OUR 2024 PLENARY SPEAKERS

Katey is passionate about her platform of reducing food waste by sustainably sourcing “upcycled fruit” in The Frozen Farmer’s line of frozen confections. Named Inc. Magazine’s 2023 Most Dynamic Woman in Business, Katey was recently honored on the magazines’s prestigious Female Founders 200 list for starting one of the fastest growing private companies as The Frozen Farmer ranked No. 6 on the Inc. 5000 list. Katey is a recipient of the Kroger Innovative Item placement, a Delaware Business Times 40 Under 40 Awards, has earned a $50,000 USDA Value Added Producer Grant for creating a value-added line of sorbet, ice cream and Frobert, and was a panelist for the Global Food Forum with USDA Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, where she was the only female farmer representing the food production industry. Katey is a member of Delaware Women’s Workforce Council, aimed to achieve gender equality in the workplace in the First State and has obtained national certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) for The Frozen Farmer. Katey’s most important role of all is being a mom to her four daughters and teaching them that women can do anything!  

Karen has been a climate activist and organizer for over 25 years. She started a chapter of Extinction Rebellion in Delaware and owned a farm to table local food grocery for 13 years. Karen now works as the Delaware Program Manager for Philly based nonprofit Green Building United. She works closely with frontline and Indigenous groups working towards a just transition through the climate and ecological emergency. She is also involved with rewilding and native plant projects to support wildlife preservation and biodiversity. 

Dr. Dana Veron is a Professor in the Geography and Spatial Sciences department at the University of Delaware and Co-Director of the Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub. Dr. Veron's research focuses on how changes in Earth's surface influence local to regional weather and climate. Recent projects include studying variations in offshore wind power, changes in eastern Antarctic sea ice, and the influence of the coastal sea breeze on urban cooling. Dr. Veron is the Director of the Climate Scholars Program at UD where students from any major can focus on developing solutions to climate change problems. 

Mark Nardone is the director of advocacy for Delaware Nature Society, where he works with other conservation organizations and local communities to ensure that public policy benefits humans and the lands and water on which all life depends. He lives in Wilmington with his wife and two sons. In his free time, Mark is a leader in Scouts BSA and, with his family, enjoys swimming in the ocean, walking in the woods, camping, fishing, and snow sports. If he has a minute on his own, he likely has his nose in a book.

Growing up adjacent to the Brandywine Creek State Park in Rockland, Delaware, Dee’s passion for conservation and environmental protection was instilled from a young age. In 2010, she co-founded Plastic Free Delaware, an organization which led the passage of the nation’s fourth state plastic bag ban in 2019, the eleventh state to ban polystyrene foam (2023), and secured legislation banning balloon releases (2019). Witnessing the power of youth advocacy in these successes, Dee founded YES! – the annual Delaware Youth Environmental Summit for Delaware high school students. 

With professional experience in both public and private gardens, Lauren enjoys connecting with many audiences over a shared love of plants. Prior to joining UDBG, Lauren worked as the Manager of Living Collections at Wyck Historic House and Gardens in Philadelphia and she is a graduate of the Longwood Gardens' Professional Horticulture Program. Lauren also worked as Head Gardener of a private residence in Virginia and she has designed and maintained gardens for clients in Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. Lauren holds a B.S. in Agricultural Science from Virginia Tech and is currently working to complete her M.B.A. at the University of Delaware.

Kris Ohleth has worked in the offshore wind sector for over 20 years, since the days of the industry’s inception in the United States, and is a true expert in the field. Holding senior positions with offshore wind developers, NGOs, and state agencies, she has gained critical insights into the policy and regulations that shape offshore wind activities at the state, regional, and federal levels. She has worked at the critical intersection of market development, stakeholder engagement, permitting, and regulatory affairs as one of the earliest adopters of and advocates for offshore wind in the US.
In her current role as the Director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, she leads the organization to develop and implement strategies that support the responsible and sustainable development of the offshore wind sector. Originally from New Jersey, she is a Rutgers University graduate, has a Master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island, and currently lives in Morris County, New Jersey with her husband and retired-racing greyhounds.

Shade Sabitu has worked in the agricultural biotechnology industry for the past 16 years ensuring innovative and sustainable products get into the hands of farmers around the world. She has been at companies like DuPont Pioneer and Indigo Ag, and has been at Pivot Bio for the past five years with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of its products and enabling its freedom to operate in countries of interest. Shade's background is in Molecular Biology and Business Administration and she is always looking for opportunities to grow and share knowledge with others.

Dr. Cuff is a Department of Education Associate in Career & Technical Education and STEM Initiatives, where her focuses are Environmental Literacy, Middle Grades Career Exploration, Social Emotional Learning and preparing young people for the workforce. For more than twenty years, Dr. Cuff has dedicated her career to ensuring that students from diverse economic, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds have access to educational opportunities that increase their life chances.

In addition to co-founding Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health and Sussex Health & Environmental Network, Maria has worked for over a decade to educate and advocate for socially responsible agriculture through forums, films, community events, and even after-school programs for children. Maria has been instrumental in working with communities to fight the expansion of industrial animal facilities throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. Through her work, Maria has formed strong coalitions to empower rural communities, especially vulnerable underserved communities with little political power.
In her current role as the Director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, she leads the organization to develop and implement strategies that support the responsible and sustainable development of the offshore wind sector. Originally from New Jersey, she is a Rutgers University graduate, has a Master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island, and currently lives in Morris County, New Jersey with her husband and retired-racing greyhounds.

