Public Lab is open for anyone to join -- please [sign up](http://publiclab.org/join)! However, 13 team members run the Public Lab non-profit organization, which supports the open research community with digital infrastructure, building organizational partnerships, community development, planning and executing organization-wide events such as barnraisings and conferences, fundraising, and facilitating open source publication of the community's work, along with a variety of other tasks. The staff includes: [**Liz Barry**](http://publiclab.org/profile/liz)
_Director of Community Development_
Location: New York City, NY
Contact: liz@publiclab.org
Director of Community Development at Public Lab and co-founder of TreeKIT, Liz develops geographic tools and civic science methods for collaborative cities. Her background is in urban landscape design, and she teaches at Columbia University and Parsons the New School for Design. Previously, she worked at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill planning international new cities and campuses, at Durham Inner-city Gardeners (DIG) coordinating youth urban horticulture enterprise, and has travelled around the country catalyzing interaction among strangers with a “Talk To Me” sign – a project that received international press including the New York Times, AP, CNN, Oprah and NPR’s This American Life. She likes to play outside. [**Becki Chall**](http://publiclab.org/profile/Becki)
_Director of Partnerships_
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact: becki@publiclab.org
Development Director Becki Chall comes to Public Lab after three years leading development efforts for Global Green USA’s Gulf Coast programs. In a past life, she worked as an environmental consultant in Washington, DC for a variety of government clients. Becki holds an MA in International Development and Natural Resource Management from The George Washington University and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan. While earning her degrees, she completed fieldwork in Australia, Mexico, Cuba, and South Africa. She is a native of Michigan and spends her free time planning her next travel adventure, eating her way around Portland, tending her garden, and hanging out with her adorable mutt, Bean. [**Margie Cohen**]
_Director of Development_
Location: Atlanta, GA
Contact: margie@publiclab.org
Public Lab Director of Development, Margie Cohen, supports the organization’s fundraising efforts and partnerships. Margie’s experience includes leading marketing and development efforts for two national nonprofits, starting her own business, managing U.S. operations and marketing for an international technology start-up, and strategic consulting to several national corporations. An environmental commitment and desire to help people get outdoors and connect with nature led Margie to start the outdoor business, Geared To Go, an outfitter that provided hundreds of outdoor trips and partnered with dozens of environmental, youth, and civic organizations. In her subsequent position as Director of Marketing & Development for American Hiking Society, Margie guided the organization’s marketing initiatives and led business development – generating support from corporations, individuals and foundations. Margie earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from Tufts University. A resident of Atlanta, Margie is a passionate environmentalist and in her free time, can be found outdoors, hiking, biking, paddling, and seeking new adventures. [**Bronwen Densmore**](https://publiclab.org/profile/bronwen)
_Open Hardware Community Manager_
Location: New York City, NY
Contact: bronwen@publiclab.org
Bronwen is a librarian and fabrication specialist, with a special interest in evolving forms of research and open access scholarship. She has experience in digital and analog design and construction, having most recently worked as a manager at SVA’s Visible Futures Lab, where she taught classes in mechanical toy design. Her interest in communal learning and hands-on making as social practice inform her research, design and building strategies. She first encountered Public Lab at a kite-building workshop in 2012, and became an organizer in 2013. Bronwen has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oberlin College, an MFA in writing from NYU and an MLIS in Information Studies from Drexel University. She likes to explore the urban waste streams of New York City and surrounding regions, and can often be found tracking landfill erosion along Dead Horse Bay. [**Shannon Dosemagen**](http://publiclab.org/profile/Shannon)
_Executive Director_
Location: New Orleans, LA
Contact: shannon@publiclab.org or 504.239.4642
