Dr. J. Drew Lanham describes himself as “a wondering wander in love with nature and all the sensuality that falls softly in raindrops, rises riotously with each dawn chorus and whispers goodnight with Whip-poor-wills at dusk.” Lanham was born in 1965 and raised in the depths of the Sumter National Forest in a district called the Long Cane. Steven’s and Cheve’s Creeks feed into the Savannah River not far from the rolling piedmont landscape and the small family farm in Edgefield, South Carolina that nurtured him. Lanham has three degrees from Clemson University as structured steps to learning and self-awareness. Honored as a Distinguished Alumni Professor and Alumni Master Teacher, his 20 years as faculty includes courses, research, and outreach in woodland ecology, conservation biology, forest biodiversity, wildlife policy, and conservation ornithology, and more than forty graduate students mentored. Lanham is also an author and award-nominated poet; his first solo work, The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, was published in 2016.

Becky Cushing Gop is Director of Mass Audubon West, a four-county region which includes 17 wildlife sanctuaries, conservation partnerships, and widespread community- and school-based programming.A trained field biologist and environmental educator, Becky’s current work focuses on cross- disciplinary project collaboration, environmental problem-solving and connecting people to nature.Becky has an MS from the University of Vermont’s Field Naturalist program and a Conservation Biology degree from Middlebury College. She’s a graduate of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) and SEA (Sea Education Association), a Switzer Environmental Fellow and the author of a Journal of Raptor Research article, Exploring the Role of Ospreys in Education. In 2019 she received a Berkshire 40 Under Forty award.