is a Drew University alum who considers the Drew Forest formative in her personal life and her career aspirations. During her four years at Drew University, she participated in hands-on Forest restoration work under the guidance of Dr. Sara Webb. Currently, Justina works in the environmental consulting industry and in her spare time is an avid hiker and yoga practitioner. She is honored to be on the steering committee for Friends of the Drew Forest because the Drew Forest is such an important and special place.

is currently a Naturalist Educator at New Jersey Audubon and a volunteer walk educator with The Friends of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Environmental Education from New York University and a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Communication from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Kathleen was Marketing and Communications Manager for a software company for 25 years as well as a former journalist. She is a member of the Society for Environmental Journalists, the Madison Shade Tree Management Board, and a Trustee for the Madison Public Library.

is the chair of the Chatham Township Open Space Advisory Committee, a BSA Scout Leader, and a board member of The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and the Morris Park Alliance. He has also worked on staff at The Nature Conservancy and New Jersey Audubon, but most of his career has been spent in financial markets, beginning at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and now at Farmstead Capital Management. He earned a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from NYU. Joe is an avid reader in the fields of conservation and history and enjoys soil-regenerative gardening and outdoor activities with his family.

is the chair of the Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee. Professionally, she is a planning consultant and has worked with The Land Conservancy of New Jersey and organizations such as the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions and the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. She has served on the Executive Committee of the NJ Chapter of Sierra Club and editor of The Sierran newsletter. Kathi has lived in Madison for many years, spending much time on Drew University’s campus, both living and studying there, and, most recently, participating in the Drew University flute choir.

is a Drew University Alum who worked as a Drew Forest Restoration Manager (2016-2019). She leads the Friends of the Drew Forest Social Media team, along with fellow alums, Bethania and Justina. Kyra studied environmental science at Drew University and used the Forest to conduct research for various courses. She was a Baldwin Honors scholar and a Civic Scholar. Outside of academics, she worked in the Office of Sustainability, interned at the Raptor Trust as well as the Great Swamp Watershed Association. Currently, she is attending graduate school for her Master's in Marine Science at the University of Texas MSI.

is the Conservation Chair for the Garden Club of Madison and a past Zone Representative for the Conservation and National Affairs and Legislation Committees for the Garden Club of America. She is currently the Board Secretary for the Eastern Environmental Law Center and co-chair of the North Jersey Regional Pollinator Working Group. She served for over a decade on the Planning Board and as Open Space Liaison in Chatham Township. A geologist and hydrogeologist by training, she holds a BA in Earth Science from Dartmouth College and MS in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado and worked in the oil industry for 10 years.

Erica Cowper recently graduated from Drew University with specialized honors in Biology. Her undergraduate thesis work at Drew looked at how leaf length and area have changed over time due to climate change from the 1860s to the 2020s in Morris County, NJ. She will pursue a Master of Science Degree in Earth and Environmental Science from Lehigh University in the fall. In addition, Erica Cowper is a Program Manager for Environmental Education Fund, where she is managing interns and helping with specific projects including the NJ Green Amendment. She is also volunteer Chair of Youth Outreach for North Jersey Sierra Club, where she recently hosted a virtual environmental book club for kids.

Gene Cracovia is the chair of Madison's Shade Tree Management Board, where he has served for 15 years. He led the effort to pass a Tree Protection Ordinance in Madison. He is treasurer of the Friends of Madison Shade Trees, Inc. a non-profit dedicated to improving Madison's tree canopy. Gene is a past member of the Sustainable Madison Committee where he was responsible for all the tree related actions. He was a member of Morris County's first class of Rutgers Master Gardeners and after 10 years of active participation is now an alumni of that program. He retired from AT&T Bell Laboratories Telcordia where he held various management positions in software development.

is a registered nurse who hold’s a Master ‘s Degree in Public Administration from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and a Master of Arts Degree in Child Advocacy from Montclair State University. She has experience writing federal grants for healthcare institutions and has published numerous articles in nursing journals. Having spent her nursing career in acute patient care, health care administration, and school nursing, she is knowledgeable about the direct relationship between the health of humans and their environment. Approximately 15 years ago, she and her family participated in restoring The Drew Forest and planting native species in the Hepburn Woods. She quickly became passionate about The Forest and is honored to work with the Friends of the Drew Forest. She is also currently volunteering with the Great Swamp Watershed Association and conducts stream water assessments in the spring and fall seasons. She is an avid hiker and spends much of her free time enjoying outdoor activities.

