Richard Heinberg is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators, having delivered hundreds of lectures on oil depletion to a wide variety of audiences around the world. He is the award-winning author of eight books including:

- Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis (2009)
- Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (2007)
- The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse (2006)
- Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World (2004)
- The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (2003)

Richard writes a regular column for the Ecologist magazine and has authored scores of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as The American Prospect, Public Policy Research, European Business Review, Earth Island Journal, Yes! Magazine, and The Sun, as well as on websites such as Alternet.org, EnergyBulletin.net, and Counterpunch.com. His monthly MuseLetter has been included in Utne Reader's annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters. He has been featured in many film documentaries, including End of Suburbia and Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour.

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Anthony Perl is Director of the Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia; he has previously worked at the City University of New York, the University of Calgary, and Université Lumière in Lyon, France. He has authored or co-authored four books, most recently Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil (2008). Anthony's research crosses disciplinary and national boundaries to explore the policy decisions that affect transportation, cities and the environment. He has published in scholarly journals such as Energy Policy, Transportation Research, Transportation Quarterly, World Transport Policy and Practice, and Scientific American.

Anthony's work been awarded prizes for outstanding papers presented at the World Conference on Transport Research and the Canadian Transportation Research Forum. He has advised governments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, and the United States on transportation and environmental research and policy development, and currently chairs the Intercity Passenger Rail committee of the U.S. Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Research Council.

Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, is an American environmentalist and writer. He is the author of twelve books, including The End of Nature (1989), the first book for a general audience about global warming, and, most recently, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2007), which addresses what the he sees as shortcomings of the growth economy and envisions a transition to more local-scale enterprise. Bill is a frequent contributor to various publications including The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He is also a board member and contributor to Grist Magazine.

Bill is co-founder and Director of 350.org, an international campaign building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. He is also on the Board of 1Sky, which is assembling diverse U.S. organizations in support of a unified policy platform on climate. Bill has been awarded Guggenheim and Lyndhurst Fellowships, and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000.

Brian Schwartz is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he is also currently Co-Director of the Program on Global Sustainability and Health and of the Environmental Health Institute. He has conducted extensive research on the health effects of chemicals via occupational, environmental, and molecular epidemiology studies. Brian's career has included research, teaching, and training, as well as clinical and public health practice.

In the past several years, Brian has increasingly focused on global environmental sustainability, and how land use and energy use are contributing to global climate change, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity and species losses — ultimately posing important risks to individual and population health. He is engaged in ongoing studies on land use and obesity; local food, physical activity, and the progression of diabetes; abandoned mine lands and community health; and evaluating the public health risks posed by peak oil. Brian received a B.S. from Tufts University, an M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School, and an M.S. in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Cindy Parker is on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she co-directs the Program on Global Sustainability and Health. She is also an Instructor in the Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences where she directs the new undergraduate major in Global Environmental Change and Sustainability. Her professional interests include education, policy work, practice, and research on the global environmental topics of climate change, peak petroleum, and global sustainability. As part of her desire to educate the public and policy makers about the health effects of global climate change, she is a frequent speaker on the topic and recently co-authored the Climate Chaos: Your Health at Risk (2008).

Dr. Parker received her MD from the University of Arizona and her Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine where she is Co-Chair of the Environmental Health Committee. She also serves on the National Board of Directors for Physicians for Social Responsibility.

David Hughes is one of Canada's most authoritative petroleum geologists. He has 35 years experience studying the energy resources of Canada, having worked both at the Geological Survey of Canada and in the private sector. He is the Leader of the National Coal Inventory, and Team Leader for Unconventional Gas for the Canadian Gas Potential Committee. David's evolving analysis of global and North American energy issues has been presented across Canada and the United States to government agencies at all levels, as well as industry and professional groups. Aspects of his analysis have also been taken up by the popular press and trade journals including the Toronto Star, Canadian Business Magazine and the Canadian Press wire service.

David Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Adviser to the President of Oberlin College. His career as a scholar, teacher, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur spans fields as diverse as environment and politics, environmental education, campus greening, green building, ecological design, and climate change. He is the author of six books, including the widely praised Ecological Literacy (1992) and Earth in Mind (1994/2004); his most recent book is Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse.

In 1996 David organized the effort to design the first substantially green building on a U.S. college campus. The Adam Joseph Lewis Center was later named by the U.S. Department of Energy as "One of Thirty Milestone Buildings in the 20th Century." His recent projects include a two year, $2 million project to define a 100-days climate action plan for the Obama administration. David is Trustee of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Bioneers.

Gloria Flora is founder and Director of Sustainable Obtainable Solutions, an organization dedicated to the sustainability of public lands and of the plants, animals and communities that depend on them. In her 22-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, Gloria became nationally known for her leadership in ecosystem management and for her courageous principled stands: as supervisor of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in north-central Montana, she made a landmark decision to prohibit natural gas leasing along the 356,000-acre Rocky Mountain Front.

