He is, quite simply, one of the most provocative American thinkers and writers alive today. He is James Howard Kunstler, author most recently of the novel, World Made by Hand.

In recent years, Mr. Kunstler has become best known for making the case that “peak oil” is here, now, the moment when we begin the second half of the oil age. The ride down the backside of the curve will, he argues, be steep, bumpy, and full of dislocations far beyond the minor inconveniences we usually imagine may be associated with higher gasoline prices.

He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, RPI, the University of Virginia and many other colleges.

Mr. Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He moved to the Long Island suburbs in 1954 and returned to the city in 1957 where he spent most of his childhood. He graduated from the State University of New York, worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. In 1975, he dropped out to write books on a full-time basis.

James Kunstler is a regular contributor to The New York Times and author of nine novels.

Glenn Manton is far from your average athlete. Having played senior AFL football for both Carlton and Essendon for 12 years, which saw him play in two Grand Finals and three night premierships, Glenn embarked on a new sporting quest involving both snow and speed in 2004. Whilst Glenn failed to qualify as part of an Australian 4-man bobsleigh team for the 2006 Winter Olympics, he had quite a journey trying to get there.

Known throughout the wider community for his charity-based work, Glenn strikes an affinity with a large demographic, from corporate groups to school aged youth. Glenn is President and Co-founder of Whitelion Inc., an organisation supporting young people to build better lives for themselves and helping make our community a more inclusive and safer place. With a degree in education, a freelance career in the media, community coaching commitments and an award winning show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Glenn continually shows he is more than just a sportsman.

Martin LeBlanc (USA) is the National Youth Education Director for the Sierra Club, where he oversees the Sierra Club’s youth programs and advocacy efforts relating to children and nature. His advocacy work has been mainly focused on California, New Mexico and Washington State, as well as at the federal level.

A founding Board Member and Vice President of the Children and Nature Network, Martin is responsible for helping build youth leadership within the Leave No Child Inside movement. Martin has also been instrumental in forming partnerships with the military and health organisations around the issue of children and nature.

Martin was himself a troubled youth who had his life turned around through an outdoor experience as a teenager. He truly believes that “we owe the next generation of American children a special place in nature so they can be empowered to solve the environmental challenges of the future.”

Yusuf Burgess (USA) serves as the current Chairperson of the Environmental Awareness Network for Diversity in Conservation and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Children and Nature Network. He is a former Gang Prevention Coordinator for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a founding member of the New York State Outdoor Education Association Diversity Committee and a member of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Brother Yusuf, as most folks call him, is the Parent Intervention Specialist at the Green Tech High Charter School in Albany, New York. He is a former Environmental Educator for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation where he coordinated the DEC Camps Diversity Program and was responsible for an urban outreach to increase the diversity of their summer youth programs. He is also a member of the Albany School District’s Youth Safety Task Force, a collaborator on the Youth Violence Intervention Conferencing, a participant in the Albany City School District’s Strategic Planning Committee and a friend and mentor to many youth from elementary school to college. As a concerned and dedicated youth professional, he exposes young people to the natural world with engaging outdoor recreation activities.

Brother Yusuf lives in upstate New York. Living in walking distance from the Hudson River, you can often find Yusuf paddling his bright yellow kayak on the river or riding the bicycle path in partnership with his wife of 40 years. Brother Yusuf’s personal mission statement is “Using the Power of Nature to Transform Urban Youth.”

Originally from Montreal, Canada, Dr Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre currently works as an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Coaching and Psychology at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo. Dr Lemyre’s research work focuses on the motivational processes in young and elite sport participants and how they are differentially related to adaptive and maladaptive sport participation outcomes. He is involved in research and intervention projects aimed at better understanding and preventing underperformance syndrome (UPS) and burnout in elite sport participants.

Dr Lemyre also holds a position within the sport psychology department at the Norwegian Olympic Training Centre, and he is currently working with four national teams (swimming, ice hockey, alpine skiing and biathlon), while also heading a task force on the prevention of UPS in elite Norwegian athletes. He is currently associate editor of the International Journal of Sport Psychology.

Simon Balderstone AM was General Manager, Executive Office of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. A former journalist and Prime Ministerial advisor, Simon was a member of the 1984 First Australian Everest Expedition. He is Founding Chairman of the Australian Himalayan Foundation, a charity established to help the people of the Himalayan through education, health and environment programs.

In 2007, Simon Balderstone was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to environmental protection, Indigenous affairs, the Olympic movement and the community. He is Director of Ways and Means Consultancy, which provides companies with expert advice on sport and environmental policies and programs. Simon is an advisor to the International Olympic Committee.

Josh Byrne is an environmental scientist with a passion for sustainable gardening and innovative environmental design. A presenter on ABC’s Gardening Australia program, he believes that many of the pressing environmental challenges that confront our cities and towns can be tackled by gardeners if given the opportunity. As a father, a scientist and a gardener, Josh believes that encouraging children to engage with nature in their own backyards can have enormous benefits for children, families and the environment.

Heather Reid has been instrumental in forming, developing and promoting opportunities for women and girls in sport and physical activity, predominantly through football (soccer) since 1978. She has a sound knowledge of the cultural, social and political complexities of the Australian sport industry.

Heather has worked in management and consultancy positions for the Australian Women’s Soccer Association, Womensport Australia and the Australian Sports Commission in addition to being a lecturer in sport management at the University of Canberra. In 2004, she was the first woman appointed as CEO of a State football federation. Since 2005 she has led the integration of all aspects of football – for male, female, junior indoor and outdoor players along with referees and coaches into the ACT Football Federation (also known as Capital Football).

