Stacy McNulty is Associate Director of Research and Research Associate for the Adirondack Ecological Center (AEC), a biological research station of the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF).  She has a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY-ESF and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from SUNY Geneseo.  Stacy has nearly thirty years of experience in field-based research, project management, citizen science training and mentoring of applied environmental scientists and teaches a course on Winter Ecology at ESF’s Newcomb Campus in the Hudson headwaters.  Her interests are broad and center on wildlife, forests, waters and landscapes.  Research highlights include authoring dozens of peer-reviewed science studies, overseeing publication of long-term datasets on lakes, birds, habitat and impacts of disturbance and management on northeastern ecosystems, monitoring ecological indicators of recreation impact on public lands in Adirondack Park, and informing statewide regulation, conservation and management of small, ephemeral wetlands called vernal pools, among other projects.  She serves as the Editor of the Organization of Biological Field Stations, an international group focused on facilitating collaborative field science and education, and is a past president of OBFS and a co-founder of the Adirondack All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, a participatory discovery project.  See http://www.esf.edu/faculty/mcnulty/. 

Matthew Norvilitis is a masters student at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. During his undergraduate he was the president of the ESF chapter of the Native Fish Coalition. His past experience includes working with lake sturgeon and fisheries in community data on the Onondaga Lake biomonitoring project, he conducted independant brook trout research at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station and working alongside the Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Thousand Islands Biological Station (TIBS) on the St. lawrence with lake Sturgeon and Muskellunge as a focus. His graduate research focuses on lake sturgeon movements, habitat usage, and life stage ecology, but his research interests are broad with an emphasis on the conservation of imperiled species. 

Emilie DeRochie is based at the River Institute, located in Cornwall, ON. At the River Institute, Emilie serves as the coordinator for the St. Lawrence River Strategy, an initiative that aims to facilitate more inclusive and equitable communication and collaboration along the Upper St. Lawrence River and beyond. In addition to this main role, she leads community outreach and environmental education activities for the River Institute and is a course instructor for the Environmental Technician Program at St Lawrence College in Cornwall. Emilie has a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with a Minor in Biology from Carleton University, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Education in Environmental and Sustainability Education from Lakehead University. Emilie credits her diverse educational background for equipping her with the knowledge and skills necessary to coordinate the River Strategy and believes that community-building is essential for meaningful action.

Three years ago Lee and two community organizers, artists and storytellers founded Talking Rivers, a New York not-for-profit that advocates for the rivers, their watersheds & the human & other-than-human beings who inhabit them. Talking Rivers promotes an ecocentric world view and works with others locally & globally to promote the importance of listening to and taking into account the voice of nature in their decision making & actions. Instead of putting humans at the center of the universe, superior to all living & non-living beings, the ecocentric perspective stipulates that humans are all part of a great community: Planet Earth. 

According to Lee, this work has led him to understand that feelings he always had, muted as they have been at times, are voices. These are “voices of relatives we must again listen to. By doing so I hope the decisions I participate in will be more reflective of and responsible to the needs of the rivers, their watersheds and their inhabitants - human and other-than-human.” 

Lee feels serving on the board of Talking Rivers working to secure defendable rights rivers, their tributaries and watersheds is an honor and a profound responsibility. Acknowledging that rivers have a right to exist, to be free of pollution, and to evolve naturally is to accept responsibility to do everything we can to protect those rights. It’s a responsibility he is proud to acknowledge and share.

Lee also serves as Co-chair of the Steering Committee for the St. Lawrence River Institute’s River Strategy collaboration and as an external advisory committee member to the Institute’s Great River Rapport.Great River Rapport.