Keynote Speaker
Cameron Davis, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Facilitators
Jerry Adelmann, Openlands
Josh Ellis, Metropolitan Planning Council 

Panelists
Ann Alexander, Natural Resources Defense Council
Joel Brammeier, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Claus Dunkelberg, Milwaukee Water Council
Martin Felsen, Archeworks, UrbanLab
Margaret Frisbie, Friends of the Chicago River
Todd Main, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Suzanne Malec-McKenna, City of Chicago, Department of Environment
Lynn McClure, National Parks Conservation Association
David Naftzger, Council of Great Lakes Governors
Sabina Shaikh, University of Chicago, RCF Economic & Financial Consulting
Jonah Smith, Alliance for the Great Lakes
John Swanson, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission
Russell Van Herik, Great Lakes Protection Fund


Douglas Voigt, SOM, Urban Design and Planning
 
Gerald W. Adelmann
Executive Director, Openlands

Gerald W. Adelmann is executive director of Openlands, a land conservation organization founded in 1963 working within northeastern Illinois and the surrounding regions. Adelmann first joined the staff of Openlands in 1980 to coordinate a special program focused on the Des Plaines River Valley. This led to his founding of the Canal Corridor Association in 1982. Adelmann served as president until 2002 and led the effort to create the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor in 1984. The Heritage Corridor was the first federal land designation of its kind. Today there are 39 federally designated heritage areas across the United States. One of the oldest urban conservation organizations, Openlands works to protect and enhance open space within the three-state Chicago metropolitan area. In 1988, Adelmann assumed the directorship of Openlands. Under his leadership the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, 4,000 miles of greenways and trails, and many other important conservation projects have been realized. Adelmann serves on many boards and commissions and has worked on sustainable development in Yunnan, China since the early 1990s. He has lectured and advised on projects throughout the United States and abroad. He has been presented with numerous awards and, in 2007, was made an Honorary Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.