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Keynote Speakers
Janine Benyus, Opening Keynote
Janine is a natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including her latest Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In Biomimicry, she names an emerging discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's designs and processes. Since the book’s 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with sustainable business, academic, and government leaders, serving on the Eco-Dream Team at Interface, Inc., and conducting seminars about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us.
Janine co-founded an education and innovation practice called Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeister in 1998, and recently founded the non-profit Biomimicry Institute to help further Biomimicry education and research. She has been awarded numerous distinctions for her work including Time Magazine Environmental Hero of 2007, Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award, and the Lud Browman Award for Science Writing.
In addition to her biomimicry work, Janine teaches interpretive writing, lectures at the University of Montana, and works towards restoring and protecting wild lands. She serves on a number of land use committees in her rural county, and is president of Living Education, a nonprofit dedicated to place-based living and learning. Other books by Janine include Northwoods Wildlife: a Watcher’s Guide to Habitats (1989), The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats, Eastern and Western Editions (1989), and Beastly Behaviors: A Guide to How Animals Act and Why (1992).
Jason F. McLennan, Thursday Morning Keynote
Jason is a nationally recognized leader in the sustainable building industry. He is trained as an architect and has been a principal at BNIM, an architecture firm in Kansas City and an innovative force in green building for the last decade. As a thought leader on sustainable issues, Jason is highly attuned to the challenges and opportunities that exist in this period of rapid transformation in the building and development industry. He brings a desire to create change and recognizes that the Cascadia chapter is in a unique leadership position nationally as USGBC and Canada Green Building Council's most mature chapter. He is personally connected to the Northwest and Lower Mainland as someone born and raised in Canada and who received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon.
Denis Hayes, Big Bang Dinner Keynote
Denis is the President and CEO of The Bullitt Foundation, located in Seattle, WA. A practical visionary who has devoted his life to conservation, he is probably best known for having been National Coordinator of the first Earth Day, and was successful in expanding it to more than 180 nations, making it the world’s most widely observed secular holiday.
During the Carter Administration, Denis directed the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, and a Silicon Valley lawyer.
Denis has received the national Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Public Service as well as the highest awards bestowed by the Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the United States, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Council of America, the Global Environmental Facility of the World Bank, the interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the American Solar Energy Society, and the Commonwealth Club. He has served on dozens of governing boards, including those of Stanford University, the World Resources Institute, the Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation, the American Solar Energy Society, Greenpeace, CERES, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association. He continues to chair the board of the international Earth Day Network.
Thomas Crum, Friday Morning Keynote
Thomas Crum is an author and presenter in the fields of conflict resolution, peak performance, and stress management. He is known throughout the world for the Thomas Crum Approach, designed to help people become more centered under conflict, more resourceful when facing challenges, and more effective under stress. For over 30 years, Tom has been a teacher of Aikido, a graceful martial art which uses energy rather than force to resolve conflicts, and he includes principles and movements from Aikido, Tai Chi Chuan, Qi gong, and other mind-body arts in his presentations.
Acclaimed as “more than another talking head,” Tom conducts presentations for organizations worldwide for management and employees at all levels in corporations, government and non-profit organizations, and is a popular keynote and plenary presenter at international conferences. His achievements even include co-leading a session in Indonesia with the Dalai Lama.
Thomas Crum books, audio and visual materials and other products have been acclaimed throughout the world. The Magic of Conflict has been honored by placement on the best seller’s list, and Journey To Center has delighted readers with stories that inspire and motivate. Tom’s latest addition to the marketplace is Three Deep Breaths: Finding Power and Purpose In A Stressed Out World (Berrett/Koehler Publishers, June, 2006.)
