Rachel Stephens • President / Agro-Ecology Director • rachel.stephens@eciny.org
Rachel was born and raised on the east end of Long Island where she currently owns and runs Sweet Woodland Farm in Hampton Bays.  At Sweet Woodland she grows organic produce in addition to raising chickens, rabbits, and sheep.  Her educational background in horticulture has been strengthened by professional work as an estate gardener, in wholesale plant nursery management and her time spent as a farmer. Rachel is a passionate teacher of homesteading skills such as knitting, gardening, home canning and animal husbandry. 

Sister Kerry Handal • Secretary / Administrator of St. Joseph Villa • kerry.handal@eciny.org
Sister Kerry, a Sister of St. Joseph for nearly four decades, advocated for ECI to establish the Good Ground Heritage Garden and beehives on the St. Joseph Villa campus in Hampton Bays. She has long held ecology at the heart of her ministries, in the spirit of the CSJ Land Ethic: “To preserve, protect, restore, and cherish the integrity, biodiversity, balance, and beauty of the land and all the species with whom we share it.” Whether as a teacher, principal, development director, or administrator of St. Joseph Villa, Sister Kerry has worked diligently to focus attention on issues of concern for Earth, seeking solutions to Long Island’s sustainability issues. Two of her current projects at the Villa include work on solar panels for the buildings, as well as continuation of a waste management system. She obtained her master's degree in curriculum studies at St. Joseph College, and certification in administration and supervision from Fordham University.

Karen Loew • Director of Outreach • karen.loew@eciny.org
Karen is a writer and creator with diverse experience in journalism, advocacy, and education. She’s worked as a reporter and editor, a college journalism instructor, and a preserver of neighborhood culture, architecture, and small business in NYC’s East Village. Karen participated in the founding and operation of the trendsetting park, the High Line, and directed and produced two short films about unique places. In every capacity, she brings her love of community and knack for inclusion. She was immediately drawn to ECI’s vision of fostering a community that is ecologically centered. A Virginia native, Karen has lived in a Shenandoah Valley orchard, middle Tennessee horse country, and on a kibbutz, or communal farm, in Israel. Karen enjoys exploring the East End, swimming, gardening, and practicing Vedic meditation.

Anthony Romano • Treasurer / Resource Director • tony.romano@eciny.org
Tony is a native Long Islander and a resident of East Quogue since 1998, where he has enjoyed an idyllic life with his wife Laura and two children. His inspiration to work with ECI stems from several concerns. Having been healed from numerous childhood health conditions through holistic, naturopathic changes and growing an organic garden, Tony jumped at the opportunity to bring similar benefits to others. Once he took the first organic gardening course presented by ECI through the Town of Southampton, he became engaged with ECI's mission. Serving as resource director, then treasurer as well, Tony has enjoyed helping build on each of ECI's different initiatives. Recently retired from Verizon in Southampton after 31 years, Tony is excited to expand his community involvement and re-engage his many passions.

Joe Lamport • Director of Zero Waste • joe.lamport@eciny.org

Jerome Lucani • Director of Community Advocacy • jerome.lucani@eciny.org
As an East End artist, Jerome's work focuses on “the fragile, alive beauty of Nature that exists as art all around us”. As an entrepreneur with an MBA from George Washington University, he founded “Carre Bleu Voyages”, a group of travel agencies based in Paris. His exploration of countries such as Costa-Rica, Ethiopia, French Polynesia, Kenya, Morocco, the Reunion Island, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uganda, opened his eyes to our humanist responsibilities in a deeply interconnected world. Think globally, and act locally. Be the change you want to see in the world. These two axioms have led Jerome to join the staff of ECI.

Suzanne Ruggles
Director of the Nature Lyceum

Suzanne "The Barefoot Gardener," is on a mission to dissuade people from using pesticides, insecticides, and other damaging elements on their land.  Through her work she educates them about the harm caused by lawns (which destroy wildlife habitat through the use of harmful chemicals and subdue native forest or grassland).  She focuses on the native ecosystem, removing invasive plants (including lawns) and “nativizing” landscapes to encourage biodiversity.  A speaker at The Nature Lyceum for more than15 years, she has led presentations to schools, civic, and environmental organizations, as well as appeared on TV and in film.  A published author on the effects of the suburban landscape, the dangers of overdevelopment, and the benefits of native plants, she sits on The Board of Directors for The L.I. Pine Barrens Society, and spent ten years on the Board of The Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons. She has seen, first hand, the tragedies that befall wildlife caused traditional landscape practice. She has been honored as a “Champion of the Wild” by the Rescue Center, and is the recipient of a “Source Water Protection Award”, sponsored by: The Nature Conservancy, The Neighborhood Network, the L.I. Pine Barrens Society, and the Suffolk County Water Authority. The property surrounding her home is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat.

Dr. Scott Carlin
Professor, Environmentalist

Dr. Scott Carlin is an associate professor of geography and faculty member of LIU Post’s master’s program in environmental sustainability. He recently served as Co-Chair of the 66th United Nations Department of Public Information / Non-Governmental Organization Conference held in the city of Gyeongju, Republic of Korea from May 30 – June 1, 2016, the first UN DPI/NGO Conference held in Asia. The Conference aimed to end poverty, protect the global ecosystem, ensure human rights as well as prosperous and fulfilling lives for all, as part of a new sustainable development agenda to be achieved by 2030. According to Dr. Carlin “we have reached a critical threshold, where global citizenship has transitioned from something we might do as individuals to something that we must do as individuals. In this new era of climate change what happens to one, happens to all”.

