Advisors

Douglas Airhart

Cookeville, TN

Technical Expertise: Landscaped Areas, Urban Forestry

Douglas Airhart is a Professor of Horticulture in the School of Agriculture at Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville. He teaches production horticulture (landscaping, nursery, greenhouse), turf, and provides FFA training and contests in nursery and floriculture.

Douglas serves on the Cookeville Tree Board. He is a Certified Arborist, Municipal Specialist; has managed the Arboretum Certification Program of the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council; and provides assistance to regional tree boards. He has published articles on consumer horticulture and tree care technologies and has coordinated grant projects about tree care and maintenance. He invites you to visit his website at www.tlcfortrees.info.

Jack Clasen

Fuquay Varina, NC

Jack brings a varied background to AIB. After receiving a Ph.D. in Community Health from Indiana University, he began his career as a college professor, then small business owner, community volunteer, and Master Gardener. He has been with AIB since its inception. Before retiring to Raleigh, he lived in the Cincinnati area where he co-founded and chaired the local beautification committee and the annual "Art in the Garden" tour. His own yard was voted one of the 10 best in the tri-state region, was filmed by HGTV, and featured in Cincinnati Magazine.

Jack serves as co-chair of the national awards program and secretary of the AIB board. He has judged more than 75 communities in the USA, Canada, Scotland, and Ireland.

Galen Gates

Palatine, IL

Galen may be best known for his 30 years developing and maintaining the Chicago Botanic Garden’s 400 acres. Galen has been a key player in establishing and managing 27 world-class display gardens, four extensive natural areas, environmentally improving a nine acre lake system and initiating various programs that utilize the Garden’s world-class plant collection.

A widely recognized plant expert Galen has collected and studied plants on 25 expeditions and trips into 20 countries. Galen has contributed to over 90 books and penned 20 journal articles, including the landmark paper, Characteristics of a World-Class Plant Collection - a paper used in the United States, Europe and Asia as a guide in developing and assessing the value of living plant collections.

A strong believer in education Galen initiated and taught the Chicago Botanic Garden’s first education course and initiated and programmed three popular annual conferences. He has addressed 20 universities world-wide and served as Adjunct Professor for a Master’s of Landscape Architecture program.

Galen has been a trusted consultant for the infamous Navy Pier and Millennium Park in Chicago, The Trump Tower and private estates; www.galengates.com

Alex Pearl

Centerville, OH

Alex Pearl, from Centerville, Ohio has been an AIB judge since the America in Bloom’s inception. He is also among the group of founders. Alex is a retired horticulture educator whose career has taken him in many different directions. He has held positions in higher education, botanical gardens, private industry and in his own business. Alex retired from the State of Ohio in 2011, where he taught Vocational Horticulture for the Ohio Central School System, a charter school of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.

Alex holds horticulture degrees from the State University of New York, and New Mexico State University, a Masters in Botanical Garden Management from the University of Delaware and a Masters in Education from Ohio State University. His is an active member of various trade and amateur horticultural organizations. His long association with "in bloom" programs through America in Bloom and the Canadian program Communities in Bloom has taken him to cities across North America and Europe. He is a strong advocate of the benefits in bloom programs provide people and communities. Alex’s motto is ‘plants change lives’.

Bruce Riggs

New Rochelle, NY

Bruce Riggs currently free-lances in horticulture and is involved in several not for profit institutions. He is also very involved in the family landscape design business with his wife Melanie Menachem Riggs who is also an AIB judge. They reside in New Rochelle, New York. He recently held the position of Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum (no relation!) of Arts & Science in Greenwich, CT.

During his 18 years at the New York Botanical Garden, Bruce was very involved with the Horticulture and Education Divisions. He administered the creation and implementation of the internationally recognized interpretation program for the NYBG.

He has recently been very involved in elementary school science and horticulture programs. He has worked on projects for the American Association of Museums and the Institute of Museum Studies. He has been very involved with Mountain Top Arboretum in Tannersville, NY, serving as President since 1998. Bruce is an avid traveler having visited numerous gardens and natural areas.

