisciplinary Master of Sustainable Living Systems at the Externado de Colombia University. Juliana founded SysLab® (Systemic Laboratory), dedicated to research and application innovation in different social and organizational dynamics and patterns.

Milena Rojas

I am a mother who heads the family and comes from the countryside. I have been working on Fractal Regeneration projects for more than 7 years and I have learned to cultivate my leadership. I have expertise in coordinating operations, sustainability projects, and can use my experience in systems storytelling to contribute during my fellowship.

Glenn Page

For over 40 years, I have been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues, working at the interface of science, policy and practice.  Learning how to “Navigate in the Anthropocene” as I’m leading a team of interdisciplinary experts who brings innovation, evaluation and systems thinking to complex, messy, cross-scale, wicked challenges of our time.

Kent Libbey

I’m based in Palo Alto, California, where worked in high-tech for over two decades. Much of my career has been in product management in the context of digital media. I’m currently managing a globally distributed team of software designers and developers in the creation of software that uses emerging Artificial Intelligence technology to make it easy to identify, search and share key segments of videos.

Hayden Libbey

I studied Environmental Sciences and Management at UC Davis, graduating recently. I found GIS and data sciences to be the most intriguing of the many disciplines I learned. I’ve spent a year and half teaching youth science and leading outdoor education in the SF Bay Area and currently I live in Berkeley, CA. I would love to learn about a bioregion entirely different from the bioregion I inhabit.

Izzy Stocks

I’ve lived in Maine for most of my life and have so much love for it here. I’m in my final year studying media and communications at the University of Roehampton London and hope to use my media and communication skills to help tell the story of Maine’s coast. I worked on the seagrass story map for Cobalt this past summer and really enjoyed the work I took part in.

Sam Buckton

I consider myself an inter- or transdisciplinary researcher and systems thinker. My current PhD research focuses on how evaluation can support food system transformation towards regenerative futures. I am also a Research Associate with Global Assessment for a New Economics.

Veer Kumar

I like to think of myself as a Data Wizard. I love solving challenging problems using data as a tool. My superpowers include Data Storytelling, I love to take produce compelling visuals that give out insights from raw data and help us take adequate action.

Daniel Kwanin

I really appreciate the world of analytics and would like to work in an occupation to match my interest. I have expertise in stakeholder and community engagement. I have fallen in love with the scope of R and GIS software and am excited to continue to expand my knowledge in both.

Mark Bomster

I’m a lifelong journalist with experience as a daily news reporter and editor and a collaborative, team orientation. I’ve specialized in public education policy, national and local politics, and other issues of public interest. Superpowers: synthesizing and focusing the varied themes of a project, identifying key story lines, and bringing a generalist’s enthusiasm to something I know little about.

Kathi Hendrick

I’m an artist, engineer, designer, poet, facilitator, embodiment guide. I am dynamic and constantly evolving into deeper wholeness through curiosity and playful exploration of the “and.” I alchemize living systems principles, regenerative design, and strategy methods with art, psychology, embodiment and mindfulness practices to co-create wellbeing and positive transformation at the level of self, community and world.

Ellen Harasimowicz

I create visual stories that celebrate the strength and resilience of individuals and the places they inhabit. In an ever-growing disconnected world, I’m drawn to people who are rooted in a place and nourished by the bonds of community. Many have deep connections to the natural world and a desire to protect it. I have been a visual storyteller since 2004 when I started freelancing for the Boston Globe.

Hannah Day

I am a curator, artist and co-director of Gallery space 82Parris, in Portland Maine. I am a visual artist and curator inspired by local ecologies and climate shift in the Gulf of Maine. I often work with site-specificity to create paintings and installations. I have knowledge in several types of subject matter including sustainability, climate change, and the arts.

Cameron Cooke

I am a UK-based graduate who is passionate about sustainable place-making in the built and living environment. I’m really interested in how our relationship to buildings tells stories of our connection to local places and landscapes. I’d love to help understand what a specific bioregional building culture would look like in practice. As I grew up on a working farm and having a keen interest in sustainable food systems.

Tammy Owens

I aspire to be the glue that holds everything and everyone in a project together. I have educational background in English literature, journalism, and marketing. I have background in working with start-up and global corporate companies, as well as local government agencies, charities, and non-profits. I am driven to teaching others about nature and wildlife, as well as how to take care of it.

Signe R. Ferguson

I am a bit of a renaissance woman – as many of us are I assume. I am strong with my communication skills, and ability to story tell. I have many visualization skills, experience with creating maps and 3d models, a background in visual art, and a large emphasis in my work on experience design (the medium is the message).

Kristina Loring

I’m an independent story editor, audio producer, and sound artist working across genres and forms to create media experiences that you ACTUALLY FEEL in your body. Applying design techniques that I developed during my four years as the Head of Audio for DipseaI . Most recently, I was invited to the Meeting of Independent Radio Producers, to perform a live version of my piece “Intimacy” that originally aired on BBC Radio 4’s “Short Cut” program.

