Board Members
Jean Pennycook
Jean has worked in Antarctica designing and implementing education and outreach projects connecting the public to the history, science and wonder of Antarctica. For the last 17 seasons she has lived in a tent close to the Adélie Penguins breeding colony at Cape Royds on Ross Island. From her tent she connects the penguin research to classrooms across the country using an interactive website providing a virtual field trip to the breeding colony as well as other educational activities. Jean earned her Bachelors of Science from the University of California, Davis in Wildlife Biology and a Masters of Science from CSU Fresno.
Tom Fitz and Schoolyard Films
Tom Fitz is an Emmy award winning cameraman, producer and director with over 30 years of experience in the field. His work has been dedicated to capturing the natural world and within that sphere he is highly renowned for his work in underwater cinematography. Some of Tom’s most notable and recent collaborations include work with The Blue Planet, One Life, Planet Earth II and The Living Edens. Tom is currently working to create a new documentary titled The Year Earth Changed, which shares positive stories of how people have had a chance to engage with nature as a result of the global pandemic and the lockdowns humanity faced all around the world.
In addition to this work, Tom is the founder of Schoolyard Films, Inc. This organization is dedicated to producing nature-based films that can be used in the classroom for grades K -12. These films are available to teachers worldwide and are paired with curriculum and study guides. Their goal is to help educate future stewards of our planet. Tom is excited to advise us as we develop our programs and operations for the education, science and film industries.
W. Andrew Gowder, Jr., Esq.
Andy is a founder and partner in Austen & Gowder, LLC. His 35-year law practice is focused on land use, land conservation and historic preservation, state and local government law and benefit and nonprofit corporate formation and representation. He is an editor and writer of books and articles on topics relating to regenerative development, the greening of local government, the financing of public infrastructure, heirs’ property, the land use entitlement process, and protection of the environment and historic preservation, and he speaks frequently on those topics. Andy serves on several nonprofit boards in the Charleston area and, as part of his practice, is general counsel for many local, regional and national nonprofits and closely held corporations.
Stephen Berger
Mr. Berger’s career in finance started in 1984 when he joined HSBC. After 8 years with HSBC in London, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Mr. Berger joined J.P. Morgan & Co. in Hong Kong and ultimately was appointed head of their corporate finance team in Singapore covering Southeast Asia, and co-head of M&A across all of Asia.
In 2003, Mr. Berger co-founded boutique corporate finance and investment advisory firm Imprimis (Singapore) Pte Ltd that grew to three offices in Singapore, Brunei, and Bangkok. Imprimis provided strategic and financial advice to multinational companies, governments, and family-owned enterprise across Southeast Asia, and in 2009, through an Imprimis fund, acquired Piper Aircraft Inc in Vero Beach FL, where Mr. Berger served as Chairman for many years. In 2015, Mr. Berger retired from a 30-year career in finance in Asia and relocated to Charleston, SC with his wife, Sarah, to raise their three children.
Mr. Berger has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA from Trinity College, Cambridge University. An active rower, Mr Berger was Captain of the Dartmouth Heavyweight Rowing Team and President of the Cambridge University Boat Club. Mr. Berger has served as Chairman of Lowcountry Maritime School, and as a Trustee of Porter-Gaud School, and is a Steward of the Friends of Dartmouth Rowing and now Chairman of the Apparent Winds Board.
Advisors
Grey Gowder
Grey Gowder is not only a creative and talented film maker, he is also a passionate and highly active environmentalist and social activist. Grey has been a vital part of the Apparent Winds team and is an active supporter of our work in the film industry. Grey is the Founder of Lugus Films, an independent film and media production company devoted to crafting compelling stories about our world.
Dune Lankard
Dune Lankard, Native Eyak of the Eagle Clan from Cordova, Alaska. Dune has an impassioned commitment to protecting Eyak culture, his ancestral lands and wild salmon. A way of life that was fostered in him by his mother Rosie and her strong community leadership. Dune was a full-time commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound until March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez spilled more than 30 million gallons of oil onto the pristine beaches of the sound. On that day, he became a social change artist and social impact entrepreneur, dedicating his life to the protection of Native and fishing rights and the environment. Dune has testified before Congress in order to protect his ancestral homelands from destruction and is also a founder of the Eyak Preservation Council, the Native Conservancy and a founding member of the Eyak Traditional Elders Council that helped preserve his beloved Eyak rainforest on the Northern end of the Coastal Temperate Rainforest.
For his tireless work, he was selected by Time Magazine as one of its “Heroes of the Planet,” and he is also an ASHOKA Fellow, Hunt Alternatives Fund Fellow, cohort of Future of Fish and a winner of SeaWeb’s Seafood Champion Award. Dune continues his work through the Native Conservancy linking cultural, environmental and economic solutions in the seafood industry, while addressing food security, food sovereignty and preserving Alaska’s unique subsistence way of life. Dune has worked to form a movement that focuses on building resilient communities and regenerative and sustainable economic solutions for coastal communities.
