Head of Forestry - Terraformation

Jill Wagner is Terraformation's Head of Forestry. She founded Future Forests Nursery on Hawaiʻi Island and is the director of the Hawaiʻi Island Seed Bank. She has taught Hawaiian horticulture and restoration for many years. She has done restoration for the State of Hawaii, the National Park Service, and many private landowners for the past 25 years. She has a deep commitment to supporting the good health of the planet.

Executive Director - Recycle Hawaiʻi

Kristine Kubat is best known for her zero waste advocacy and environmental activism. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, she has lived in Hawaiʻi longer than anywhere else, and when she isn't taking on the global culture of waste, she enjoys making art, gardening and playing with her grandchildren. Kristine draws on a wide variety of experiences to inform her work and inspire her actions. These include serving as a founding participant for Hawaiʻi's Integrated Resource Planning Process and citizen advisor to HELCO,  the founder and director of the Opu Aliʻi Center for Huna Sciences cultural tourism project, the founding editor of the Big Island Weekly, and founder of Hawaiʻi's Green Party. 

Born and raised in Hilo, Kevin Waltjen is the Director, Hawai‘i Island. He has worked for Hawaiian Electric for more than 25 years, serving in various positions from staff engineer to director.

During natural disasters and other emergencies, he serves as incident commander of the company’s Incident Management Team. Most notably, he led the Hawaiian Electric’s response and restoration efforts for Tropical Storm Iselle and the Kilauea lava flow in 2014. He also led the company’s efforts for the Kilauea eruption that impacted the Puna community in 2018.

Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and is registered as a Professional Engineer in the state of Hawai‘i.

He has extensive experience with substation equipment, protective relays, overhead and underground line construction, and generation equipment. He also was involved in the development and implementation of inspection and testing programs which are the basis for preventive and corrective maintenance of utility assets including batteries, transformers, medium and high voltage circuit breakers, switchgear, and poles.

Chairperson

Kona Soil and Water Conservation District

Jeff Knowles was born in a small farming community in northwest Iowa and raised by a single mother along with three sisters and one brother. Upon graduation from high school in 1971, Knowles joined the Navy and spent most of his Naval career stationed with the Commander of the 7th fleet on board the USS Oklahoma City in Yokosuka Japan. Jeff developed a passion for the Pacific and international travel while in the navy during routine visits to 9 countries in SE Asia. Knowles met his wife Cindy in Iowa and they were married in 1978 and have two children and one granddaughter. Jeff graduated from Iowa State University in 1980 with a BS degree in Agronomy. Upon graduation Knowles worked for the USDA's Soil Conservation Service and spent the 1980's working in 4 Iowa Counties and served as a District Conservationist the last 6 years. While in Iowa, Knowles developed conservation plans on thousands of Iowa farms to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.  In 1990, the Knowles transferred with the USDA's Soil Conservation Service to Wisconsin and spent the 90's working in 12 counties in west central Wisconsin. In 1992 the Soil Conservation Service changed its name to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). While in Wisconsin Knowles became adept at native habitat restoration and led the State of Wisconsin in developing partnerships that resulted in widescale adoption of riparian buffers. In 2002, Jeff and Cindy transferred to Kona, Jeff with the USDA's NRCS and Cindy with the Konawaena school system. In 2003, Jeff was instrumental in bringing in USDA conservation programs that allowed for conservation planning to address local resource concerns and pay for the cost of establishing needed practices. During his time as NRCS office manager in Kona, Knowles did over 200 farm and ranch visits and became a subject matter expert on Kona's resource concerns. One of the highlights of Knowles career occurred in 2005 when he volunteered and was accepted to serve as an agricultural advisor to a US Army Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Eastern Afghanistan. During his 6 months in Afghanistan, Knowles was embedded with a team of Army civil affairs specialists and traveled throughout 2 provinces to help the local population rebuild their war-torn country. Knowles returned to Kona in 2006 and in 2007 completed a short-term assignment with NRCS in the Republic of Palau.  In 2010, Knowles retired from the USDA's NRCS and started work as a private consultant. From 2010-2012 Knowles worked with IDS International as an Afghanistan agriculture subject matter expert and assisted in pre-deployment training of 27 military units leaving for Afghanistan. Since 2013, Knowles completed 13 assignments with the US Agency for International Development working in developing countries. The primary purpose of these assignments has been to help farmers, farm organization and governments address soil erosion, soil degradation and climate change. These countries include; Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the Commonwealth of Dominica. Knowles last assignment was with the US Department of State where he completed a Fulbright Specialist assignment in December 2019 in Tunisia working with farmers to address long term sustainability. Knowles has remained active and involved in the Kona community. In 2018-2019 Knowles served as the president of the Lions Club of Kona. Knowles became a director with the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District in 2013 and the Chairperson in 2020. Knowles and the Kona SWCD have spearheaded a community outreach effort attempting to inform the Kona populace of the fragile environment we have. Knowles is encouraged by the involvement of the Konawaena Leo's club who has partnered with the Kona SWCD on community outreach and our westside County Council people who are providing seed money to start some small projects. Knowles believes the solution for global environmental change lies beneath our feet. Soils along with the world's forests and oceans serve as our primary carbon banks. Soils can store massive amounts of carbon, but only when the soil is covered with vegetation. 

My name is Michelle Agbigay and I serve as the Sustainable Development Specialist with the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Research & Development. My role in the department is to develop and promote sustainability programs as well as implement sustainability initiatives. This includes advancing climate action in a way that makes sense for our island and residents.  Prior to joining the County, I served public and private educational institutions on Hawaiʻi Island in the capacity of fiscal support, project management and coordination. My unique background includes streamlining processes to advance projects like a sustainable energy projects reinvestment account for the University, community-driven events for the Downtown Hilo community, and Hawaiian culture-based education programs for youth. When I’m not “working”, I’m focused on family projects that include off-grid systems, farming, education planning, and entrepreneurship. I often ponder Kenneth Brown’s quote and remarks on the malama ethic when approaching, well, life.  “if you want to help our people, strengthen their spirit.” - Kenneth Francis Brown  Hawaiʻi Island is the only place I have ever called home and hope my children and generations after them have the same opportunity.

Danielle M. M. Bass

State of Hawaiʻi’s Sustainability Coordinator

Danielle heads the newly established Statewide Sustainability Program within the State’s Office of Planning.  She emphasizes the comprehensive planning, coordination, and economic importance of Hawaiʻi’s sustainability and climate policies and practices for governmental, private sector, and non-governmental organizations.   
 
She led the revision and updates of the Hawaiʻi 2050 Sustainability Plan which is currently being updated to serve as the State of Hawaiʻi’s climate and sustainability strategic action plan.
 
Danielle has over 15 years of experience in policy development, analysis, planning, and management throughout Hawaiʻi’s state government, including managing 5 legislative committees within the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives as a Legislative Manager and Chief of Staff.  
 
Born and raised in Mililani, Hawaiʻi, Danielle holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, a Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance post-graduate degree, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.  She is also a graduate of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership-Business Sustainability Management Programme.