Tony was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and throughout his career has been engaged with the region's unique natural environment. Tony has served as a public high school teacher, and worked for many years for Washington Park Arboretum and Mountains to Sound Greenway in Seattle, where he developed curriculum and led classroom and field lessons for children. In 2010 Tony founded a program of international environmental education exchanges between partner organizations in the Pacific Northwest and the former Soviet Union. He is a co-founder of Partnerships for Nature.

Ariadna is a co-founder of several leading environmental NGOs based in Eurasia and North America. Over the last 25 years the focus of her work has been on environmental education, heritage interpretation, trail-building, and the promotion of regional eco-tourism. She enjoys collaborating with local partners, especially as they develop broader visions for their work, and as they plan for hands-on projects that protect and restore our natural environment. Ariadna resides on Bainbridge Island, Washington State.

Chuck, who resides in Seattle, has spent his entire career teaching about the natural world. He worked for many years in US National Parks, and currently develops visitor experience and education plans for a variety of institutions in the US and other countries. Chuck also conducts interpretive training sessions, and develops curricula and interpretive media materials. With his 20+ year consulting practice, Chuck has developed an Interpretive Master Plan for the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C., and exhibit designs for Oregon State Parks. Chuck’s international experience includes training guides in interpretive skills in South America and Siberia.

Karen’s passion for education and sharing nature with others was developed over four decades in the US, Costa Rica, Palau, Micronesia, and Russia. Professional roles have included head of school, pre-K-12 teacher, curriculum designer, and naturalist. She completed her masters in science education while leading programs throughout the state of Washington for the Pacific Science Center. At IslandWood Environmental Education Center (Bainbridge Island), she served as Senior Faculty for Natural History Education for the graduate program in conjunction with the University of Washington. Karen continues to support education in nature by working with the Bainbridge Island Land Trust and the Parks Foundation.

Gary, who resides in Tucson, Arizona, is an economist who has served as Program Director at Earth Island Institute (USA) for over 30 years. Throughout this time he has helped nurture environmental movements in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet bloc. In this role he has offered guidance and support to local activists and leaders who are fighting to protect their national parks and other wilderness areas from development and degradation. Gary is also the co-founder of other networks and regional organizations, such as the Mongolian Ecology Center, the Siberian Association for Interpretation, and the Lake Baikal Heritage Foundation. For each of these groups Gary has helped to secure financial support for campaigns and projects which help to preserve the rich natural heritage of Eurasia.