WHO WE ARE
BOARD MEMBERS
Dr. Janet Hawkes
Janet Hawkes has over 30 years of experience in sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices. She holds a PhD in agriculture from Cornell University and taught and directed Cornell Educational Resources Center, worked internationally for USAID and the US Foreign Ag Service. She was Executive Director for an environmental center and farm and served on the board of non-profits focused on food access, regenerative agriculture and environmental reclamation and preservation, including Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
Mona Polacca
Mona Polacca is an Indigenous elder from Arizona. She has gained international recognition for her work as one of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers – a group of spiritual elders founded in 2004, and as a guiding force for this organization. In 2021, she joined the Center for Earth Ethics as a senior fellow for the Original Caretakers Program.
Bethany Yarrow
Bethany Yarrow is a singer, song keeper and earth activist who has lived on Panther Creek in the Schoharie Valley for over 25 years. She is the founder of The Waterfall Center and co-founder and board member of an aligned organization, The Waterfall Unity Alliance. She also sits on the board of Operation Respect, a nonprofit founded by her father, Peter Yarrow, which is dedicated to advancing the social and emotional growth of youth through music and education. Bethany also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Earth Ethics.
ADVISORY BOARD
David Cox - Former Agriculture & Horticulture Program Leader, Cornell Cooperative Extension - Schoharie & Otsego Counties
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Marilyn Wyman - Founder Agroforestry Resource Center, Chair of Forestry Council at SUNY Cobleskill
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Karenna Gore - Executive Director & Founder, Center For Earth Ethics
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Suzanne Hunt - Vice President, Policy at Generate Upcycle
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Christopher Lindstrom - Co-Founder, CYCLEffect Regenerative Ventures Ltd.​​
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Douglas Tolchin - Bioregional cartographer and advocate for watershed community consciousness and watershed democracy.
CONSULTANTS
Sarah Bachinger
Communications Director & Operations Support
Sarah Bachinger is an EcoArtist, filmmaker, and conservationist, with over 20 years experience in visual arts. Her work has been exhibited and recognized internationally and explores the relationship between art, ecology, and the living world. In 2025, she received the Women of Distinction recognition from NYS Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner for her EcoArt and conservation work, was chosen to present her work at UNOC3 in Nice, France, and exhibited her film "Elegy for a Glacier" at the United Nations in New York City and UNESCO in Paris. In 2026, she was selected for a filmmaking workshop with acclaimed director Werner Herzog in the Azores, continuing her exploration of how art, storytelling, and creative practice can deepen our understanding of the natural world.
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Sarah also co-founded Friends of the Mahicantuck, helping save 10 acres along the Hudson River in Troy, NY. At the Waterfall Center, she supports organizational operations, research, programming, and communications, helping strengthen community connections and advance bioregional learning. She looks forward to cultivating creative partnerships and developing cultural, artistic, and educational programming that deepens community relationships with the land, water, and stories of the region.
Tanja Konwinski
Program Manager
Tanja graduated from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2011 with a BA in Geography and has worked in a broad range of administrative roles, primarily for small teams and startups. She had lived in Denmark, South Korea, Washington DC, all across the Bay Area of California before finding her way to New York City in 2014 to pursue art, design, and non-profit work. From 2016 to 2021 Tanja was the General Operations manager at The Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn. A 130,000 square foot arts complex, home to a population of 300+ tenants ranging from individual artists, to publishers, architects, designers, and not-for-profits working for the public good.
Tanja is a member of The Community Library Board of Trustees in Cobleskill, NY and the Schoharie County Youth Bureau Advisory Board. She is a passionate advocate for climate action and protection of New York’s natural environments. She has worked with The Waterfall Center for Bioregional Learning since 2025 and is a member of Stop The Con as a community organizer opposing the development of The Constitution Pipeline.
Tanja is an active steward of 82 wild acres in Warnerville, NY.