Estella Anderson, M.Ed.
Executive Assistant
Job scope: Estella coordinates the activities of the President and Executive Director. This includes organizing meetings, travel, media and speaking events.
History: Before joining us, Estella worked for The University of Montana for nine years as the Director of Pre-Pharmacy Advising and Director of the Native American Center of Excellence. At the School of Pharmacy she advised over 80 students in the pre-pharamcy program and worked with Native American students within the professional pharmacy program to provide them support to become practioners. Her work in education has primarily included working with minority students to help them gain access to higher education and advising them on their educational pathway.
Favorite organism and why: Beluga Whale, they are beautiful creatures and they always look like they are smiling.
Favorite book: The Beginning and the End by Naguib Mahfouz
Comfort food: apple pie and ice cream
Mark Dorfman
Green Chemist & Research Analyst
Job scope: Mark manages, designs, and conducts research, primarily for projects with a chemistry-related challenge.
History: Mark spent the last several decades as a research scientist for public-interest, not-for-profit environmental organizations (primarily INFORM, Inc. and the Natural Resources Defense Council) with a focus on green chemistry and clean water issues.
Favorite organism and why: Cyanobacteria. They were the first creatures, some 3+ billion years ago, to develop photosynthetic technology. We still haven’t figured out how to completely reproduce it.
Favorite book: Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
Hidden talent: Swing dancing!
Jamie Dwyer
Biologist & Design Strategist
Biomimicry is the perfect setting to bring together Jamie’s background in the fields of biology and architectural design. Her work for Biomimicry 3.8 is currently focused on facilitating biomimicry in the built environment. Jamie seeks to transform the design framework by empowering others with the tools of biomimicry. Jamie is also a graduate of the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program.
Lou Ghaddar, MFA
UX Designer
Job scope: Lou works as a User Experience Designer, Web Developer, and Motion Designer helping guide and develop Biomimicry 3.8′s technological needs in the office, and cultivate our media presence.
History: Lou received his BS in Business Information Technology and an MFA in Media Arts. He is currently teaching classes at the University of Montana in Web Design. With more than 10 years of experience in Information Technology and Web Development, Lou has worked for non-profit and for-profit companies, large and small, local and national. Other than living and breathing technology, Lou is also fascinated with art and animation, enjoys a cold beverage at the end of a long day of snowboarding or skateboarding, and loves to travel.
Favorite organism and why: Ducks. They’re cute, they’re goofy, and they make funny noises. And they are nature’s version of the ATV. They can fly, swim, and walk. What more do you need?
Favorite film: The Endless Summer II, an inspiring and beautiful movie
Comfort food: Kafta wrapped in a pita; reminds Lou of growing up in Lebanon
Tim Greiser
Information Technology Specialist
Job scope: Tim works on special projects related to the web, such as AskNature and the Professional Pathways online education component.
History: Tim has been doing computer programming in the Missoula area professionally since 1997.
Favorite organism and why: Lemurs – they are just so fun to watch!
Hidden talent: Tim moonlights the dance clubs as a DJ
Favorite quote: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
Gretchen Hooker, MID
Education Specialist
Job scope: Gretchen supports the Institute’s University Education Programs, including the Student Design Challenge.
History: Gretchen is committed to educating others about sustainable design and has developed programs within higher education, served as a writer and editor for sustainable design exhibitions, and written for online media. Most recently she was the founding director of the ASMSU Sustainability Center at Montana State University. Gretchen has a master’s degree in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and continues to pursue self-directed creative projects in her spare time.
Favorite organism and why: Merino Sheep – producer of nature’s perfect fiber!
Favorite book: A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
Hidden talent: Packing a lot of function into a small space.
Jessica Jones
Graphic Designer
Job scope: Jessica works on visual communications/strategy and branding.
History: Before working with us, Jessica served as marketing assistant for the University Center at The University of Montana. She was also a naturalist at Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Favorite organism and why: Sloth. When Jessica saw one in the wild, she was more excited by it than any other animal she’d seen, and it was sleeping nonetheless! If this species were to go extinct Jessica would be heartbroken.
Fantasy travel destination: In her fantasy, she would shrink to the size of a flea and travel through her backyard.
Favorite quote: “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet, for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard, the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true but few can put it into practice.” -Tao Te Ching.
Robyn Klein, MSc
Biologist & Research Analyst
Robyn is Biomimicry 3.8′s Phytosleuth. She is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, trained primarily at the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (1995). She is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology at Montana State University (M.S. 2004). Her research involved the phylogeny of adaptogenic plant species and the bioactivity of phytoecdysteroids (insect hormones synthesized by plants).
Robyn has taught herbal medicine classes for over 20 years at schools few people know exist, such as the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (Bisbee, AZ); the Dominion Herbal College (Burnaby, British Columbia); the National School of Phytotherapy (Albuquerque, NM); and the Rocky Mountain School of Botanical Studies (Boulder, CO). Robyn served as chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Wild Medicinal Plants 1999-2002, helping to pass one of the strictest laws in the nation against poaching medicinal plants.
Robyn’s recent work has been published in Healing Arts Press, American Entomologist, Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, High Falls Gardens, Veterinary Herbal Medicine, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, and in U.S. Forest Service publications.
Robyn enjoys reading and writing science fiction, rafting rivers and soaking in hot springs. She lives in the foothills surrounding Bozeman, Montana.
Richard P. Moog, CPA
Director of Finance & Administration
Job scope: Rich manages the accounting, finance, and IT functions.