Dr. Carlin, a member of Southampton Town’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, has worked on a variety of sustainable development projects on Long Island, including environmental mapping of breast cancer, green buildings, wastewater management, as well as climate issues and renewable energy.  He is also co-author of Ecology Worldview, published in the International Handbook of Emotional Healing: Rituals and Practices for Resilience After Mass Trauma.

Gerrod Smith
Community Activist

Gerrod Smith is a founder and treasurer of the Native American owned and operated Blossom Sustainable Development Inc., a nonprofit community development organization located in Shinnecock territory that serves to promote the health and well-being of the indigenous and underserved peoples of Long Island.

He holds certification from the Falmouth Institute in the preparation of year-end financial statements for government organizations, and strategic planning for Indian Tribes. Having been involved with eel grass restoration, eel aquaculture, coral research, and water quality monitoring, Roddy was an appointed tribal co-leader of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body of President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on “Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes”.  His trainings also include Ceremonial Stone Landscape Field Specialist (working with Shinnecock Youth to help protect ancient areas of ancestral cultural resources), Paleo Submerged Landscape Research training to assist the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in monitoring submerged cultural artifacts and assisting in the development of a Tribal Historic Preservation Office.

An inspirational athlete, entrepreneur, and tribal elder - Roddy brings a wealth of environmental economic, and organizational expertise to his work with ECI.

Richard Casabianca
Historian, Preservationist

A descendant of Southampton colonists (eight generations in what is now called Hampton Bays) Richard is a graduate of the hamlet’s school system. For the past twenty years Richard has worked tirelessly as a community activist. He has served as both a member and the Chairman of the Hampton Bays Citizens Advisory Committee, as a member of the Hampton Bays Civic Association, was a founding member of the Hampton Bays Historical Society on whose board he served for more than fifteen years and was appointed to the Southampton town Landmarks and Historic Districts board.

His record of outspoken, articulate advocacy at Town Board meetings for issues of Historic and Open Space preservation in Hampton Bays and the surrounding area led to his inclusion in the development of two master plans for the Town of Southampton. He received an award for this work toward the preservation Community Fund properties including the Hampton Frontiers Property, The Prosper King House, Canoe Place Chapel and the Canoe Place Inn amongst others.

In 2004 Richard purchased the historic Nathan Foster House on Wakeman Road rescuing it from renovation and spearheaded the sale of transfer development rights on an improved residentially zoned property. Subsequently he was the first resident in the Town of Southampton to employ the dormant façade easement program.

Alfred L. Scherzer, MD, EdD, FAAP
Clinical Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College

Dr. Al Scherzer is a fifty-year resident of the Red Creek area of Hampton Bays, a life-long environmentalist, and a past president of the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society. A pediatrician specializing in child neurology, he was in private practice in Riverhead, and also served as Director of the Child Rehabilitation Center of the Peconic Bay Medical Center. He is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the Weill Cornell Medical College, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Retired) at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and past president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine.

Marc Fasanella • marc.fasanella@eciny.org
Permaculturist

The Founding Director of the Ecological Culture Initiative, Dr. Marc Fasanella is a freelance Author, Curator and Environmental Designer. He has been an educator at the University level for nearly three decades, most recently as a Visiting Professor of Ecological Architecture, and Design in the Sustainability Studies Program of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. He holds a PhD in Art & Art Education from New York University where he wrote his doctoral dissertation The Environmental Design of Jones Beach State Park, which delved into the aesthetic, economic, geologic, political and environmental aspects of the Park’s initial construction. His MA from NYU in Technology and Industrial Education concentrated on using industrial skill and passive solar architecture to produce socially responsible design. Marc holds permanent certification from the New York State Education Department in Art, Industrial Arts, and Technology Education. Throughout his undergraduate training he apprenticed himself to the trades of estate gardening, restoration carpentry and stone masonry. An exhibit curator and author of works on Art, Craft and Design, his recent book about his father Ralph Fasanella: Images of Optimism was published by Pomegranate Press in the Fall of 2017.

Anne Moyer • anne.moyer@eciny.org
Social Psychologist

Co-Founder of the Ecological Culture Initiative, Anne received her Ph.D. in Social / Health Psychology from Yale University.  She is an Associate Professor in the Social and Health Area of the Psychology Department and Faculty Director of the Honors College at Stony Brook University. Her research focuses on psychosocial issues surrounding cancer, medical decision-making, the psychology of research participation, and meta-analysis. She is co-editor of a new book, The Psychology of Friendship, published by Oxford University Press. Anne’s personal path to wellness involves time spent with horses, dogs, and cats, as well as her human family enjoying cooking, yoga, and stand-up paddle boarding.

Mia Fasanella • mia.fasanella@eciny.org
Yoga Instructor

Mia studied anthropology at SUNY College at Oswego. She received her Permaculture Design Certificate at Punta Mona Center for regenerative design and botanical studies in Costa Rica and later travelled to Benin, West Africa to study Permaculture at the Songhai Center. Mia has worked professionally as a Yoga Instructor, is an avid sailor, and brings her strengths as a scholar of food culture, health, and wellness to her work at ECI.