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Pippa Brashear

Pippa Brashear, RLA, WEDG, is Resilience Principal and Partner at SCAPE. A leading national expert on resilience planning and design for climate adaptation, Pippa works with multi-disciplinary teams to develop landscape strategies and next-century infrastructure that integrate environmental, economic and social benefits. She leads both planning and built work teams within the firm, bringing an ecological and people-driven approach to SCAPE’s projects—informed by systems thinking; an understanding of natural and nature-based systems; engineering methods; and social and environmental equity.

Pippa holds a Master’s in Landscape Architecture and Master’s in Urban Planning with Distinction from the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University. She also holds a Bachelor’s of Arts, cum laude, in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College.

Todd S. Bridges, Ph.D.

Dr. Todd Bridges is a Professor of Practice in resilient and sustainable systems in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia. Prior to joining UGA in 2023, Bridges served for 17 years as the U.S. Army’s Senior Research Scientist (ST) for Environmental Science, one of 40 Senior Research Scientists in the Department of the Army. Over his 30-year career with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bridges led >$250 million in research projects and programs in environmental science and engineering and sustainable infrastructure.  Bridges founded the Corps’ Engineering with Nature® program (www.engineeringwithnature.org) in 2010, which includes a broad range of research, field-scale applications, multi-sector collaborations, and communication efforts to advance the development and application of Nature-based Solutions. Among his 100 publications, Bridges led a 5-year collaboration across the public and private sectors to develop and publish International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management. Dr. Bridges received a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award from President Biden in 2021 for exceptional leadership, accomplishments, and service.

Daniel Hayden

Daniel Hayden joined Restore America’s Estuaries as President and CEO in 2020. He brings more than 25 years of experience as a leader in the private and public sectors. For nearly a decade, Daniel built multi-million-dollar partnerships and programs, and oversaw quality and learning for Rare, an international conservation NGO focused on proven locally-led solutions. In a previous role as senior campaign director at PCI Media, Daniel organized UN Environmental Program’s Webby award-winning “Wild for Life” Campaign generating over 3M pledges and assisted in designing a global campaign to reduce marine plastics (CleanSeas). More recently, Daniel led business operations for Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) at the UN Foundation.

Daniel earned a BA in Economics and History from Hamilton College cum laude and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he has been recognized as an Andrew Youn Impact Scholar. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys being outside with his wife and two children on the water whether liquid or frozen, previously he was Chair of the Board of the Washington Literacy Center.

Leah Lopez

Leah manages a staff of advocacy, law, engineering, science, and engagement experts who collectively protect the land, air, and water of Connecticut, Westchester, New York City, and Long Island.

A long-time environmental advocate who currently lives in Collinsville, CT, her focus on the intersection of climate change, resiliency, and health grew after Hurricane Katrina devastated her home state of Louisiana. Lopez earned her J.D. and Environmental Law Certificate from Pace University School of Law in White Plains, NY, and her undergraduate study in sustainable architecture and design culminated in a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from the University of Louisiana.

Leah joined Save the Sound as its staff attorney in 2001, became its head of programs in 2018, and became president in 2022.

 

Ram Mohan, P.E.

Dr. Ram Mohan is a Professor of Practice and Co-Director of the Sustainable Sediment Management Hub at IRIS.  He is also a Senior Partner at Anchor QEA, directing the firm’s Nature Based Solutions (NBS) and Coastal Practice. For over 35 years, Dr. Mohan has applied his unique expertise to develop innovative solutions to complex coastal issues including storm risk management, estuarine hydrodynamics, coastal resilience, ecological restoration, and beneficial use of dredged material. Previously serving as an adjunct professor at Texas A&M University (as Director of the GLDD Coastal and Dredging Laboratory) and prior to that, at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Mohan has years of experience instructing courses on various topics in marine dredging, nature-based solutions, and coastal engineering. He has authored over 250 publications, was the founding editor for WEDA’s Journal of Dredging Engineering and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Marine Environmental Engineering from 2016-2021.  A former President of the Western Dredging Association (WEDA), and a former member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Ocean Studies Board and Marine Board, Dr. Mohan now sits on the Environmental Advisory Subcommittee of the Army Science Board.