The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast

Jehane Samaha is the National Urban Nursery Specialist with the US Forest Service. She develops trainings and networking for both urban foresters and nursery growers to improve tree stock quality, enhance connectivity in the urban nursery pipeline, and promotes climate-adaptive genetics for urban trees. Jehane is based in Philadelphia, serves on the board of UC (University City) Green, and previously worked at PHS (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) and the Morris Arboretum.She is an ISA Certified Municipal Arborist® through the International Society of Arboriculture, and completed a master’s thesis at UBS (University of British Columbia) on street tree species selection.

Jamie Biddle is the founding partner and CEO of VerdisInvestment Management, a single-family office. He sets the strategic direction of the firm, and overseas investment activities, operations, and finance. Jamie is behind portfolio construction, manager sourcing and selection, due diligence,and risk management. He is an active member of the Investment Committee.Jamie brings more than two decades of investing and operating experience, across asset classes and industries. Prior to forming Verdis Investment Management in 2004, Jamie was President and CEO of Orcom Solutions. Orcom was an outsourced customer care and billing service for electric, gas and water utilities across North America. The company was originally purchased by a group of private equity firms (including the Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners) led by Jamie and was sold to Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS) in December 2003. Jamie began his career as a VC at EnerTech Capital Partners, funding technologies in energy and power.He earned his Master’s in Business Administration from theWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Jamie is the Chairman and President of Andalusia Historic House, Gardens, and Arboretum and Vice-Chair of the Board ofTrustees and Chair of the Museum Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Jay Worth started working in the Green Industry in college to earn money between semesters. He started mowing lawns for a landscaping company and then moved to a full-service landscaper. While attending University in Florida, he alsoworked on a palm tree farm and fell in love with the trees. During the Great Recession in 2009, he was recruited to sell lawn care door-to-door. Having no other job options, he took the offer. This was the beginning of his full-time career in the Green Industry. After several years he took a break to work in media sales before returning to the Green Industry. Eventually, he landed at a full-service landscaping company doing Inside Sales for their lawn care and pest control programs. Jay gotpromoted to run all the marketing and grew his single Inside Sales position into an entire team of people. While working there, he spent every chance he got outside with the Tree Care team. He met them on job sites, talked to them at the shop, and even spent time in the field during ISA Arbor Day of Service events. He eventually connected with SingleOps, a software he’d used while working at one of the landscaping companies. He found it to be the best option for Tree Care and full-service Landscaping companies. So, when they wanted someone to create resources for business owners, he found it was an easy product to get behind. Jay is passionate about best practices for healthy plants, sustainability, and being thoughtful stewards of the environment. He is also especially keen to help business owners and managers become more effective and efficient in their business practices. Jay sees no reason those two cannot coexist.

Bestselling author Randi Minetor writes for the Birdfinding and Best Easy Bird Guides series for Falcon Guides/Globe Pequot Press and is the author of Backyard Birding and Butterfly Gardening for Lyons Press. Her most recent book, The Complete Language of Birds, is an encyclopedia that unites classic illustrations, science, folklore, and mythology about more than 400 bird species around the world. Randi writes for Birding Magazine, is a regional report editor for North American Birds, and has served for three years as president of the Rochester Birding Association in New York State.

Celine Colbert is Pennsylvania’s Tree Canopy Coordinator, dedicated to enhancing urban forestry and promoting sustainable tree management across the state. As a Board Certified Master Arborist with a background in forestry, Celine collaborates with local governments, organizations, and communities to implement effective tree planting and maintenance programs offering technical assistance, grant matchmaking, and tools such as the DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) TreeKeeper.

Tim Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Massachusetts. He leads the organization’s 45-acre Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts; the Nasami Farm, a native plant nursery in Whately, Massachusetts; and the expanded seed-processing and storage facilities to support the new Northeast Seed Network. The Network is a regional initiative led by the Native Plant Trust to create a sustainable source of seed to meet the increased demand for native plants. Johnson has an extensive background in environmental horticulture and biological science from his long-standing career in conservation and botanic garden administration and leadership at Smith College. Johnson’s affection for native plants was born from a childhood spent exploring the great outdoors in Wisconsin. His appreciation for the importance of protecting the rarest of plants is from his graduate studies working with threatened orchids on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.

Carlos Alvarez has been a part of the PowerCorpsPHL (Power Corps Philadelphia) team since March 2015 when he started as a crew leader supporting a group of young people completing various environmental sustainability projects in the City of Philadelphia. Since then, he has held many roles mainly focusing on developing the programs technical skills training. He enjoys working with program members onsite and taking advantage of every learning opportunity that presents itself during the various projects they are assigned. Currently, Carlos is the Director of Social Enterprise Operations overseeing the installment and operation of the Philadelphia Reforestation Hub-Urban Wood Sawmill, a private and non-profit partnership with PPR (Philadelphia Parks and Recreation) and Cambium Carbon designed to support the city’s goal to lower wood waste, improve its tree canopy cover, and meet their workforce development goals. The Reforestation Hub provides advanced training for PowerCorpsPHL members in Sawmill Operation and related fields in tree care. Carlos is working towards becoming a certified arborist and remaining an active member of the arboriculture community.