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Request a Speaker
To request a speaker email us at drn@delawareriverkeeper.org or call 215-369-1188.
Review topics and speaker bios below.
Download Speaker Request Form (PDF File).
Maya K. van Rossum — the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network since 1996. van Rossum’s skills as an environmental attorney, strategist, community organizer, facilitator, coalition builder and manager have enabled the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) to make progress in improving the environmental health of the Delaware River watershed and demonstrate her focused commitment to the environment. van Rossum has been appointed by PA Governor Rendell to Pennsylvania’s Delaware River Basin Regional Water Resources Committee (2003 to date), by NJ Governor Codey to NJ’s Flood Mitigation Task Force (2005 to 2006), by the DRBC Commissioners to the Delaware River Basin Flood Mitigation Task Force (2006 to date), by DEP Secretary McGinty to the Pennsylvania Stormwater BMP Manual Oversight Committee (2003 to date), and to the Heinz Center’s Coastal Zone Innovations Committee. As the Delaware Riverkeeper, van Rossum also serves(d) on a number of the region's water quality committees including the Delaware River Basin Commission's PCB’s Implementation Advisory Committee and Water Quality Advisory Committee, and on New Jersey’s Stormwater Focus Group. Since Spring 2002, van Rossum has served as an adjunct professor and director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Temple’s Beasley School of Law. van Rossum served as faculty on the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 2003 Environmental Law Forum, Water Quantity/Sprawl. van Rossum also serves as a member of the Area Plan Committee and the Area Maritime Security Committee, both committees of the United States Coast Guard, the Philadelphia Group. van Rossum co-authored: “Stormwater Runoff, Lost Resource or Community Asset?” in 2000 and "In Defense of Watersheds" in 2002.
TOPICS:
- Hot Issues Facing the Delaware River and its Watershed
- Stormwater
- Enforcing Environmental laws for our River and communities
- Citizen Advocacy and Organizing
- Any of the major issues facing the River, its tributaries or watershed.
- Native Gardening for the River
- Floodplain Protection and Restoration
- Sprawl, and Riverfront Development
- Water Quality Threats
Tracy Carluccio —
is the Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. Carluccio is a charismatic and inspirational leader who has been organizing and working with grassroots groups for twenty years. She served as Executive Director of Del-AWARE Unlimited, organized to stop an ecologically damaging interbasin transfer. The movement culminated in voters overturning a county government that insisted on supporting the project despite a majority referendum for its cancellation. She was then offered the county position of Executive Director of the Neshaminy Water Resources Authority that owned the controversial project, a position she held for 4 1/2 years. Carluccio's educational background includes a B.A. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina and courses at Rutgers University Cook College in Environmental Science. She worked in the social service field for 12 years, where she was responsible for administering large grants. She has served on a total of ten community, government and service group boards.
TOPICS:
- Agriculture, Native Plants and Forests
- Community Organizing
- Water Quality Threats
Rich Myers —
Citizen Action Coordinator for the Delaware RiverkeeperNetwork. Rich Myers is a lifelong resident of the Delaware watershed. His first active involvement in water related issues occurred in 1982 when he became a member of Delaware Unlimited, Inc., a citizen’s organization formed to fight a huge water diversion project on the Delaware River at Point Pleasant, PA. During his 5-year involvement he served as membership secretary, vice president and finally president of the organization. Myers brings a wealth of citizen action and organizing experience to the Riverkeeper organization – able to effectively identify and link citizens, issues and the conservation community. Myers breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the Delaware River watershed is also demonstrated in his role as president of the Neshaminy Watershed Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the Neshaminy Creek and its watershed; and Chairman of the Conservation Alliance of Bucks County, Inc., an umbrella organization holding monthly meetings for members and guests with speakers on a wide range of environmental and conservation issues. He is a board member of the Clean Air Council, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the improvement of air quality with offices in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
TOPICS:
- Stormwater
- Illict discharges
- Connecting with Local Government
- Concerning Development & Environmental Issues
Fred Stine —
Citizen Action Coordinator for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, is a community organizer and advocacy coordinator for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. Fred "got his feet wet" with Riverkeeper as a volunteer monitoring the water quality in the Cooper River, Camden County, NJ. Hired on by Riverkeeper in 1991, Fred has helped area residents “get a seat at the table” where decisions are being made that will affect the creeks and streams that flow through their neighborhoods. Fred has helped train and teach concerned citizens how to monitor water quality, prepare oral testimony, write grants, research agency files and regulations, plant riparian buffers and created wetlands – all to help them become empowered and effective "riverkeepers."
TOPICS:
- Pennsauken Waterfront Redevelopment Project and/or Development of Petty’s Island
- Camden Greenway Project; an effort to make waterfront more accessible to Camden City residents enabling easier and safer park access
Chari Towne —
Director, Awareness-to-Action, develops and organizes education programs for the residents and decision-makers of the watershed, including eight annual conferences on watershed issues, a conference on the connection between environmental health and wellness, workshops on aquatic ecology, water monitoring, land use issues and watershed curricula, field trips on abandoned mine drainage, publications such as River Rapids, our quarterly newsletter, and educational support materials. She oversaw the 2003 revisions to DRN’s fish consumption guidance. Towne has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resource Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
TOPICS:
- Schuylkill River and its watershed
- Schuylkill River Desilting Project
- Dam Removal
- Shad Restoration
Faith Zerbe—
Monitoring Director, joined DRN in 1999 after spending three years as an assistant staff scientist with a private environmental consulting firm performing Natural Resource Damage Assessments related to oil spills. She assisted with the development and planning of habitat enhancements and restoration projects to compensate for natural resource impacts. Zerbe coordinates and directs DRN’s multi-faceted Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. Zerbe is responsible for water quality data analysis, monitoring study designs, and recruiting, training, and maintaining a strong citizen volunteer monitor base. She serves as a steering committee member for Pennsylvania’s Citizens’ Volunteer Monitoring Program and New Jersey’s Watershed Watch Committee, which seeks to increase the usability and credibility of volunteer data. Zerbe has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Ursinus College.
TOPICS:
- Water Quality Monitoring
- Monitoring Study Design
- Using Data to Protect Local Waterways
- Adopt-A-Buffer
- Water Quality Issues
- Bacterial and Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
- Water Chemistry and Wetland Monitoring
- Horseshoe Crabs Emergency Monitoring