Staff

Mr. Medbury is President Emeritus of Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) in New York City, an institution widely known for trailblazing programs in youth environmental education and community greening. During his 15-year tenure from 2005 to 2020, BBG’s endowment grew from $17M to $125M. He launched and completed a $125M capital campaign that resulted in a decade of growth on the historic 52-acre campus, including award-winning new gardens, sustainability features, and visitor facilities. In 2014, Scot accepted the National Medal for Museum Service on behalf of BBG from First Lady Michelle Obama at a White House ceremony. Mr. Medbury is also a former director of the Sonoma Botanical Garden and of Golden Gate Park’s San Francisco Botanical Garden and Conservatory of Flowers. At the historic Conservatory, he oversaw a comprehensive restoration and exhibitions upgrade that re-established the 1878 glasshouse as one of San Francisco’s premier attractions. Over his decades-long career, Mr. Medbury has held appointments at gardens in Washington state, Hawai’i, Great Britain, and New Zealand. He recently served as Interim Executive Director of the Humboldt Botanical Garden in Eureka, California and as Interim CEO of the Center for Plant Conservation, a national network dedicated to preventing the extinction of the most endangered plants of the United States.  

Pronouns: He/Him

Matt Taylor is a nonprofit leader with over 30 years experience in outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. Matt served as PBG’s Executive Director through its successful pursuit of Prospective Purchaser Agreements with Oregon DEQ and the EPA. Before consulting and working with PBG, Matt served as executive director of the Adventure Sports Center International (2007-2012) and Westwind Stewardship Group (2012-2020). While at Westwind he started its popular ‘Mushroom Camp,’ and worked closely with wildlife biologists and citizen scientists to inventory habitat and monitor over 500 acres of coastal landscape. Throughout his career, and now with Portland Botanical Gardens, Matt connects people to nature through conservation work, experiential learning, and inclusive programs. Matt holds a degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Yale and is a two-time Olympian in canoeing. 

Pronouns: he/him

Michael Geffel, founder of LND LAB, serves as Research Director for the Portland Botanical Gardens. A registered landscape architect, Michael has also been selected as 2026 UVA Environmental Institute Resilience and Sustainability Practitioner Fellow. Prior to creating LND LAB, Michael was Professor of Practice at the University of Oregon College of Design where he founded the Fuller Initiative Land Lab: an award-winning and internationally recognized model of design research, education, and service. He has practiced professionally in the Pacific Northwest, New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and SE Asia, with experience working on public urban landscapes, landscapes on structure, green infrastructure, and regional planning. His scholarship has been published in Landscape Journal, Kerb, LA+, and Scenario Journal and his field experiments have been featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Places Journal, and the Oregonian.