Our Board/Staff

The Recirculating Farms Coalition is a collaborative group that grew into a formal organization over the course of several years. Our Advisory Board members and Staff bring expertise from various disciplines and have been involved with the Coalition since its inception in January 2009. We intend to expand the Board and Staff over time to include diverse people and interests. Please contact us if you would like more information about being on the Board or working with us.

OUR BOARD AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

SANJAY KHAROD is the Executive Director of the New Orleans Food and Farm Network (NOFFN). Mr. Kharod is a nonprofit and government professional with over 25 years experience as an academic, activist, and administrator, focusing on community development, community health, and social justice. He is adept at non-profit management and public outreach and is an experienced facilitator. Prior to NOFFN, Mr. Kharod worked as a City Planner in Lafayette, Louisiana where he initiated a number of neighborhood revitalization projects — community gardens, neighborhood-managed parks, and market farms. Mr. Kharod also worked for the community development/social justice organization Just Food creating programs relevant to food systems including those on hunger, poverty, land use, farm loss, nutrition and environmental impacts from agriculture. Mr. Kharod taught as an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers University, Temple University, and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Additionally, he has experience as as a Community Outreach Coordinator, Community Development Consultant, Community Coordinator and Fundraiser, a Researcher and an Environmental Planner/Scientist. He regularly presents to wide audiences and appears in print, radio, and television internationally. Mr. Kharod is a Board Member for the Coalition.

PATRICIA “PATTY” LOVERA — Ms. Lovera is the Assistant Director of Food & Water Watch, where she coordinates the food policy team. Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. Ms. Lovera has worked on food policy for a decade, especially on issues including food safety standards, organic standards, and food labeling. She also has many years experience in developing and running successful non-profit programs. Ms. Lovera has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Lehigh University and a master’s degree in environmental policy from the University of Michigan. Before joining Food & Water Watch, she was the Deputy Director of the energy and environment program at Public Citizen and a researcher at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Ms. Lovera is a Board Member for the Coalition.

MARTIN P. SCHREIBMAN, PhD — Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, Dr. Schreibman helped perfect a model for sustainable urban farming using cutting edge technology, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), to grow fish. Professor Schreibman is the founder and Director Emeritus of  Brooklyn College’s Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center (AREAC), a research facility devoted to the study of aquatic organisms — how they grow, adapt, reproduce, and live in all temperatures and environments. He and a multidisciplinary team of researchers seek to answer questions about medicine, nutrition, pollution, aquaculture, fisheries, and marine ecology. AREAC’s projects include bivalve and fish aquaculture, breeding horseshoe crabs, educational outreach, and product commercialization. Dr. Schreibman has devoted the past eight years to developing urban aquaponics — growing both fish and plants together in a symbiotic water re-use system. Over the past 15 plus years, his recirculating farming techniques have been used for assorted projects — even in outer space. In 1998, on the space shuttle Endeavor, he worked with Dr. Volker Bluem of Germany to develop a small system to test whether growing fresh food in space could be an option for lengthy trips. Dr. Schreibman is a Board Member for the Coalition.

MARIANNE CUFONE, Esq. — Ms. Cufone is an environmental attorney, and long time healthy, affordable food advocate. She is also a professional chef, trained by the Natural Gourmet Institute, a leading facility on health supportive culinary arts and theory. Marianne has worked in natural resources management, focused on oceans, fisheries and seafood for the past 12 years. She directed the fish and oceans program at Food and Watch (2007-2011), managed the Gulf, South Atlantic and Caribbean fisheries program for the Center for Marine Conservation (1999-2003), and runs Environment Matters, a consulting firm that provides legal, policy and communications support to non-profit organizations (2003-present). Marianne taught law and graduate college courses and many guest lectures at assorted academic institutions. She maintains positions on management advisory committees for Hillsborough County (Florida), the State of Florida and the federal government. Marianne appears in print, television, radio, and other media, is published in various magazines and professional works and testified before Congress. She is a member of: the Florida Bar; the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida; the U.S. Supreme Court; the American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources; and the American Fisheries Society. Marianne is the Executive Director of the Coalition.