Laurie Potier-Brown

Laurie E. Potier-Brown, PLA, was raised on a dairy farm and there began a lifelong passion for wandering around in nature. She started her professional career with degrees in Psychology and Art. She wound up in the corporate world where she received extensive training in business and marketing. Twelve years of that was enough to convince her that, all in all, she would rather work with plants than people. She returned to school and graduated with a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Florida. She then completed an apprenticeship in Brazil with Roberto Burle-Marx.

Her career has included private, corporate, and government settings. She earned AICP certification while with the Hillsborough County Planning Commission. Her last formal position was with the City of Tampa. She has designed, contracted, and installed projects from tiny Zen Gardens at Hospice to five miles of bayfront boulevard where 22,000 annuals were changed out three times a year. Laurie has traveled extensively and now has her own Landscape Architecture firm in Tampa, Florida. As a lifelong learner, she recently completed the University of Florida Master Gardener Program.

Katy Moss Warner

Orlando, FL

Katy Moss Warner is President Emeritus of the American Horticultural Society (AHS), a national, non-profit, member-based organization with the vision of “making America a nation of gardeners, a land of gardens.” Katy was Director of Disney's Horticulture and Environmental Initiatives at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, responsible for the landscapes of four theme parks, 15 resort properties and over 70 miles of roads on the 30,500-acre property. For 24 years - from 1976 to 2000 - she provided the leadership necessary to ensure that Disney's horticultural traditions of beautiful gardens and themed landscapes were sustained.

Katy has traveled extensively and has hosted garden tours in Italy, England, Belgium, Czech Republic, Argentina, Morocco as well as many destinations within the US. Katy judges for America in Bloom and international competitions. She is a Longwood Fellow with Longwood Gardens and the University of Delaware as well as a Loeb Fellow with the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Douglas Airhart

Cookeville, TN

Technical Expertise: Landscaped Areas, Urban Forestry

Douglas Airhart is a Professor of Horticulture in the School of Agriculture at Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville. He teaches production horticulture (landscaping, nursery, greenhouse), turf, and provides FFA training and contests in nursery and floriculture.

Douglas serves on the Cookeville Tree Board. He is a Certified Arborist, Municipal Specialist; has managed the Arboretum Certification Program of the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council; and provides assistance to regional tree boards. He has published articles on consumer horticulture and tree care technologies and has coordinated grant projects about tree care and maintenance. He invites you to visit his website at www.tlcfortrees.info.

Nancy Chennault

Castle Rock, WA

Technical Expertise: Flowers, Landscaped Areas

Nancy Chennault is well-versed in horticulture as a master gardener, master diagnostician, Washington Certified Nursery Professional, and Washington Certified Landscape Professional. With her husband Jim, she is a co-owner of The Plant Station, a retail garden center and greenhouse growing business. They evaluate and trial plant material, soil components, and plant nutrition in their display gardens and containers of new plant introductions.

Nancy is a garden writer, landscape designer, and master gardener training instructor. She is the volunteer coordinator and plant/flower/basket grower for Castle Rock Blooms and mentors for the Castle Rock High School Greenhouse Management Program. In her leisure she plays in her gardens and greenhouse, takes her grandchildren on various adventures, photographs, and assembles 1,000-piece puzzles.

Christine Dalton

Technical Expertise: Celebrating Heritage

Christine Dalton, AICP resides in Orlando, FL and is a Historic Preservation consultant specializing in community planning, heritage tourism, downtown revitalization, historic structures reports, and National Register nominations. Ms. Dalton is an adjunct instructor at Rollins College (Winter Park, FL), where she teaches historic preservation in the Environmental Studies program, and Seminole State College (Seminole County, FL), where she teaches historic preservation in the Interior Design program. Ms. Dalton is a Trustee of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, and 2nd Vice President of the American Planning Association’s Orlando Metro Section. She served for thirteen years as the Historic Preservation Officer and Community Planner for the City of Sanford, FL and was the staff liaison to the city’s Historic Preservation Board and Public Art Commission.

