Tom is a licensed professional planner, policy expert, university instructor and nonprofit executive with over three decades of experience in the public, private, nonprofit and academic sectors.  He’s been an independent consultant to nonprofit and philanthropic organizations and an instructor at two major research universities.  He is currently a part-time lecturer at the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University, where he teaches Comprehensive Planning and Planning & Land Use Administration.

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Tom served as President, CEO and Publisher of Next City – a nonprofit organization that inspires social, economic and environmental change in cities through journalism and events.  Tom was Senior Policy Advisor to two Governors, founded the Center for Resilient Design and taught Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Planning at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  He is a Certified Public Manager, Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and an Alumni Member of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization.  Tom serves as Vice President of Policy at the American Planning Association – New Jersey Chapter and was awarded the B. Budd Chavooshian Award for Outstanding Professional Planner.

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He received his Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University, a Master of Arts from the Eagleton Institute of Politics and a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers College.

Alan R. Hunt, Ph.D. grew up along the Musconetcong River on his grandparents’ small farm and greenhouse operation.  The outdoors was like an additional parent, teaching him the ways of nature, recognizing both the changes and patterns of the natural world.  He earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies, cum laude, at Bates College, Maine and a Masters in Environmental Management, with a specialty in Resource Economics and Policy from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  For five years, Alan worked in Washington DC on policies for sustainable agriculture and healthy food access to underserved communities, forming multi-sector alliances between organizations representing the environmental, sustainable agriculture, minority farmers, trade associations, public health advocates, and farmers market associations.  He authored and co-authored several pieces of the 2008 Farm Bill, including a rural business loan guarantee for local food systems which continues to provide more than $1 billion in financing to the private sector and the healthy urban food enterprise development center.

 

With the award of a Fulbright fellowship in 2010, he undertook research comparing American and British approaches to policies on local food systems, earing a PhD in Rural Development at Newcastle University and authoring a book: Civic Engagement in Food Systems (Routledge, 2015).  Alan returned to the family farm in 2013, and his family has been bringing it back to life after it skipped a generation.  Prior to joining MWA, Alan worked at Wholesome Wave as Policy Director, and opened their Washington DC office, and also operated his own consulting firm for nine years, Local Food Strategies LLC.

 

Alan's family has been members of the MWA from just about its start.  He served on the Board of Directors in 2016, and served as Executive Director from fall 2016 through 2019.  Alan draws on his multi-disciplinary expertise as a natural and social scientist to spur creative synergies and partnerships that bring lasting change, and is a gifted technical writer.  He is published on topics of community relationship formation at farmers markets, social determinants of health and healthy eating, non-point source pollution reduction strategies, and National Wild and Scenic River policy.

At MWA, Alan has a variety of roles, ranging from stakeholder engagement, policy development and advocacy, project management, and grant writing, and provides content expertise on scientific research methods, recreation, and cultural resource management.  He is a member of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed's Steering Committee, the co-chair of the Asbury Mill Committee, and the River Administrator of the Musconetcong River Management Council.  Alan enjoys trail running, hiking, kayaking, and gardening; restoring a riparian buffer along the Musconetcong River with native trees and plants; and running the family farm with his wife and daughter.

Christa was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida and moved to Washington, New Jersey in 2011.  She always had an affinity for water and fell in love with the rivers in our region, so we went back to school to pursue a degree in science.  She graduated from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in May, 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies with a focus in Stream Ecology and a minor in Geography with a focus in GIS.

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Christa has interned with MWA for the past 3 1/2 years before the position of Water Quality Field Specialist was created.  She is also the Research Field Specialist for Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania with Stroud Research Center as part of the EnviroDIY sensor project in coordination with the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.

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Outside of MWA, she is the Vice President of the newly formed Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society.

Annie comes to us, most recently working as a Watershed Specialist for the Monroe County Conservation District, working with watershed organizations in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania.  Prior to that, she was employed with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Watersheds working with the City’s Green City, Clean Waters program to maintain the City’s new green stormwater infrastructure installations.

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Her educational background is in Engineering Studies and Environmental Studies, and she recently completed a Master’s Degree in Water Resources Engineering from Villanova University.  This interdisciplinary background encouraged Annie to seek a career where she could help solve complex water resources issues that often draw on many fields of expertise.  That is why she is very excited to be joining a team of like-minded individuals at the MWA.

 

Annie is excited to soon become a partial owner of her family’s farm where she hopes to have an opportunity to “practice what we preach” and implement better conservation practices on the farm.

Ryan joined the MWA in January, 2021 and is involved with its many volunteer-driven initiatives.  Specifically, he works on recruiting and training new volunteers for the MWA River Watcher program and environmental restoration projects.  He also maintains the Education Trail along the river, assists with in-school educational presentations, and conducts outreach with public officials and other organizations.

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Ryan was born and raised in Phillipsburg, NJ and caught his first trout on the Musconetcong River in Hughesville, c. 1998.  After fishing the three “Congs” of Warren County throughout his childhood, he went away to the College of William & Mary to study biology.  Ryan followed that up by completing his Master’s Degree in fisheries and aquatic sciences at the University of Florida, publishing his thesis on the ability of angler-provided data to inform recreational fisheries management decisions.  Since then, he served as an ORISE fellow at the EPA’s Region 3 office in Philadelphia, a fisheries management specialist for the Commonwealth of Virginia, an AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassador for the state’s Upper Delaware River tributaries – where he was hosted by the MWA, and a support guide at the Ridge and Valley Charter School in Blairstown, NJ.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Steven left the state to serve five years in the US Army, spending time in South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Hawaii. After his service he went on to pursue his education at Hawai’i Pacific University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication in 2019. Steven served Hawai’i Pacific University’s University Relations office for four years as their Communication Project Manager, crafting digital and print communications based around university advancement and alumni relations.

 

Steven moved back to New Jersey in 2020 with his wife Amanda, and children Madison and Nathaniel. Steven also brought his passion for helping non-profits back with him and he now uses his skills in digital communication, storytelling, public relations, fundraising and marketing to further the MWA's mission.

Craig’s journey to becoming the new Water Quality Field Specialist started when he attended his first River Watcher training for the fall macroinvertebrate sampling event in 2021. Shortly after, he had the opportunity to intern over the winter season and then again during the subsequent summer season. During this time, he gained a wealth of knowledge of his local watershed while also a desire to do more for it. So when the opportunity to become the new Water Quality Field Specialist emerged, he knew this was his opportunity to do just that!

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As the Water Quality Field Specialist, Craig works closely with others on his team to monitor the various components of water quality within the Musconetcong River as well as managing the dynamic group of volunteers known as the River Watchers with tasks ranging from macroinvertebrate collections and IDs to road salt monitoring programs.

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Craig was born and raised in Oxford, NJ and is a graduate of Centenary University, where he gained his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Chemistry.  While at Centenary Craig became aware of the River Watcher program, and that sparked his career at the MWA. When he isn’t playing in the river for work, Craig can be found working out, hiking or kayaking.