Shakara Tyler, is a mother, returning-generation farmer and community organizer. She received her PhD from Michigan State University studying agroeoclogical education and Black agrarianism in the Department of Community Sustainability. Her life praxis is rooted in participatory and decolonial research methodologies and community-centered pedagogies in grassroots movement building. She is a member of the Black Dirt Farm Collective in Maryland and a board member of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) and Detroit People’s Food Co-op. She works with and in communities to explore agroeoclogical and Afroecoloigcal pedagogies as artistic tools in building community self-determination and decolonial realities.

Loves slow walks on a sunny day, the sound of water crashing on the shoreline and finding local parks with his wife, Tedean, near their home. Morgan is a pediatric hospital medicine doctor who works in Detroit, Michigan. He was trained at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for residency and Loma Linda University for medical school. A native to southern California, he is learning to adapt to the colder Michigan life. The wonderful friends, family and children he gets to care for makes the transition easier.

The interest in nature as a core component to one’s well-being was taught to him by his mentor Dr. Nooshin Razani. Since 2016, he was mentored by her through the Center for Nature and Health that she founded, and rising leadership within their patient centered programming- SHINE. Staying Healthy in Nature Everyday was a program run through the Oakland Claremont clinic, in partnership with the East Bay Regional Park system, provided lunch and transportation for some of the most vulnerable patient families to explore the natural beauty in the East Bay. Through her example, he was able to see the unique voice healthcare providers can have to uplift exercise, time outdoors and connect families to their local, regional and state park system.

This interest expanded as he took on the program director position for the Emerging Leaders Program, run through the Center for Jackson Hole (commonly referred to as SHIFT) in 2019. Being an alumni of the 2018 cohort, he stayed on as staff through various challenges and was able to develop some incredible programming that brought greater value to the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) and the SHIFT conference. Staying on as director through 2020, the organization as a whole is poised to really grow as they set their focus on advocating for nature as a social determinant of health. The best part of staying involved with the Emerging Leaders Program and SHIFT were the friends he’s made along the way.

This next phase of Morgan’s journey is still developing. As a new attending at Children’s Hospital Michigan, he’s really focusing on showing up for his patient population, instilling hope to sick children and encouragement for worried families. He and Tedean are enjoy their home together while looking for new vegetarian restaurants throughout the city. When the longs winter pass, Morgan hopes to get back into his favorite forms of exercise- swimming and taking the Dawn Treader (his bike road bike) through new trails.

Jeri Love is a professional writer, environmental educator and award-winning tree photographer. Her images have been featured in solo exhibitions and juried shows nationwide, including the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago and galleries located in Southern California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan and Vermont. Jeri is the founder of the community engagement program Plant A Tree: Grow Our Future ℠ which facilitates the building of collaborative partnerships between communities, classroom, and public or private projects to promote urban ecology and foster tree stewardship. It is an innovative, and comprehensive program that provides a bridge between the worlds of science, education, public works and the creative arts.

A native of Detroit, Jeri is a former broadcast news executive in both Los Angeles and New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from California State University, Los Angeles; Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Goddard College, and a certification in urban environmental education from Cornell University.