Gloria recently co-authored a report on how Montana can become energy self-reliant through renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. She serves on the Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee and works throughout the U.S. with the Center for Climate Strategies in assisting states develop climate change action plans. Her work has been featured in national magazines, books, radio, television and documentaries, including NOW with Bill Moyers and in Leonardo DiCaprio's climate change feature film, The 11th Hour.

Jason Bradford is the founder of Willits Economic Localization, a group of citizens in the Willits region (Mendocino County, California), working together to create a local economy based on the principles of sufficiency, responsibility, and life promoting actions. He was previously a Research Scientist with the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development. He has a PhD in Evolutionary and Population Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and has considerable expertise in the relationship between biodiversity and climate change.

Michael Bomford is a research scientist and extension specialist at Kentucky State University, and an adjunct faculty member in the University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture. His work focuses on organic and sustainable agriculture systems suitable for adoption by small farms operating with limited resources. His projects examine practical ways to reduce food system energy use and meet farm energy needs using renewable resources produced on-farm. Michael has a Master of Pest Management from Simon Fraser University, and a PhD in Plant and Soil Sciences from West Virginia University, where he conducted research on one of the nation's first land grant university farms operated entirely according to national organic standards.

Michael Shuman is Director of Research and Public Policy at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He holds an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. Michael has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (1998). The Small-Mart Revolution was awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers' Association.

In recent years, Michael has led community-based economic-development efforts in St. Lawrence County (NY), Hudson Valley (NY), Katahdin Region (ME), Martha's Vineyard (MA), and Carbondale (CO), and served as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community. He has given an average of more than one invited talk per week for 25 years throughout the United States and the world.

Sandra Postel is a leading authority and prolific author on international water issues; she directs the independent Global Water Policy Project. In 1992 Postel authored Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity, which now appears in eight languages and was the basis for a PBS documentary that aired in 1997. She is also author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? (1999) and co-author of Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature (2003). Her article "Troubled Waters" was selected for inclusion in the 2001 edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing. Sandra has authored well over 100 articles for popular, scholarly, and news publications, including Science, Scientific American, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

A frequent conference speaker and lecturer, she has served as commentator on CNN's "Futurewatch," addressed the European Parliament on environmental issues, and appeared on CBS' "Sunday Morning," ABC's "Nightline,"and NPR's "Science Friday." From 1988 to 1994, Sandra was vice president for research at Worldwatch Institute. From 2000 to 2008 she was visiting senior lecturer, and later director of the Center for the Environment at Mount Holyoke College. A 1995 Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment, Sandra has been awarded two honorary Doctor of Science degrees and, in 2002, was named one of the "Scientific American 50" for her contributions to water policy.

Stephanie Mills is a renowned author and lecturer on bioregionalism, ecological restoration, community economics, and voluntary simplicity. Her books include Tough Little Beauties (2007), Epicurean Simplicity (2002), and Turning Away from Technology (1997). An ecological activist for over 30 years, she has written or edited six books and countless articles, and edited a number of publications including Earth Times and CoEvolution Quarterly. Stephanie has lectured at numerous institutions, including the E.F. Schumacher Society, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In her 1969 college commencement address Stephanie decried overpopulation and natural resource exploitation, and vowed to never have children — a statement The New York Times called "perhaps the most anguished...of the year's crop of valedictory speeches." In 1996 she was named by Utne Reader as one of the world's leading visionaries. Stephanie lives in Northwest Lower Michigan.

Warren Karlenzig, President of Common Current, has developed sustainability plans and metrics with nations, the State of California, major cities, corporations, foundations and non-governmental organizations. Clients have included the US Department of State, the White House Office of Science and Technology, US EPA Futures Group, and the Asian Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability. He is recognized as one of the world's top experts on urban sustainability planning and metrics, and is the author of How Green is Your City? The SustainLane US City Rankings (New Society, 2007) and Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing (Global Green USA, 1999).

Warren is on the board of directors for the Climate Change Center and the Korea Green Foundation, and has lectured in three continents, appearing in global media including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, People's Daily (China), BBC, CNN and CNBC.

William Rees is a Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia (UBC). His teaching and research emphasize the public policy and planning implications of global environmental trends and the necessary ecological conditions for sustaining socioeconomic activity. Much of his work is in the realm of ecological economics and human ecology. He is best known in this field for his invention of 'ecological footprint analysis', a quantitative tool that estimates humanity's ecological impact on the ecosphere in terms of appropriated ecosystem (land and water) area. Dr. Rees was awarded a UBC Killam Research Prize (1996) in acknowledgement of his research achievements.

Zenobia Barlow is a nationally known pioneer in creating models of schooling for sustainability. Co-founder and executive director of the Center for Ecoliteracy (CEL), she has designed strategies for applying ecological and indigenous understanding in K-12 education, including "Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability," "Rethinking School Lunch," and the "Food Systems Project." She is a contributor to the forthcoming book, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability (Fall 2009, Watershed Media/UC Press). She also co-edited Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (2005) and co-authored Ecoliteracy: Mapping the Terrain (2000). Prior to joining the CEL, Barlow was editor of an international publishing company, a university program director, and executive director of The Elmwood Institute, an ecological think tank. She travels widely as a documentary photographer.