Shannon is Executive Director of the Public Lab nonprofit. With over fifteen years of experience in community organizing and education, Shannon has worked with environment and public health groups across the United States addressing our declining freshwater resources, coastal land loss and building participatory monitoring programs with communities neighboring industrial facilities and impacted by the BP oil spill. She is acting Vice Chair of the [U.S. EPA] National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology, Vice Chair on the Board of Directors of the Citizen Science Association, a co-organizer for the Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH), a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Environment and serves on advisory boards, councils or working groups for the National Parks Conservation Association, the Louisiana Public Health Institute, the Louisiana Bar Association and the Citizen Science Association. Shannon is an Ashoka Fellow, a 2015-16 Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society Fellow and a current Research Affiliate, a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program and a 2012 Loyola University Institute for Environmental Communications Fellow. She has an MS in Anthropology and Nonprofit Management. [**Abdul Fitouri**](https://publiclab.org/profile/abdul)
_Kits Initiative Coordinator_
Location: Portland, OR
Contact: abdul@publiclab.org
Abdul serves as the Kits Initiative Coordinator for Public Lab, fulfilling all of our open hardware orders for our community members. He comes to Public Lab as a current student studying Economics at Portland State University, which is also where he earned his bachelors degree in English. Abdul has years of experience in customer service and experience running his own online business. In his free time, Abdul likes learning the culinary arts and connecting with people through social media. [**Gretchen Gehrke**](http://publiclab.org/profile/gretchengehrke)
_Data Quality and Advocacy Manager_
Location: Raleigh-Durham, NC
Contact: gretchen@publiclab.org
As Data Quality and Advocacy Manager, Gretchen works with Public Lab and partner communities to validate, interpret, and communicate environmental data. With a PhD in Geochemistry, Gretchen has designed and implemented regional-scale domestic and international field studies assessing transport and transformations of toxic trace metals. She has also developed laboratory methods to evaluate transformations of organic contaminants and engineered nanoparticles. Gretchen previously held postdoctoral research scientist positions in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University and the National Exposure Research Laboratory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She earned her doctorate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan, and dual bachelor’s degrees in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College. In Durham, North Carolina, Gretchen serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Schoolhouse of Wonder, and volunteers in organizations committed to education and sustainable agriculture. On the weekends, Gretchen can most likely be found riding her bicycle through rolling farmlands, running on forested trails, or swimming in sun-warmed lakes. [**Klie Kliebert**](http://publiclab.org/profile/klie)
_Operations Manager_
Location: New Orleans, LA
contact: klie@publiclab.org
Klie serves as Public Lab's Operations Manager, keeping our seven office, remote team organized and running smoothly. In addition to their current work toward a degree in Biological Sciences, Klie's background includes several internships through the School of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi. Klie's combined passion for science, environmental and social justice, and community organizing has fostered a special interest in using community science as a platform to build stronger communities. Klie is also the Communications & Outreach Specialist and Web Designer for Water Works, where they hope to achieve more equitable flood protection and sustainability in and around their home town of New Orleans. Klie is a 2016 Loyola University Institute for Environmental Communications Fellow, the Safety Officer for GOSH (Gathering of Open Science Hardware), a facilitator with Trans*Visible, and the Communications Director for Transilient - in partnership with the National Center for Transgender Equality. In their spare time, Klie enjoys writing, brunch, music, science fiction novels, boats, water skiing, photography, and telling everyone about mind control fungus called cordyceps (you definitely want to look it up). [**Maria del Carmen Lamadrid**](http://publiclab.org/profile/mlamadrid)
_Design Editor_
Location: Los Angeles, CA
María del Carmen Lamadrid is a media designer and tinkerer from Puerto Rico currently based in Los Angeles.
María holds a BFA in Image and Design from Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico and completed her MFA in Media Design from Media Design Practices/Field program at Art Center College of Design. Her main project Tools for Stalling Eviction focused on vibrant data for alternate modes of land tenure evidence, activism for women empowerment against paternalistic values, and public participation in Uganda.