Heather received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for her contribution to sport and in 2006 she received the Margaret Pewtress Ausport Award for her work as a mentor and leader in advancing programs and opportunities for women in sport. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Sport Management in 2007 and was inducted into the Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame for her significant contribution to football later that year.

Heather is the only female to hold a senior leadership position in football and is the longest serving CEO of a member federation affiliated with Football Federation Australia.

Alisha Smith is the Education Manager at Australian Fitness Network, the fitness industry’s leading source of information, education and events. A presenter, author, group fitness instructor, personal trainer and ICE Master Trainer, Alisha is passionate about developing existing and aspiring fitness professionals.

Alisha has presented as CanFitPro and regularly presents at FILEX, two of the world’s leading fitness industry conventions, covering a host of topics including group fitness, training protocols, education standards and indoor cycle. She is enthusiastic about everything the fitness industry has to offer.

Margot Foster is a lawyer, Olympian and sports administrator. In 1984 she won a bronze medal in women’s fours rowing at the Los Angeles Olympic Games and a gold medal in the women’s eights at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. She has also competed in several world championships.

Following the end of her active representative career as an athlete (when a panel of men decided no women were good enough to go to the Seoul Olympics in 1988), Margot began her next career as a sports administrator. She was a founding member of Womensport Australia, which promoted women and sport in conjunction with the Australian Sports Commission in the 1990s, and founded and established Womensport and Recreation Victoria, now part of VicSport.

Margot continues to run her busy legal practice in St Kilda and serves on the boards of Gymnastics Australia, VicSport, Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Associations, Olympians Club of Victoria, Australian University Sport Finance & Risk Committee and Women of the Melbourne Cricket Club. Margot hosts quarterly lunches for Australian women involved with sport.

Derek is the Managing Director and co-founder of Greensense, an Australian based climate change consultancy who offer technology for sustainability.

He has worked globally in business consulting for over 13 years and has been engaged by some of Australia’s largest companies to assist in providing innovative approaches to making business sense of sustainability. Derek is also passionate about human rights and freedom from poverty and has raised funds and led Australian teams to provide sustainable development to slum areas in the Philippines, Vanuatu and India.

Warren’s extensive experience and expertise has cemented his reputation as one of the country’s most successful and knowledgeable operators within the sport and leisure industry. He has assisted clients in preparing, creating and implementing details strategic plans and annual business plans with a commercial operational focus that have assisted in increasing levels of profitability, patronage, membership and service quality.

He has first-hand knowledge and experience of all areas of sport and leisure facility operation though his understanding and application of different management models and commercial operations. Warren’s experience was developed in previous management roles at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Melbourne City Baths and City Leisure, several YMCA centres, Grad Hyatt City Club and Coles Myer Executive Health & Fitness Program.

A diversity and social justice trainer, Dr Casta Tungaraza is the President of the African Women’s Council of Australia, Equal Opportunity Manager of Murdoch University and Director of the Australian Academy of Race Relations. Casta’s area of interest in inclusivity in education and her current role involves the development of strategies to embed social justice in education. She is committed to the promotion of social justice and human rights in teaching, learning and research.  

In 2000, Casta was appointed to the Western Australian Citizenship and Multicultural Advisory Council contributing to the State’s strategic plan and policies on citizenship, multicultural issues and the WA government’s anti-racism strategy. At the international level, Casta regularly consults for the United Nations on issues of racism and equality.

Jo Evans is the Research Officer with the Physical Activity Taskforce.  Prior to joining the Taskforce she was a Senior Research Analyst at Tourism Western Australia, where she managed their brand tracking project and campaign evaluations.  Jo also has six years of research experience on the agency side, specialising in social marketing.

Kim Buttfield has a broad range of experience within the physical activity sector. She began her sporting life with a squash racket in hand  as a professional coach and player. With ageing knees and a Sports Science degree, she moved into the realm of sport development, with roles at WA Squash and the Department of Sport and Recreation. The lure of the Southern Ocean saw her move to Albany and for the past nine years, Kim has been the Injury Prevention Coordinator for Great Southern Population Health. With a large older population in the region, she has focused her interest on falls prevention and positive ageing.

As with many things in life, she seems to have come full circle (or regressed!) to children and playthings. Working with local parents and grandparents, she has project managed an innovative program called Park Watch, which is showing how communities can take action to keep kids active, prevent crime and meet the neighbours.

Gillian McAuliffe is Director of Teaching and Learning at Bold Park Community School and has worked with children, staff and parents to develop a school community which engages with nature and develops a sense of place through a collaborative process. The school ‘lives’ a philosophy of engaging children in play, which encourages the development of resilience, empathy and sustainable living.

Dr Susan Lee is the Community Development Senior Manager at Womens Health Services. She has worked for many years with vulnerable groups of women around health issues including physical activity, nutrition, mental health and alcohol and drug issues. Dr Lee has done both research and hands on program delivery. One of her areas of interest is the knowledge transfer between research and service delivery.

Tracy Buchholz (BA in Psychology) has worked with families and children for over 5 years. Tracy is the Training & Development Officer for Playgroup WA (Inc.). She provides support to playgroups throughout Western Australia, predominantly working with families to build upon their existing capacities and support them in their parenting roles, through training and promotion of the benefits of play.