Sonia Saunders has been an educator for the Red Clay Consolidated School District for the past 20 years. During this time, she has taught in the classroom, held leadership positions at the school, district, state, and state levels, piloted new curriculum, completed advanced coursework and institutes, wrote grants, and led the Green Team in a variety of environmental projects.  As she followed her passion for teaching and the environment, she has gone on to research and publish curriculum units and materials. In 2021, she was awarded as Delaware's finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Today, as the Environmental Educator Specialist for Red Clay Consolidated School District, Sonia continues to bring awareness, opportunities, and resources to teachers and students. 

Christopher Heaney is an environmental and occupational epidemiologist and lead the Community Science and Innovation for Environmental Justice (CSI-EJ) Initiative at the Center for a Livable Future and the Community Engagement Core of the CHARMED Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH). He is an associate professor of Environmental Health and Engineering, Epidemiology, and International Health at BSPH, and the founding director of the Environmental Health Microbiology and Immunology Laboratory (EHMIL) and Salivary Biomarkers of Infectious Diseases (SBID) program at BSPH.

 Brigid is the Program Director for the Delaware Community Composting Initiative where she works to reduce food waste going to DE landfills. She has over 10 years of experience implementing sustainability programs for higher education, nonprofit, and corporate institutions. She is passionate about educating people to be mindful consumers and developing a community where it is second nature to be one.

Marissa grew up in North Carolina, Arizona, and Kenton and Smyrna Delaware before graduating from University of Delaware with a BA in Environmental Studies in 2022. While there, she nurtured her passion for environmental justice through classes, research, and relationships. Over the years, she gained experience working as a grassroots organizer, DEIJ educator, Sustainability Advisor and Environmental Hub Facilitator. She is the Environmental Justice Associate Organizer at the Sierra Club Delaware Chapter and works on issues ranging from climate and energy policy to environmental justice, building relationships between the club and impacted communities, and embedding environmental justice into climate action.

Shweta Arya is the Senior Project Manager, Smart Surfaces at the Center for Climate, Health & Equity at the American Public Health Association. She works with APHA State Affiliates to create cross-disciplinary partnerships especially with underserved communities; to encourage cities to address and prepare for the health risks associated with extreme heat and excessive rain; and to reduce health disparities by implementing Smart Surfaces as a health solution. She currently co-leads a statewide coalition POWER Delaware focused on offshore wind, championing an urgent transition to clean, renewable energy for Delaware.

Dr. Jennie Saxe is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. She teaches core environmental engineering courses focused on solid waste management and air pollution control, along with courses on industrial ecology, communications, and global sustainable engineering. She is also co-advisor of UD's chapter of Engineers Without Borders.

 As Sustainability Leader, Raffaella is driving the integration of sustainability and business strategies, at the intersection of innovation, emerging regulations, and changing market expectations. Immediately prior to joining Gore, Raffaella was a member of the United Nations Renewable Energy Task Force working on the classification of renewable energy resources consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Raffaella holds dual degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, in Washington, D.C.: a Masters in International Trade and Finance, with an Honors Certificate in International Business Diplomacy, and a Bachelors in International Politics, magna cum laude. 

 John just started at Oceana in 2023 after working for the Surfrider Foundation for 18 years. As a result, John has extensive experience fighting plastic pollution and other threats to the ocean. He was appointed by NJ Governor Phil Murphy to sit on the NJ Plastics Advisory Council and serves on the council to this day.   In addition to being a surfer and an all-around beach lover, John is a very amateur birder.   

Kelly Cobb is an Associate Professor of Fashion and Apparel Studies at The University of Delaware.  Her research program examines the complexities inherent in apparel and textile supply chains through creative project-based work that seeks to reintegrate the wearer of clothes to local trades and economies, restoring integrity and kinship to the origins of materials and to the human labor involved in textile and apparel production. She is a PI and cohort member of the NSF Convergence Accelerator: ReSpool. Examples of other key projects include the simulation of a regional textile supply chain (Northeast USA) through the production of a 100-Mile Suit. Global multi-disciplinary research conducted collaboration with Denimatrix, involved tracing the denim supply chain with the objective of demystifying it, from a Texas field to a Guatemala factory, to a New York City showroom floor. Currently, she is guiding undergraduate product development research in collaboration with Reebok to identify US based sourcing and manufacturing opportunities.   

Beth is a dedicated sustainability advocate with an environmental science background and 30+ years of experience, primarily in higher education and nonprofit settings. In 2016, she launched the first chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby in Delaware, growing the organization from 25 initial members to approximately 650 active members today. Beth is passionate about student-led advocacy in environmental initiatives and believes in nurturing the next generation of leaders for sustainable change. 

 Ramiro is a graduate of the University of South Carolina where he studied Environmental Studies and Marketing. At the university, Ramiro worked with the Office of Sustainability and led their on-campus Permaculture Farm. He took the teachings of permaculture and began applying them to other aspects of his life and how he interacted with the community and his organizing. As the Director of Events, he seeks to create spaces where we can all grow and learn from each other, and helps guide the new generation of changemakers on college campuses and beyond.