Currently, she wears many hats. María splits her time as Adjunct Faculty of the School of Media, Culture & Design at Woodbury University, her role as Senior User Experience Designer for Civic Resource Group, and lead of Super Community, initiative to create and support collaborative design methods for civic and community engagement. In her spare time, María enjoys biking with friends and yarn-bombing unsuspecting train riders and office mates. **Hope LeBlanc**
_Bookkeeper_
Location: New Orleans, LA
[**Stevie Lewis**](http://publiclab.org/profile/stevie)
_Outreach Director_
Location: New Orleans, LA
Contact: stevie@publiclab.org
Stevie Lewis comes to Public Lab with a background in environmental studies and community development. She has held positions as Volunteer Coordinator for the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Mississippi, Resource Advisor for the National Park Service in response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and as Watershed Coordinator for the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring, a non-profit focused on promoting citizen science in aquatics. Stevie’s interest in building community resilience through environmental initiatives includes community and environmental work in far reaching corners of Kenya, Thailand, Botswana and Scotland. Stevie holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Dickinson College. As a 2012 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, Stevie completed a MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh. Stevie is a 2014 Loyola University Institute for Environmental Communications Fellow. In her spare time, Stevie enjoys outdoor activities including canoeing, fishing and above all, hiking. **[Gilbert Rochon](https://publiclab.org/profile/gilbert)**
_Advocacy Manager_
Location: New Orleans, LA
Contact: gilbert@publiclab.org
As Advocacy Manager with the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab), Gilbert will be engaged in implementing the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) grant to expand empowerment to communities impacted by environmental injustices in New Orleans, LA, Gulfport, MS, Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL, through access to affordable environmental monitoring and analytical technologies. Gilbert also serves as a Senior Consultant with MSF Global Solutions, LLC, a geospatial and information technology company, based in New Orleans. In that capacity, he recently presented on Pan-African Disaster Resilience at the African Association for Remote Sensing of Environment Conference, held in Kampala, Uganda. Gilbert’s previous academic experience includes service as the 6th President of Tuskegee University, as Associate Vice President for Collaborative Research & Engagement at Purdue University, where he directed the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory, and as Director of the Urban Studies & Public Policy Institute at Dillard University, where he was appointed to a Conrad Hilton Endowed Professorship. Gilbert’s federal government experience includes assignments with the US EPA National Risk Management Research Lab’s Sustainable Technologies Division, US DoD Naval Oceanographic Office, NASA Stennis Space Center and USDA Forest Service. Gilbert recently completed his assignment as NATO country Project Director (NPD) for the Mediterranean Dialogue Earth Observatory, which is now based in Morocco, to support early warning and mitigation of biogenic and anthropogenic disasters, including vector-borne epidemics. Gilbert received the Ph.D. in Urban & Regional Planning from MIT, the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Yale University and the B.A. from Xavier University of Louisiana. [**Sebastian Silva**](http://publiclab.org/profile/icarito)
_Systems Administrator_
Location: Madre de Dios, Peru
Contact: web@publiclab.org
Our sysadmin, Sebastian, learned to program at age five using a turtle (LOGO). Since his teenage years, a self-learning path in informatics was enlightened by being involved in Free Software communities. This gave him a chance to earn a living early on as a Software Developer and Systems Administrator. Featuring insatiable curiosity, and a holistic approach, he received his formation in Psychology at the Catholic University in Chile. Sebastian first heard about Public Lab in 2010 when they helped a group of indigenous people from the Shippibo tribe to map their settlement in downtown Lima city. Impressed at the time, he was himself leading volunteering efforts around improving free educational software on OLPC laptops in rural Peru. He is co-founder of the SomosAzucar R&D team, whose mission is to bring libre technology to public classrooms in Latin America. Sebastian enjoys gardening servers and keeping them running smoothly and orderly. Having worked before in the industry as SysAdmin, since 2012 he has been a core member of the Sugar Labs Infrastructure Team, and has assumed responsibility of Public Lab servers in 2015. Being a Karate instructor, loving husband and father of two homeschooled children, Sebastian also enjoys nature and tranquility. [**Jeffrey Warren**](http://publiclab.org/profile/warren)
_Research Coordinator_
Location: Somerville, MA
Contact: jeff@publiclab.org
Founder of Grassroots Mapping and co-founder of Public Lab, Jeff now serves as Public Lab’s Director of Research. He is a fellow at MIT's Center for Civic Media, on the board of the Open Source Hardware Association, on the advisory board of Personal Democracy Media's WeGov, and an advocate of open source software, hardware, and data. With 10 years of experience in project management and software architecture in open source code, he has founded and contributed to dozens of widely used software projects, from data visualization to geospatial applications. His expertise in user experience, interface and graphic design have guided his work both in industry, consulting and designing for GE and Intel, as well as in the academic and open source space.