Ms. Dalton earned an M.A. in Historic Preservation from Goucher College (Baltimore, MD), a B.A. in Environmental and Growth Management Studies with a Minor in Business Administration from Rollins College, and an A.S. in Architectural Design and Construction Technology from Seminole State College.

Marshall Dirks

Sycamore, IL

Technical Expertise: Flowers, Landscaped Areas

Marshall Dirks is director of marketing and public relations for Proven Winners. Marshall combines his 20+ years of horticultural experience and marketing skills to create awareness of the Proven Winners brand, including developing and maintaining a consistent, recognizable image for Proven Winners. Marshall manages Proven Winners’ consumer advertising, trade collateral and marketing materials, the consumer and industry websites in addition to social media platforms and Proven Winners’ national public relations efforts.

Prior to joining Proven Winners in February 2000, Dirks worked as product manager for Ball Seed Company where he was responsible for handling multiple lines of vegetative product, including Proven Winners. He gained hands-on nursery experience by working as a greenhouse/nursery assistant while pursuing a Bachelor of Science in management from Northern Illinois University.

Tony Ferrara

Palm Desert, CA

Technical Expertise: Community Vitality, Overall Impression

Tony Ferrara served 16 years on the Arroyo Grande, CA City Council and 12 years as the city’s elected Mayor. Tony has held numerous municipal leadership positions including Board Chair of the San Luis Obispo County of Governments, and the County’s Integrated Waste Management Board. Tony also served as the President of the League of California Cities, an advocacy and lobbying organization representing all 482 cities in California.

He has an extensive background in community revitalization and economic development; and also has direct “hands-on” experience in community transformation programs and projects that create pleasing environments for both businesses and residents. As a former volunteer judge for America in Bloom, Tony evaluated many communities, focusing on the Community Vitality and Overall Impression categories.

Tony holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with emphasis in the Behavioral Sciences from the University of Southern California; and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Redlands. He is a former faculty member for the California State University Long Beach, as well as the University of Phoenix.

Lindsey Hayes

Technical Expertise: Celebrating Heritage

Lindsey Hayes joined the City of Winter Park’s Planning Department in 1997. After leaving a career in technology, Lindsey received a degree in Growth Management from the Rollins College Hamilton Holt School (Winter Park, FL) in 1998, and qualified for the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2004. In her tenure at Winter Park, she guided the Historic Resources Task Force which resulted in the city’s first historic preservation ordinance adopted in 2001.

As staff for the Historic Preservation Commission later renamed the Historic Preservation Advisory Board, she coordinated the designation of two local historic districts and 75 individual historic resources. Lindsey wrote the successful National Register of Historic Places nominations for the Winter Park Country Club and Golf Course, and the Albin Polasek House and Studio. She coordinated the National Register nominations of the Downtown Winter Park and Interlachen Avenue Historic Districts and “Casa Feliz”, the Robert Bruce Barbour House. In addition to other planning responsibilities, Lindsey was the staff liaison for the city’s Public Art Advisory Board and the Neighborhood Council. She served on the board of the award-winning non-profit Friends of Casa Feliz and volunteered at the Winter Park Historical Museum. Historic preservation was her favorite part of her job, and Lindsey “walked the walk” by rehabilitating her 1926 bungalow in Winter Park’s College Quarter Historic District and her 1926 retirement home in Englewood.

Stephen Pategas

Winter Park, FL

Technical Expertise: Community Vitality, Flowers, Landscaped Areas, Urban Forestry, Environmental Efforts, Celebrating Heritage, Overall Impression

Stephen Pategas is a landscape architect, garden writer, garden photographer, and plant geek in Winter Park, FL. Stephen currently serves as a volunteer AIB judge and board member, on the City of Winter Park’s Keep Winter Park Beautiful & Sustainable Advisory Board and with it founded Winter Park Blooms. Winter Park has participated in the AIB National Awards Program since 2013.

Previously he served on Winter Park advisory boards including the Tree Preservation Board, the Parks and Recreation Board, Environmental Review Board, and non-profit Casa Feliz Historic Home & Museum Board. His travels have taken him to hundreds of gardens in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Stephen’s favorite gardens to design are those that touch people’s lives.