is an environmental activist who has served on the boards of prominent environmental organizations, including The Land Conservancy of New Jersey. Chris’s advocacy helped launch the restoration of the Drew University Forest and, in 2011, she funded a deer fence to protect 22 acres that encompass Hepburn Woods and the Zuck Arboretum. She co-founded Madison Matters, a land-use advocacy group that was ultimately credited with preventing countless applications for environmentally detrimental zoning variances. Chris also served on Madison’s Zoning Board, Planning Board, and Environmental Commission. As the first Chair of Madison's Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, she helped preserve the 18th century Luke Miller House and forge. A former research psychologist, she currently works on forest stewardship on private lands.

has served on the Madison Zoning Board of Adjustment and as a Trustee to the Great Swamp Watershed Association. In 2001, she co-founded Madison Matters, a 400-member land-use advocacy group that worked for conformance and improvement of Madison’s land-use ordinances. Her environmental advocacy dates back to her arrival in NJ 1995, when she organized neighbors to successfully oppose development of a large assisted-living facility on an historic property adjacent to her home. Working with mentors that included the late Helen Fenske, the activist behind the preservation of the Great Swamp, Judy learned the value of preserving open spaces, the strategies to educate the public, and productive ways to engage with local decision-makers.

is a Drew University alum who works for a Morris County-based non-profit. Previously she worked at the Land Conservancy of New Jersey doing environmental planning and tree inventory work. At Drew University, the Forest was an important part of her education and her academic experience. Lisa is an avid hiker, climber, and mountain biker and finds our NJ forests and, in particular, the Drew Forest so important. She is honored to be on the Steering Committee of the Friends of the Drew Forest and wants to protect the Forest so that future students can have the same amazing experiences she did.

has a Master’s of Public Administration and spent 25 years as Executive Director of The Gateway Northwest Maternal and Child Health Network. She also has 15 years’ experience in supervising private higher education’s facilities operations including Drew University and a major nonprofit. At the Prudential she was responsible for the development of environmental policy with regard to recycling and served as a program officer for the Prudential Foundation.

is a certified Landscape Designer, with a practice based in Madison, NJ. She received her training from the New York Botanical Garden and the Royal College of Agriculture in the UK. She also runs her own company purchasing and refurbishing residential homes for resale. Her past employment included over a decade at Verizon, where she headed up a marketing team that managed the company's first websites and online ordering systems. She also has a long involvement with local theatre, including as a board member of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, in Madison NJ and Stony Hill Players theatre in Summit, NJ. As a current member of the Garden Club of Madison, she is active in the Civics and Conservation committees. She is an avid gardener, hiker of New Jersey's parks and trails and kayaker in the waters of Maryland's Eastern Shore.

is a Drew University alum who joined the Board of the Friends of Madison Shade Trees in 2003 on her retirement from teaching in the Chatham schools. Her MLitt and MPhil are from Drew, and she was married in the Drew chapel in 1990 -- the university and its defining forest loom large in FMST’s dedication to Madison and its canopy trees. Chris has chaired Friends of Madison Shade Trees since 2015, and The Book Arts Roundtable of New Jersey since 2019.

is a Jersey-born community organizer and creative who graduated from Drew University in 2017 with a B.A. with Specialized Honors in Women’s and Gender Studies. She currently serves as Co-Director of Mil Mundos Books, a bilingual bookstore and community center curating to Black, Latinx, and Indigenous voices, and Board President of Mil Mundos En Común, the nonprofit division of Mil Mundos supporting access to essential goods, literature, and digital literacy in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Her work, both personal and professional, focuses on healing communities and caring for sacred spaces.

is the chair of the award-winning Madison Environmental Commission, where she has been a member since 2012. A great believer in the power of multi-town networking, she has helped form regional groups whose successes include passing a tri-town plastic bag ban, collaborating on climate action and organizing a 10-town pollinator plant sale. A journalist and co-author of three books on U.S. history, she spent the last decade as an advertising and sustainability writer for Eileen Fisher, a clothing company known for its collaborative culture and environmental leadership.

recently graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor of Science and Specialized Honors in Environmental Science. Her undergraduate research involved the reproductive ecology of wineberries, a local invasive species, and her thesis focused on wineberry fruit chemistry. She was also a board member of the Drew Environmental Action League and an intern for the Environmental Education Fund during her time at Drew. Morgan is currently spending time reading about ecology and applying to graduate schools to pursue forest preservation and restoration.