Guest Speakers

Paul Juliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, is a dedicated public servant with a career spanning nearly 30 years serving the people of Bergen County and the Meadowlands District. Mr. Juliano oversees all aspects of the Authority, which has operational responsibilities at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, and other NJSEA properties, as well as mandates to protect the delicate balance of nature, provide for orderly development, and manage solid waste within the over 30 square-mile Meadowlands District, which includes parts of 14 towns in Bergen and Hudson counties.

 

Don Torino is President of Bergen County Audubon Society, the local chapter of the national Audubon Society. He grew up the Meadowlands, which is where he learned to love the natural world. Don worked for Wild birds Unlimited in Paramus for 23 years as the store naturalist, and during that time, he designed over 500 backyard wildlife habitats. Today he still resides in the Meadowlands, where he leads nature walks throughout the year, runs educational programs on everything from butterflies to birds, and works at Bergen Audubon’s public native plant habitat projects around the area.

 

Rebecca Swadek is the Director of Wetlands Management at NYC Parks, where she provides strategic management and leadership for an interdisciplinary team focused on protecting and restoring over 60 miles of stream and 3,000 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands on NYC’s parklands. Rebecca has co-authored eight agency reports related to wetlands, watershed and stream management, and served as the lead author for Wetlands Management Framework for NYC. Rebecca serves as the co-chair for the Ecology Team for the Bronx River Alliance and as a Research Associate for the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Trained as a plant ecologist, she has over 15 years of experience in Texas, California and New York.

 

Meet Fran Chismar. Fran likes to talk – and with over 30 years of nursery industry experience, Fran has a lot to talk about. He insists he is not an expert on anything, but knows just enough about everything to be dangerous. Fran brings his experience with music podcasting, and joins it with his industry knowledge in restoration and native plants, to help guide you through Native Plants, Healthy Planet. Fran is currently the Sultan of Sales at Pinelands Nursery in Columbus, NJ.

 

 

Meet Tom Knezick. Tom is naturally inquisitive but his role as production analyst requires him to pull things apart and figure out how and why they work. Coupling this with growing up on a native plant nursery and his love of podcasts is what makes Tom a natural host for Native Plants, Healthy Planet. Tom is currently General Manager at Pinelands Nursery in Columbus, NJ.