Dr. Charles Leck, retired professor of ecological sciences at Cook College, Rutgers University. Charles has been studying bird life in New Jersey for more than forty years and has served as State Ornithologist for New Jersey. “Charlie” is interviewed for his longtime perspective on marshes, insights on bird life, and is seen doing a tour of the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh for very young kids with wife Mary.
		Dr. Mary Allessio Leck, retired professor of biology at Rider University, who has been studying plant population ecology at the Hamilton - Trenton Marsh since 1975. Mary is interviewed about the inner workings of the freshwater marsh, the plant diversity, and the challenges and successes of preserving a natural resource “gem” hidden away in a very urbanized region. Mary is featured in group canoe trips where she explains hands-on science to members of the public, a walking tour for children with husband and bird expert Charlie Leck, and is seen doing field research in a constructed wetland along the Delaware River.
		Gabrielle Bennett-Meany, outreach naturalist for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, works with researchers and other naturalists in the Meadowlands district, as well as running educational programs with schools and the public. Gabrielle provides information and insight about how the Meadowlands is used for local education, and she is featured giving the public a boat tour through the Meadowlands. She also describes a Commission-sponsored habitat enhancement program where nest boxes for birds, like the tree swallow, are built by community volunteers and then placed throughout the meadows.
		Bill Sheehan, executive director of the Hackensack Riverkeeper. Captain Bill grew up in the area and was a longtime fisherman whose grassroots preservation efforts eventually led him to join the national Water Keeper Alliance and start a Riverkeeper program on the Hackensack. Bill describes extensively about growing up in the area, the motivations and strategies for his efforts to preserve the Meadowlands, and how he sees the effects of people’s changing attitudes towards natural resources in an urban area. Bill is featured in the program giving an educational boat tour through the Meadowlands, and leading volunteers in a Hackensack River Clean-up.
		Don Smith, retired senior naturalist with the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. No longer officially part of the Commission, Don still returns with his wife, Joan, to monitor many of the restored wetlands areas around the Meadowlands for which he helped design or advocate. Don is interviewed extensively about the natural history of the area and his views of the many changes that have taken place in the fifty years he’s been in the region. Don is seen in the film doing some field monitoring as well as taking a sunset scouting tour of some of the more remote areas.
		Ralph Tiner, nationally recognized expert on wetlands with over 30 years of experience in wetlands mapping and delineation. He is the author of In Search of Swampland and several field guides to wetlands plants. Ralph appears in interviews only, commenting on wetlands natural history in general and specifically on changes in attitudes towards the urban wetlands as a resource.

And More ….

Leona and George Fluck, canoe group coordinators for Outdoor Club of South Jersey and members of Friends for the Marsh, they help lead the canoe tours through the Hamilton -Trenton Marsh.

Dennis Gemmell, environmental consultant and leader of PROBE, a Rider University field trip-based science program for high schools that utilizes the Hamilton -Trenton Marsh as a location for data collection. Dennis is featured leading a group of twenty students from local Steinert High School in Hamilton, NJ, along with their science teacher Debbie Ryan.

Bruno Iamonte, retired teacher from Lincoln School in Kearny, New Jersey and longtime field trip leader to the Hackensack Meadowlands; Bruno is interviewed while leading his science class on a hands-on boat tour of the Meadowlands

Toni Molnar-Port, science teacher at Trenton Central High School and local resident who remembers when the Hamilton -Trenton Marsh was perceived only as a dumpsite. She’s featured leading her students in a field experiment at the Hamilton -Trenton Marsh concerning diversity of vegetation and how to stop the spread of invasive species there.