Born in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, André Sanchez was nurtured by his family, community, and culture in the agriculturally fueled town of Madera, CA. Inspired by all of those factors and other life experiences, André is now a community and environmental advocate. During his current “9 to 5” life, André is the Community Engagement & Conservation Policy Manager for CalWild where he advocates to protect “public lands & waters”, as well as advocates on issues relating to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Access as related to the outdoors. Prior to his time at CalWild, his professional journey included working for different natural resource programs and projects, including conducting aquatic restoration & amphibian surveys for Yosemite National Park, monitoring trout populations in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California, and performing coastal climate change monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area. André is also actively involved as a volunteer with Latino Outdoors, a nationwide latine-led organization that connects and engages leaders and community members in the outdoor, conservation, and nature movement. Due to his combination of community focused efforts, André was recognized as a 2022 Nominee for the UCLA Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and currently holds a DOI secretarial appointment position to the Bureau of Land Management’s Central CA Resource Advisory Council where he helps balance decisions that serve the interests of all “public land” users. André currently resides in the Central Valley of CA and aspires to help have more of the BIPOC community to joyfully experience and connect with the landscapes that he helps advocate for.

Nick Kunath, Idaho Rivers United, Conservation Director
Originally from Minnesota, my connection to water and the environment started early in life, through canoeing and camping with family and working at a summer camp throughout high school. In college, this connection evolved into a passion as I spent my summers guiding multi-day sea kayak trips on Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands and began to explore whitewater paddling along the basin during spring runoff. After a fateful move to Idaho, this passion became an obsession as I spent as much of my free time as possible boating all across the state and exploring other iconic western rivers that I now had access to. Rivers and the outdoors have brought me some of my greatest joys, friendships, and adventures, and these experiences serve as the foundation for my career working in river conservation, ensuring that these opportunities continue to exist for everyone.

Hattie Johnson, American Whitewater, Southern Rockies Restoration Director
Hattie has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Georgia and is a licensed Professional Landscape Architect in Colorado. Her training as a landscape architect provides an interesting perspective on humans and their connection to the natural and built environment. For the past four years, Hattie worked with American Whitewater as their event coordinator for the annual Gore Canyon Festival.

Ryan Jackwood, PhD, Harpeth Conservancy, Director of Watershed Science and Restoration
Dr. Jackwood is an Adjunct Professor in the Sustainability Institute at Lipscomb University. He specializes in watershed restoration, biogeochemical processes at the land-water interface and contaminant transport, specifically nutrients and bacteria, in rivers and lakes. He is originally from Ohio where he earned a B.S. degree from Ohio State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Toledo researching issues with water quality and harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie. In 2024, Dr. Jackwood was awarded the Water Conservationist of the Year by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.

Pat Lane, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Senior Manager, Intermountain West
Pat works with key stakeholders throughout the Intermountain West to protect and reconnect rivers and wetlands, conserve key wildlife migration routes, and preserve areas of critical importance to biodiversity for Pew’s U.S. conservation project.His background includes advocating for healthier school environments; consulting on energy for the U.S. government and with businesses on strategies to achieve their environmental, social, and governance goals; assisting local, state, and national electoral campaigns; and working at the U.S. Department of Energy. He is also a volunteer firefighter and EMS first responder. Lane holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Fort Lewis College and a master’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University.