Who we are

Camille Truong is a Mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. Her lab combines traditional taxonomy with genomics, bioinformatics and community ecology, to shed light into the diversity of ectomycorrhizal associations in the southern hemisphere, and their functional roles in forest soils. In 2022, she was awarded a Field Biology Award from the Maxwell-Hanrahan Foundation, as a recognition of her work and advocacy for the study and conservation of forest fungi.

Daniela Soto Hernández is a social anthropologist, Master in Sociology, currently doing her Ph.D. in International Development in Global Studies, at the University of Sussex. Her research has focused on gender and labour force in Chile and currently looking at lithium extraction in the same country in the context of energy transition. She has worked in the School of Anthropology in the P. Universidad Católica de Chile, with indigenous communities on several projects with the Center for Indigenous and Intercultural Research (CIIR) and as a consultant for 12 years in diverse areas going from migration, social services, to entrepreneurship and gender in academia.

Bio coming soon!

Oleh is a faculty member at the School of Biology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine. He is a mycologist whose focus extends from fungal diversity to the spatial and temporal ecology of fungi, geoinformatics, remote sensing, vegetation mapping, and biodiversity informatics. He launched one of the most robust Ukrainian biodiversity data publication servers, which helps Ukrainian scientists in publishing open biodiversity data through GBIF. In 2019 he was recognized as Open Biodiversity Data Ambassador by GBIF. An author of numerous master classes, video tutorials, and blogposts helping Ukrainian researchers getting into spatial science and open biodiversity data.

Vasilis Kokkoris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecological Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His lab uses high resolution molecular methods, advanced microscopy, and imaging analysis, to examine how thousands of nuclei are arranged, as well as how they coordinate and interact with one another within the widespread mycorrhizal networks. His microscopy images have revealed the beauty of the mycorrhizal fungi and have won many international awards such as the "Nikon small world 2020"and "Olympus Image of the year 2021”

Mark Tercek is a conservation leader who focuses on private-sector led environmental problem solving. He advises companies, investment funds, and NGOs. He draws on his experience as CEO of The Nature Conservancy (2008-19) and as a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs (1984-2008). He is the co-author of the best-selling book Nature's Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature.

Rose Marcario has been one of the world's most distinctive and innovative chief executives, a leader in responsible business and a champion for stakeholder capitalism. She is a venture partner with RegenVentures as well as a board member and advisor to environmental impact companies. Currently, a Board Member with electric adventure vehicle company Rivian, who recently made a historic commitment to nature by setting aside 1% of the $100 billion company’s equity for wilderness protection, making nature a permanent shareholder in the company. Marcario is the former President, CEO and Board Member of iconic outdoor company Patagonia Inc.

Giuliana is the foundress and executive director of the Fungi Foundation. She is a Harvard University Associate, Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy, Co-Chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee, and author of several titles including a series of field guides to Chilean fungi and co-author of publications such as Fantastic Fungi. She is co-author of titles such as the 1st State of the World’s Fungi (Kew, 2018) and Biodiversidad de Chile: Patrimonio y Desafíos (Ministry of the Environment, Chile, 2008, 2016). Giuliana has worked in the non-profit sector for the last 17 years and has held consulting positions in U.S. philanthropic foundations as well as full-time positions in international marine conservation and Chilean environmental NGOs.

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and UN Messenger of Peace, is a world-renowned ethologist and activist inspiring greater understanding and action on behalf of the natural world. Jane’s work builds on scientific innovations, growing a lifetime of advocacy including trailblazing efforts through her international organization the Jane Goodall Institute which advances community-led conservation, animal welfare, science, and youth empowerment through JGI’s Roots & Shoots program. In 2021, Jane was the recipient of the Templeton Prize, and her newest book, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, was published.

Merlin is a biologist and bestselling author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures. Merlin received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Entangled Life won the Wainwright Prize 2021, and has been nominated for a number of other prizes, including the British Book Awards Book of the Year for Narrative Non-Fiction, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Rathbones Folio Prize. Merlin is a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation.

Michael Pollan is an American author and journalist. Pollan has written eight books, six of which have been New York Times bestsellers; three of them (including his latest, This Is Your Mind on Plants) were immediate #1 New York Times bestsellers. In 2009, Pollan was named one of the top 10 “New Thought Leaders” by Newsweek magazine. In 2010, he was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Pollan is currently the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Paul Hawken starts ecological businesses, writes about nature and commerce, and consults with heads of state and CEOs on climatic, economic, and ecological regeneration. He has appeared on numerous media, including The Today Show, Talk of the Nation, Bill Maher, CBS This Morning, and others, and his work has been profiled or featured in hundreds of articles, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Forbes, and Business Week. He has written nine books, including six national and NYT bestsellers: Growing a Business, The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest, Drawdown, and Regeneration. He is published in 30 languages, and his books are available in over 90 countries. His latest book, Regeneration, Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, was published by Penguin Random House in September 2021, his sequel to Drawdown. He is the founder of both Project Drawdown and Project Regeneration (regeneration.org). Project Regeneration is creating the world’s largest, most complete listing and network of solutions to the climate crisis. He is currently writing Carbon, the Book of Life, to be published by Penguin Random House in June 2024.

César Rodríguez-Garavito is Professor of Clinical Law and Chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law. He is the Founding Director of the More-Than-Human Rights (MOTH) Program at NYU Law. He is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon and has served as a strategy advisor to leading international and domestic social justice organizations in different parts of the world.

Dan Fitzgerald is the Founder and Managing Partner of ReGen Ventures, a global early-stage venture capital fund he set up in 2020. ReGen Ventures exists to fund systems transformation by investing in regenerative technology companies that are transforming every aspect of our lives for the better. He has been investing in climate-tech for over 10 years across early-stage, growth and real assets and across a range of other asset classes for 15+ years. Dan was previously the co-founder of a quant hedge fund and an Options Trader at UBS and Macquarie Bank.

Lila joined Generation in 2004 and is the Head of the Growth Equity Strategy. Prior to joining Generation, Lila was a Director of Finance & Development at VolunteerMatch. Previously, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile where she worked on community-based forestry and conservation projects. Lila currently serves as a Board Observer at Pivot Bio, Nature’s Fynd, Guideline, CiBO Technologies, and Optoro. She is on the Board of Advisors at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Lila received a BA in English Language and Literature from Stanford University and an MBA from London Business School.

Tzeporah Berman BA, MES, LLD (honoris causa) has been designing advocacy campaigns and advising governments for over 30 years. She is the International Program Director at Stand.earth and the Chair and Founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Tzeporah publishes and speaks widely on fossil fuels and climate change. She is the author of This Crazy Time: Living Our Environmental Challenge, published by Random House. For six years she was the Executive Director of the Tarsands Network Strategy tasked with developing strategies for pipeline and tarsands campaigns and related grant dockets for philanthropic foundations. She has also held positions advising the British Columbia government and in Alberta Co-Chairing the Oil Sands Advisory Working Group tasked with making recommendations to implement climate change policy in the oilsands.  Dr Berman holds an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia and was an adjunct professor at York University for 5 years. In 2019 she was awarded the Climate Breakthrough Award of $2 million dollars to develop a bold new global climate strategy and in 2021 she gave a widely viewed TED Talk presenting the case for a global treaty to phase out fossil fuels.