Our Panelists

Kathy Mario has a BS from St. Thomas Aquinas College and a Masters in Social Work from SUNY Stony Brook. She has worked in community development/education for the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and in Vocational Rehabilitation at the NYS Department of Education. Kathy loves spending time outdoors, and has been a Member of the National Audubon and Adirondack Mountain Club for over 40 years. Her passion for community development is demonstrated most recently in her role founding the Delhi Homegrown National Park Movement.

Carla Hegeman Crim is a Resource Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Delaware County, NY. She has a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University (1995), a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Virginia Tech (1999) and did 4 years of Postdoctoral Research at Cornell (2000-2004). She oversees operations at Birdsong Farm Community Garden and runs the Master Gardener Volunteer Program. She has been gardening for over 20 years and has a small flower farming operation at home.

Eileen Kline is a retired middle and high school science teacher (2018) from South Kortright Central School in Delaware County (27 years). She started her science teaching career on the California central coast where she taught for five years. During her tenure, she taught and participated in ecology topics, watershed education, trail maintenance, tree planting, riparian buffer restoration, principally in Delaware County. Eileen has worked with the DOAS summer camp youth in recent years, on macro invertebrate sampling. She periodically substitute teaches at SKCS.

Jack Tessier has a Ph.D. from SUNY College of Environmental Science, and a B.A. and M.A. from SUNY Geneseo. He is a plant ecologist and works at SUNY Delhi. His research focuses on forest understory plants.

Lisa Tessier has degrees in landscape architecture from Cornell University (B.S.) and from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF, M.S.). Lisa presently teaches in the Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Sustainability programs at SUNY Delhi. She previously taught at Capital Community College and SUNY ESF, and has worked for two landscape architecture firms and a non-profit called the Center for Community Design Research.

Christina Viafore has a BS in Biology from SUNY Geneseo and serves on the Delhi Town Council in addition to several other community organizations. She is an advocate for sustainable living and spreading the word about important information that benefits the planet and community.

With Special Guest and Local Native Plant Expert, Connie Tedesco:
Botanist Connie Tedesco has a B.S. in Plant Sciences from Cornell and an M.A. in Biology from SUNY Oneonta where she studied the pollination biology of Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium vanbruntiae. She has worked on compiling the floras of Montgomery and Otsego Counties. Connie’s expertise is a tremendously valuable local resource. As a former board member and past recipient of the NY Flora Association’s Native Plant Conservation Award, she provides guidance you can trust for all your native plant needs. Connie will be available during the Q&A portion of the program.