Julia Knisel (she/her/hers) leads the StormSmart Coasts Program for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to help communities address coastal erosion and flooding while enhancing natural resources. She supports state hazard mitigation and climate adaptation and serves on the Massachusetts Emergency Support Function Team and ResilientMass Action Team. Knisel collaborates with regional and national partners through the coastal hazards and resilience committees of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and Coastal States Organization. Previously, she volunteered on Salem’s Conservation Commission and served as its chair.

Barbara Warren (she/her/hers) has led Salem Sound Coastwatch for 21 years as the executive director and serves as the MassBays National Estuary Regional Coordinator for the Lower North Shore. She has worked extensively with local municipalities on land and water issues. Her specialties are climate resiliency and nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. Warren holds a B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.Ed, from Lesley University and an M.S. in Environmental Science from Antioch College New England.

Neal Duffy (he/him/his) is the director of the Sustainability and Resiliency Department (SRD) for the City of Salem. SRD oversees the implementation of Resilient Together, Salem’s shared climate action and resiliency plan with the City of Beverly. This work includes creating, managing and supporting sustainability, clean energy and resiliency projects, programs and policies within the government and community. Prior to working in Salem, Duffy was the Northeast regional coordinator for the Green Communities Division at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, where he worked with 84 municipalities, including Salem, on clean energy and energy efficiency projects.

Susan Baker (she/her/hers) is the collections manager for the 354-year-old House of the Seven Gables. She has led the Gables’ efforts to get involved in climate change actions and collaborated with Salem Sound Coastwatch to develop a successful Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management grant request for $509,919 to address the impact of climate change on the Gables National Landmark Historic District. The grant, jointly administered by the Gables and Salem Sound Coastwatch, is the first in the state given to a nonprofit museum for focusing on adaptations to the built environment.

Paul Wright (he/him/his) joined the House of the Seven Gables as director of preservation and maintenance in 2022. Since then, he has led the organization in studying the effects of climate change on the Gables historic site through a grant from Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. Leading this project has been the highlight of his career so far, combining historic preservation and sustainable design. Prior to joining the Gables, Paul completed his graduate degree at the Boston Architectural College, focusing on historic preservation and sustainable design. He has worked and volunteered at numerous historic sites in Salem, including Old Town Hall, Pioneer Village, The Phillips House and Gedney House, and has served as the Bowditch House Building Committee Chair for Historic Salem, Inc. since 2019.

Christina Pokwatka (she/her/hers) is a member of the Property Care team for Historic New England. In her role as Preservation Manager, she oversees a wide range of projects at 20 historic sites located throughout the North Shore, as well as other sites in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine. She is passionate about making the sites resilient to climate change while staying mindful of their importance as cultural resources and the need to preserve them as best as possible.

Rodney Rowland (he/him/his) first joined Strawbery Banke, the living history museum in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as a volunteer in 1976, and formally joined the staff in 1990. His involvement has focused on the preservation and long-term sustainability of this important historic site. He is currently responsible for the 37 buildings on the nine-acre site, overseeing the Facilities, Restoration and Landscape Departments. Rowland represents the museum on the Local Advisory Committee for the Historic Resource Study for the City of Portsmouth.

Julie Larry (she/her/hers) has worked for more than 30 years on the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings and preservation planning projects throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Formerly a principal at ttl-architects in Portland, Maine, Larry served for six years as the Director of Advocacy at Greater Portland Landmarks. At Black Diamond Consultants, she works with municipal and private clients to document and conserve the architectural, cultural and economic history of the region. She currently serves on the Biddeford, Maine, Historic Preservation Commission and Greater Portland Landmarks’ Advocacy Committee. She holds M. Arch. and B. Arch. degrees from Tulane School of Architecture.

Ben Haavik (he/him/his) is responsible for the maintenance and preservation of 41 historic properties across New England. In his time at Historic New England, he has introduced a system for strategic prioritization of preservation work, developed a weatherization and energy efficiency framework for the organization and spearheaded system-wide initiatives to better understand the environmental, security and life safety systems at the sites. Currently, Haavik is leading efforts to bring a higher level of physical accessibility to the sites and set the organization on a path towards carbon neutrality. Before joining Historic New England in 2004, Haavik was Deputy Director of the Historic House Trust of New York City, where he cared for 24 historic sites throughout the five boroughs.

Angie Alberto Escobar (she/her/hers) Director of Community Gas to Geo, HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team), is originally from Los Angeles, California, where she studied Mathematics and Engineering at Glendale College. She also holds a B.S. in Sustainable Energy Management with a minor in Economics from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in association with Syracuse University. She leads technical assistance for HEET for Massachusetts communities pursuing geothermal networks. All her work is done centering on people and equity first. HEET is a Boston-based nonprofit committed to enabling a just and equitable thermal transition.

Ruairi O’Mahony (he/him/his) is the Executive Director of the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy at University of Massachusetts, Lowell. A native of Cork City, Ireland, O’Mahony has been working in the planning and sustainability field for more than 15 years. He currently leads a team of professional and student employees working to advance sustainability at the university through a network of strategic partnerships at the local, state, national and international level.

Katherine Moses (she/her/hers) graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell in 2012 with a M.S.E. in Energy Engineering with a solar concentration. Moses has worked in educational settings, as well as federal, state and local government positions, over the past 25 years. As the City of Lowell's first Sustainability Director, her work focuses on implementation and tracking of "All-of-the-Above" solutions for climate change. These solutions include funding and implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy, strategic electrification, climate resilience and environmental justice initiatives in order to ensure a just and equitable energy transition in Lowell.