Aliza McHugh, Director of Partnerships, Herbicide Free Campus

Aliza is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Human Geography and Society & Environment. While in school, she conducted research about food systems in the United States prison system which continues to surround her advocacy for supporting marginalized communities. She has worked for environmental non-profits such as Global Green and Environmental Grantmakers Association and after graduating served as an Americorps member for a youth development non-profit in San Francisco. Aliza is currently the Director of Partnerships for Herbicide-Free Campus, hoping to bridge university campaigns and related national and local groups to enhance student advocacy. She serves as a core member for the HFC team in helping with strategy, development, and fellowship guidance.

Shannon Britton, Chair, Grounds Manager, Seattle University

Shannon Britton is Grounds Manager for Seattle University, where she partners with campus gardeners, students, faculty, staff and local businesses to help fulfill her objectives for integrating exceptional care for university grounds as a learning laboratory and notable gardens in the city. She facilitates integrated processes for best practices, including organic, pesticide-free and sustainable care for various types of gardens, lawns and athletic fields. Under her leadership, Grounds employs students throughout the year who work with gardeners to learn and gain skills in each of the areas. Students also develop a strong work ethic and accountability with the team, community and the environment.

Education outreach efforts Shannon leads include Arbor Day Foundations Tree Higher Education USA. The Tree Care program includes fulfilling student service-learning. The service-learning component creates opportunities to engage students in projects that teach about sustainable tree care and the importance of tree ecosystems in their environment and benefit the university grounds.

Shannon’s love for the outdoors led her to work in landscaping and maintenance early in her career. She holds a Bachelors’s degree in Environmental Science from WWU and a Master’s of Arts in Transformational Leadership from SU School of Theology and Ministry. Shannon’s favorite ways of spending her free time include spending time with family, hiking/walks, cooking, crafting, gardening.

Jim Carse, Manager of Landscape Services, UT Austin

Jim is the manager of landscape services for UT-Austin. He has spent all of his 23-year professional career in the forestry and landscape professions and has been with UT since 2011. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in forest management from Colorado State University and is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist and municipal specialist. He is also a Texas Licensed Irrigator.
The landscape services team at UT is diverse and manages everything from the Tree Campus USA program to daily landscape maintenance crews, to pollinator gardens and greenhouses. They maintain and provide oversight to almost 1,000 acres of grounds, from the flagship main campus to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, as well as the SITES Gold recognized Dell Medical School. The team also utilizes a wide array of battery-powered equipment and vehicles, an organic-focused IPM and fertilizer program, and creates/utilizes their own compost and wood-chip mulch. In recent years, they have played a key role in repurposing trees into furniture and other usable items.

Juan Casanova, Landscape Supervisor, University of California, Berkeley

Juan Casanova was born in Mexico in 1963. He joined the UC Berkeley Landscaping team in 1995 as a Laborer Gardener. In 2005, he was promoted to Lead Gardener. In that position, Juan took Landscaping and tree Identification classes. He also took Bay-Friendly Landscaping classes where he learned a lot about landscaping without chemicals and how to nurture the ground to have a healthy microorganism community to help the plants grow better. In 2008 he got an ISA Certification that helps to understand trees better. In 2016, he got a Backflow Certification that taught him how to prevent portable water cross-contamination. In 2018, he was promoted to Landscaping Supervisor, which is his present working title.