History: Prior to joining Biomimicry 3.8, Rich held controller/CFO positions for a variety of small to medium sized Montana-based businesses.
Favorite organism and why: Peregrine Falcon. They possess speed, agility, and excellent eyesight (all qualities Rich admires but personally lacks).
Favorite book: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Hidden talent: Mowing his lawn while enjoying a cold beverage on the deck.
Angela Klinefelter
Financial Manager
Job scope: Angela manages the financial details of the Institute’s amazing projects.
History: Before Biomimicry 3.8, Angela managed the finances for several other local non-profits such as Buffalo Field Campaign, Wind River Bear Institute, and Cold, Mountain Cold Rivers. She also worked as an accountant at Lambros Real Estate. Her past life was spent roaming Montana’s Glacier Country as a bear conflict specialist.
Favorite organism and why: Bears. They get to sleep through
winter, through child birth, and can smell chocolate a mile away.
Comfort food: Chocolate….chocolate and more chocolate
Diana Lee
Individual Giving & Outreach Manager
Job scope: Diana sees fund raising as an opportunity to bring together organizations and people who share common values and want to use their resources to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.
History: Prior to joining the staff of the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, she worked for Earthjustice; the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security; Redefining Progress; and Greenpeace. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Diana earned a B.A. at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she studied art, and later returned to Hawaii, where she co-founded a modern dance company.
Favorite Composer: Gustav Mahler
Favorite quote: “I’d rather be an evangelist, a storyteller, an educator, a translator, a table-pounder, a guy on his soap box, a woman with a megaphone, a candidate for change.” – Sasha Dichte
Andrea Leggitt
Visual Designer
Job scope: Andrea designs visuals for the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute’s educational and fundraising materials, as well as AskNature.org. In addition, she films and creates the monthly AskNature Nuggets and heads the Institute’s Social Media presence and the Ask the Planet CD project.
History: Prior to Biomimicry 3.8, Andrea attended ASU and graduated Magna Cum Laude in Industrial Design, assisted with ASU’s InnovationSpace program, and interned as an Industrial Designer at HumanScale, NY. Outside of her work with us, Andrea runs her DIY side project, saltyandsweet, where she makes and sells laser-cut mobiles worldwide.
Favorite organism and why: Sloths. They are, aesthetically and behaviorally, the oddest animals. Have you ever watched a sloth try to walk on land? At times they look more like an animatronic puppet than an actual living thing.
Favorite book: As far as Andrea’s concerned, Tom Robbins can do no wrong.
Hidden talent: She knows how to weld (MIG and TIG).
Erin Leitch
Design Strategist & Project Director | BSpecialist
Coming from a background in architecture and sustainable building advisory, Erin now oversees the development and delivery of the world’s most innovative and comprehensive biomimicry educational program with Biomimicry 3.8. Erin graduated with the inaugural cohort of the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program in March 2010.
Sherry Ritter
Research & Education Specialist
Job scope: Sherry works on AskNature and as a project manager and researcher on consultancy projects.
History: Sherry has been involved with biomimicry since 2004. She previously worked as a biologist with state and federal wildlife management agencies in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Sherry is the author of magazine articles and a book, Lewis and Clark’s Mountain Wilds.
Favorite organism and why: American Dipper. This hardy little songbird dives underwater to get its food, nests near waterfalls, and sings a beautiful song in the middle of winter.
Favorite book: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
What excites her: Wind brings all of Sherry’s senses to life.
Megan Schuknecht
Project Director | Student Design Challenge
Job scope: Megan works with faculty and administrators to incorporate biomimicry tools and concepts into university and college classrooms, curricula, and degree programs. She also lectures and works on our AskNature project.
History: Prior to joining the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, Megan worked and taught for a variety of sustainability and social justice non-profits and educational organizations. Most recently, she worked as a biologist at the design table with the Biomimicry Guild, helping global companies look to nature for inspiration to develop sustainable and innovative technologies.
Favorite organism and why: Honeybees. Megan has been fascinated by bee biology and behavior ever since serving as a beekeeping extensionist with Peace Corps Paraguay.
Favorite book: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Hidden talent: Having all of her colleagues’ Google calendars displayed at once – and being able to make sense of them.
Ali Solomon
Communications Specialist
Job scope: Ali works on the website, e-newsletter, and marketing materials, helps with media requests, and coordinates the Speakers Bureau.
History: Before coming to the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, Ali served as the communications/development director for Women’s Voices for the Earth and communications director for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. While in
Chicago, she also worked for an adventure travel website and a book publisher. The summer of 2010, Ali was hired by Nature Valley to explore 10 national parks and document her experiences.
Favorite organism and why: Anemone (and clownfish). Apart from looking like fantastic creatures from a Dr. Seuss book, the anemone and clownfish beautifully illustrate mutualism.
Comfort food: Macaroni and cheese with carmelized onions, garlic, and chard
Hidden talent: Writes her own Mad Libs.
Glenna Tawney
Administrative Specialist
Job scope: Glenna provides support for the BProfessional and BSpecialist programs, specifically event planning. She also works on the Speakers Bureau and assists in daily operations.
History: Prior to joining Biomimicry 3.8, Glenna was an elementary school teacher, teaching fourth and fifth grades. She holds a BS in business management and a masters degree in curriculum and instruction. Glenna also spent three years on the Montana Natural History Center board of directors.
Favorite organism and why: Cheetahs. Their speed and grace have fascinated Glenna since childhood.
Comfort food: Any and all types of cheese
Hidden talent: In a former life, Glenna was a Division I soccer player for the University of Montana.