Karin Rindal

Centreville, VA

Technical Expertise: Environmental Efforts

Karin Rindal’s wide-ranging business career in manufacturing and government includes time involved in international trade program evaluation and training in Total Quality Management (TQM) and Malcolm Baldridge Criteria for Performance Excellence. In 2004 Karin discovered the New Jersey Master Gardener program. She was appointed to the Board of Directors at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, NJ, where she organized annual plant sales and coordinated activities of volunteer committees including donations, raffle, and publicity and print materials. Karin has won awards at the New Jersey Home and Garden Show for container design and for horticultural entries at the Newport, RI Flower Show. For two years she wrote a regular weekly garden column for the Millburn/Short Hills Patch.

Since 2005 she has taught gardening and cooking classes to adults and children. Karin currently volunteers at the US Botanic Garden where she has assisted with a broad variety of educational events, including presenting a class on sustainable container gardening. Through her work at the Botanic Garden on the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) she completed the requirements for the New Jersey Environmental Stewardship program.

Anne Saliers

Holland, MI

Technical Expertise: Environmental Efforts

Anne Saliers is Community Energy Services Manager for the City of Holland, Michigan’s progressive municipal utility. Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) provides electric, water, wastewater, and broadband services to the city of 35,000 and surrounding townships. She leads implementation of Holland’s long-range Community Energy Plan and the conservation programs for the utility.

A member of the Holland in Bloom steering committee since 2012, Anne compiles the Environmental Efforts section of their AIB Community Profile. Holland received the Environmental Efforts Outstanding Achievement Award in 2012 and 2016. Anne is a good resource for how to tell your environmental story.

Kristopher Stenger

Orlando, FL

Technical Expertise: Environmental Efforts

Kris Stenger is the Assistant Director of Building Permitting and Sustainability for the City of Winter Park, FL. He helped to direct the adoption of the City of Winter Park’s Sustainability Action Plan, as well as the selection of the City of Winter Park as finalist in the Georgetown Energy Prize.

Kris is devoted to integrating a culture of sustainability into lifestyles of those he serves. Kris works with Orange County’s Homeowner Energy Efficiency Program (OCHEEP!), where he educates homeowners on specific energy efficiency improvements that can be made to the home. His efforts with the program helped earn the 2012 Energy Star Promotional Excellence Award.

He currently serves on the International Code Council Sustainability, Energy and High-Performance Code Action Committee, and is Past President of the Central Florida Chapter of the Building Officials Association of Florida. In 2012 he was honored as the US Green Building Council Central Florida Chapter Community LEEDer of the Year.

Brooks Weiss

Winter Park, FL

Technical Expertise: Celebrating Heritage

Brooks Weiss joined the City Senior Staff of the City of Winter Park’s Planning and Community Development Department in 2016. Brooks’ responsibilities as City Architect included administering design guidelines and working to enhance the excellence of architecture In Winter Park. He was also the liaison to the Historic Preservation Board and sought to preserve the heritage of the city and add structures as designated historic resources to the Winter Park Register of Historic Places.

Prior to joining Winter Park, Brooks enjoyed many assignments with nationally known firms, as well as his own local firm. Brooks’ broad realm of living experiences and travels have enabled him to learn from other cultures and be exposed to the historic buildings of major urban centers in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

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Communities

Douglas Airhart

Cookeville, TN

Jack Clasen

Fuquay Varina, NC

Galen Gates

Palatine, IL

Alex Pearl

Centerville, OH

Bruce Riggs

New Rochelle, NY

Laurie Potier-Brown

Katy Moss Warner

Orlando, FL

Douglas Airhart

Cookeville, TN

Nancy Chennault

Castle Rock, WA

Christine Dalton

Marshall Dirks

Sycamore, IL

Tony Ferrara

Palm Desert, CA

Lindsey Hayes

Stephen Pategas

Winter Park, FL

Karin Rindal

Centreville, VA

Anne Saliers

Holland, MI

Kristopher Stenger

Orlando, FL

Brooks Weiss

Winter Park, FL