Hannah Day

I am a curator, artist and co-director of Gallery space 82Parris, in Portland Maine. I am a visual artist and curator inspired by local ecologies and climate shift in the Gulf of Maine. I often work with site-specificity to create paintings and installations. I have knowledge in several types of subject matter including sustainability, climate change, and the arts.

Peter Mellgard

Peter Mellgard is a senior editor of Noema Magazine. He was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow on the foreign desk at Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest newspaper, in 2014. Before that, Mellgard was a staff writer at The American Interest and a research associate for Walter Russell Mead. He has also worked at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Matice Maino

I’m a 24-year-old musician and film maker with a deep love for the outdoors. I have gotten a close up of how arts and community can come together to create meaningful change, and I look forward to exploring that more as I mature in my chosen career. I have expertise in several types of social issues including environmental and criminal justice, employment, and education.

Maria Nieto

I am an industrial designer. I live in Villa de Leyva and I have known the territory since I was a child. My superpower is to create playful solutions to teach about different problems. I am interested in learning about the Zaquenzipa bioregion from an environmental and social point of view using my experience in art and education.

Jon Betz

I am a marine conservation documentary film director and cinematographer, avid year-round Maine diver and citizen scientist. I have filmed wildlife and documentary sequences both topside and underwater for National Geographic and others in 26 countries since 2010. I specialize in mission-driven work that has a social, environmental or political message.

Shaun Gill

Think of me a heart-centered technical resource for helping you get in, on, and under water. While I am technically minded, I am also people-oriented, meaning that I take great care to provide mindful support of people and processes in order to arrive at holistic, stakeholder-centered solutions. I love mentoring others in prototype builds and working with others to tackle novel challenges.

Sydney Hay

I’m a master’s student of Marine Biology at Northeastern University with a passion for food and environmental justice. I have a basic understanding of American food systems and have experience assisting communities in combatting the aspects of food injustice that affect them. However, my academic expertise is more rooted in marine science.

An Siwinski

I love diving, learning about marine life, and fostering stray cats. I hold a BS in marine vertebrate biology from Stony Brook University in New York. I have R and GIS knowledge and like to map data. Gathering data to help the local ecosystem has always been a dream for me.

Allison Fogg

I am a graduate student at USM, I study population dynamics and life history characteristics of the mysid, in the Damariscotta River Estuary. I am interested in many fields of marine science including foundational species such as kelp and coral, sharks, sustainable aquaculture.

Glenn Page

For over 40 years, I have been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues, working at the interface of science, policy and practice.  Learning how to “Navigate in the Anthropocene” as I’m leading a team of interdisciplinary experts who brings innovation, evaluation and systems thinking to complex, messy, cross-scale, wicked challenges of our time.

Tiffany Wu

I am a second-year graduate student in Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. I grew up in coastal California and studied animal science and environmental sustainability at Cornell University. My graduate thesis is on predicting the distribution of seagrass in Casco Bay using a combination of predictive modeling in ArcGIS and remote sensing analysis.

Veer Kumar

I like to think of myself as a Data Wizard. I love solving challenging problems using data as a tool. My superpowers include Data Storytelling, I love to take produce compelling visuals that give out insights from raw data and help us take adequate action.

Sydney Hay

I’m a master’s student of Marine Biology at Northeastern University with a passion for food and environmental justice. I have a basic understanding of American food systems and have experience assisting communities in combatting the aspects of food injustice that affect them. However, my academic expertise is more rooted in marine science.

Signe Fergusson

I am a bit of a renaissance woman – as many of us are I assume. I am strong with my communication skills, and ability to story tell. I have many visualization skills, experience with creating maps and 3d models, a background in visual art, and a large emphasis in my work on experience design (the medium is the message).

Glenn Page

For over 40 years, I have been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues, working at the interface of science, policy and practice. 

Jon Betz

I am a marine conservation documentary film director and cinematographer, avid year-round Maine diver and citizen scientist. I have filmed wildlife and documentary sequences both topside and underwater for National Geographic and others in 26 countries since 2010. I specialize in mission-driven work that has a social, environmental or political message.

Glenn Page

For over 40 years, I have been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues, working at the interface of science, policy and practice.  Learning how to “Navigate in the Anthropocene” as I’m leading a team of interdisciplinary experts who brings innovation, evaluation and systems thinking to complex, messy, cross-scale, wicked challenges of our time.

Denise Meslin

My entire professional career has been in technology. Today I work as Commercial Director in Cybersecurity for Latin America. I love the land, knowing different cultures, the spirit and that’s how I arrived in Colombia where I fell deeply in love with the territory, its culture and the spirit of this land.

