Perfect Earth Staff
Edwina von Gal
President/Founder
A leading voice in sustainable gardening and landscape design, Edwina von Gal founded the Perfect Earth Project in 2013 to promote ecological land care for the health of people, their pets, and the planet. As principal of her eponymous landscape design firm since 1984, Edwina created landscapes with a focus on simplicity, sustainability, and beauty for private and public clients around the world. Her work has been published widely, including in The New York Times, Vogue, and Architectural Digest, and her book Fresh Cuts won the Quill and Trowel award for garden writing in 1998. In 2024, she was named one of the top 50 Creatives in America by Wallpaper* magazine. She has served on boards and committees for a number of horticultural organizations and currently serves on the board of What Is Missing, Maya Lin’s multifaceted media artwork about the loss of biodiversity, Longue Vue’s National Council, and is a member of the Native Plant Trust’s Council. Her awards include the LongHouse Visionary Award from LongHouse Reserve, the New York School of Interior Design’s Green Design Award, the Isamu Noguchi Award, and Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for the Visual Arts.
Charlotte DeFazio-McElrath
Community Engagement Coordinator
Charlotte is a multidisciplinary artist who has worked as a writer and editor in New York for more than a decade. Her work has focused primarily on climate change and environmental solutions, though her portfolio spans a diverse range of topics, including art, health/wellness, travel, food, fashion, and sports. In addition to editorial, Charlotte has worked as a photographer, photo editor, social media manager, graphic designer, and web designer. She has collaborated with and/or written for a variety of clients, including The Guardian, EAST Magazine, Musings by Susan Rockefeller, PEN America, and Guild Hall. In 2024, Charlotte further deepened her environmental commitment by completing a Kelp Farmer Training course with Shinnecock Kelp Farmers.
Charlotte holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications-English with a minor in Psychology. Her academic work includes two theses: a creative writing anthology of memoirs and a research-based paper on the Indigenous Peoples of Australia, titled The Stolen Generations of Australia: Striving Towards Reconciliation.
Molly Kerker
Director of Education & Public Programs
Molly’s lifelong reverence for Earth’s wondrous creatures began in her childhood, where she nurtured butterflies, ants, and worms in her Buffalo, NY, backyard. After earning her B.A. in English from SUNY Geneseo and M.A. in Public Humanities from Brown University, she was inspired to channel her love of storytelling, community, and ecology into botanical education. As Manager of Continuing Education at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she organized community classes and certificate programs for home gardeners and landscape professionals, and launched the Urban Greenscaping workforce development program for young adults whose educational or financial status would otherwise be a barrier to entering the field. In her most recent role as Director of Continuing Education at Central Park, Molly led the Institute for Urban Parks’ educational programming, overseeing workforce development programs for park stewards around the world. She currently serves on the Ecological Landscape Alliance’s board of directors as Secretary. Molly lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her tuxedo cat and husband. In her free time, you can find her volunteering with her local community composting group, birding in her neighborhood park, experimenting with foraged food recipes, and playing music.
Melissa Ozawa
Director of Content & Communications
Melissa’s love for gardens and nature began when she was a small child in Tokyo, playing among the cherry blossoms in Aoyama cemetery and irises at the Nezu museum garden. She has been writing and editing stories about gardening and sustainability for more than two decades and was recently the features and garden editor at Martha Stewart Living, where she traveled around the country to create and write stories for more than 10 years. She has also held editorial roles at House & Garden and Country Living magazines, and worked at the Garden Conservancy, planning garden tours and national lecture series. She got her start at the Academy of American Poets, where she was editor of the journal American Poet and helped to promote a slate of national literary programs. She lives in New York City and works in her garden in New York’s Columbia County every chance she can. Photo by Joanna Garcia.
Michele Schrougham
Executive Assistant
Michele Schrougham is enthusiastic about our world and loves to see and experience as much of it—from beautiful fields and tropical flowers to sandy beaches and snow-capped mountains—as possible. Michele has an M.A. in Social Work from the University of Tennessee and has spent the majority of her professional life working as an advocate for others. Most of her time was spent working alongside refugees to the United States. One highlight was developing a community garden where refugees could come together. The garden brought purpose to each day and also brought their community together in an indescribable way. Michele lives in Westfield, Indiana, with her husband, daughter, two dogs Macy and Murphy, and bunny Kevin.
Tim Wheeler
Living Lands Regional Program Manager
Tim Wheeler has been an ecologist since he was four years old and caught a garter snake with his bare hands in his grandparents’ front yard. Growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut, he spent as much time outside as he could. He turned his inherent passion for nature and the outdoors into a B.S. in Biology from St. Lawrence University. Then, coupled with a love of France and the French language, he moved to Normandy, France, to pursue an M.S. in Environmental Management and Biodiversity from the University of Rouen. Since finishing his graduate degree in France, Tim has worked with land trusts, private landowners, and other nonprofits doing everything from land management and restoration work to gardening and environmental education programming. He comes to Perfect Earth Project from Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in the Bronx, and is excited to bring his background in everything environmental to the Living Lands Program.