Jack Hughes

I am currently studying GCSEs in the UK including geography, agriculture and computer science. I am interested in sustainable ways of living and regenerative practices. I have an interest and some experience in creating 3D interactive environments. My goal is to integrate this with learning more about bioregions and working on a bioregional digital twin.

Haley Fitzpatrick

I am trained as an architect and worked at Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genova, Italy. This led to my PhD position at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway. My research is exploring how a reflexive practice of systemic design can be used to broaden awareness and participation in co-designing regenerative futures of rural mountain communities.

Daniel Kwaning

I really appreciate the world of analytics and would like to work in an occupation to match my interest. I have expertise in stakeholder and community engagement. I have fallen in love with the scope of R and GIS software and am excited to continue to expand my knowledge in both.

Veer Kumar

I like to think of myself as a Data Wizard. I love solving challenging problems using data as a tool. My superpowers include Data Storytelling, I love to take produce compelling visuals that give out insights from raw data and help us take adequate action.

Gabby Ravin

I am an environmental science major at the University of Southern Maine. I have taken multiple classes on the mapping software ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online, which included creating a story map. Using ArcGIS is one of my current peak interests, and relating this mapping software with environmental concerns is the perfect combination with my major.

Tobias Fechner

Tiffany Wu

I am a second-year graduate student in Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. I grew up in coastal California and studied animal science and environmental sustainability at Cornell University. My graduate thesis is on predicting the distribution of seagrass in Casco Bay using a combination of predictive modeling in ArcGIS and remote sensing analysis.

Peter Stocks

I have been working with team Zostera for about 9 months. My formal training is in law and economics. In past years I practiced in the corporate bankruptcy arena and taught as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, as an adjunct lecturer. More recently I’ve been involved in creating and managing ocean-born businesses since 2009. I have also done some consulting for the World Wildlife Fund in the shellfish aquaculture space.

Max Zahniser

I’m an amateur ecologist, a recovering architect, an unplanned educator and across an arch of a career that weaves all that together, am currently working to develop innovative approaches to “re-villaging” our rampantly enclosed and fragmented society. Through new technique and technology and project development, many related to the built environment.

Lawrence Grodeska

I have always been a seeker of self-awareness and worldly knowledge, all in the service of equanimity and wisdom. Whatever the work, I bring good vibes and plenty of optimism. I’ve studied ecology, spent time at local environmental agencies and social good startups, and founded CivicMakers, a leading civic design firm. I am a seasoned executive, deft strategist, master facilitator, and trusted project manager.

Hayden Libbey

I studied Environmental Sciences and Management at UC Davis, graduating recently. I found GIS and data sciences to be the most intriguing of the many disciplines I learned. I’ve spent a year and half teaching youth science and leading outdoor education in the SF Bay Area. I would love to learn about a bioregion entirely different from the bioregion I inhabit.

Tammy Owens

I aspire to be the glue that holds everything and everyone in a project together. I have educational background in English literature, journalism, and marketing. I have background in working with start-up and global corporate companies, as well as local government agencies, charities, and non-profits. I am driven to teaching others about nature and wildlife, as well as how to take care of it.

Glenn Page

For over 40 years, I have been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues, working at the interface of science, policy and practice.  Learning how to “Navigate in the Anthropocene” as I’m leading a team of interdisciplinary experts who brings innovation, evaluation and systems thinking to complex, messy, cross-scale, wicked challenges of our time.

Minot Weld

I live and work on the coast of Maine. I have a keen interest in the revitalization of living systems, and I am eager to work with knowledgeable and experienced practitioners. I work in project finance, and I am well networked in the region. Some of my experience includes project finance consulting, and economic development related to industry and housing.

Lawrence Grodeska

I have always been a seeker of self-awareness and worldly knowledge, all in the service of equanimity and wisdom. Whatever the work, I bring good vibes and plenty of optimism. I’ve studied ecology, spent time at local environmental agencies and social good startups, and founded CivicMakers, a leading civic design firm. I am a seasoned executive, deft strategist, master facilitator, and trusted project manager.

Simon Divecha

My core work is around integral sustainability. That includes the perspective taking abilities and structures we can use to help ourselves generate emergent solutions and create outcomes that are not simple linear additions to our capabilities. I will be active in the on-line portion and representing a rural perspective from living in remote Scottish Island Communities.

Max Zahniser

Some “regenerates” turn reasonable cautions about technology and mechanical thinking into absolute statements that forever downgrade their importance, rather than putting these non-living (arguably) aspects of reality in their place, in service to Life, or possibly even seeing how they may reflect and/or become truly alive with our conscious effort.

Haley Fitzpatrick

I am trained as an architect and worked at Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genova, Italy. This led to my PhD position at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway. My research is exploring how a reflexive practice of systemic design can be used to broaden awareness and participation in co-designing regenerative futures of rural mountain communities.