Ava Richardson, Director of Sustainability
Ava has over a decade of experience leading public health initiatives, advocating for environmental policies, and managing programs designed to address social and racial inequities and environmental justice. She previously served as the Sustainability Manager and a Food Matters Technical Advisor in the office, where she led the implementation of special projects, supported the Commission on Sustainability, and helped to pilot new sustainability programming such as the Farmer's Market-based food scrap collection pilot. During her time with the city, Ava also served as the ReCAST Project Director at the Baltimore City Health Department, advancing efforts to address decades of trauma in West Baltimore. She holds a BS in Biology from Frostburg State University, an MPH from Morgan State University, and is currently obtaining a Doctorate of Public Health with a focus on environmental health and engineering from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
410.396.8360
Ava.Richardson@baltimorecity.gov
Joanna Birch, Floodplain Manager
Joanna Birch is the City's new Floodplain Manager! Joanna was born and raised in Maryland. She's originally from St. Mary's County and grew up surrounded by water. She has more than a decade of experience working in data-driven mapping and environmental compliance in both the public and private sectors. Joanna holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Goucher College, and a Master's Certificate in Geographic Information Science from Penn State University. Her interests and hobbies include gardening and houseplants, spending time on the water, doing anything crafty, and making maps.
410.396.1224
joanna.birch@baltimorecity.gov
Aubrey Germ, Climate and Resilience Planner
Aubrey Germ is the Climate and Resilience Planner for Baltimore’s Office of Sustainability. Her work entails developing, managing, and implementing a wide range of hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, and community resilience plans and projects. She hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a BS in Environmental Health Sciences from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!), where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. Her background includes serving as an Assistant Program Manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in both Tangier, Virginia, and Baltimore and conducting independent research in sustainable development around the globe. Aubrey is passionate about improving urban and ecological resilience through thoughtful planning, equitable community engagement, and forward-thinking environmental and sustainable design. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, pottery, swimming, SCUBA diving, exploring the city, and spending time outdoors.
410.396.5917
aubrey.germ@baltimorecity.gov
Amy Gilder-Busatti, Sustainability Manager
Amy Gilder-Busatti has been with the Office of Sustainability since 2010. In her role as Sustainability Manager, she provides leadership and coordination to advance the implementation of the Baltimore Sustainability Plan. Amy also leads the development of the Annual Sustainability Report and the Office’s ongoing efforts to track and report progress on plan implementation, outreach, and sustainability metrics. During her time with the City, she has also overseen forest conservation and Critical Area development reviews and led the creation of the Baltimore Green Network Plan and Baltimore City Landscape Manual.
Before joining the Office of Sustainability, Amy worked as a landscape architect and planner with several Baltimore area architecture and engineering firms. She holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Ball State University and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from Morgan State University.
410.396.4556
amy.gilder-busatti@baltimorecity.gov
Grace Hansen, Coastal Planner
Grace Hansen is the Coastal Planner for the City. Her work focuses on managing development as it relates to Floodplain Management and the Critical Area Management Program. She also assists in updating the City’s Disaster Preparedness and Planning Project (DP3) and Nuisance Flood Plan. Grace has experience in the environmental field at the state, regional, and international levels. She previously served as a coastal planner in Coastal Virginia where she collaborated with seventeen local governments across Hampton Roads to strengthen the region’s ability to adapt to recurrent flooding issues. She also worked for The Nature Foundation SXM in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles where she led the country’s first plastic brand audit and has assisted in the upkeep and maintenance of coral fragments in the Man of War Shoal Marine Park through SCUBA diving.
Grace holds a Master of Arts degree in International Environmental Policy with a specialization in ocean and coastal resource management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a BA in environmental studies from Rollins College. She is a former collegiate swimmer and spends her weekends as an Ocean Rescue Lieutenant in Sea Colony, Delaware. She is also an avid athlete in the sport of USLA surf racing where she competes at the local, regional, and national levels. Grace enjoys all things related to water and being outdoors. Hailing from Timonium, Maryland, she is excited to be back in the area.
grace.hansen@baltimorecity.gov
Valerie Rupp, Climate and Resilience Program Manager
Valerie manages our office's growing climate and resilience portfolio, including leading the development and implementation of key plans including the Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness Plans. She coordinates the Sustainability and Resiliency Subcabinet and oversees our climate and community resilience work, which includes the community engagement and outreach initiatives, the Climate Resiliency Hub program and our robust youth climate leadership development programs. She has prior experience as a public lands professional and is skilled in partnership building, nonprofit management, fundraising, communications, planning, and project management. Before joining our office, she served as the Executive Director of the Partnership of the National Trails System where she significantly grew organizational revenue, capacity and staff. Prior to that, she worked with the Parks & People Foundation in Baltimore for eight years where she worked in diverse areas including leading large scale forestry, green space and park development projects, managed grant programs, community outreach and resource networks, served as a PI on multiple socio-ecological research projects and more. As Development Director at the Women's Law Center of Maryland, she led fundraising, marketing, events and external relations. Early in her career, she worked in various positions with the Baltimore Museum of Industry and earned a volunteer management certificate through the AmeriCorps program, Volunteer Maryland, where she matched individual and corporate volunteers with service opportunities with Volunteer Central and Business Volunteers Maryland.
Valerie holds Bachelor’s degrees in history and communications from Shippensburg University and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy from the University of Baltimore. She hails from northeastern PA, and currently lives in Ednor Gardens.
Valerie.Rupp@baltimorecity.gov.
Rachel Whiteheart, Environmental Planner
Rachel Whiteheart is an Environmental Planner with the Office of Sustainability overseeing forest conservation. Prior to joining the City, Rachel worked as an environmental engineer for several local consulting firms. As a licensed Professional Engineer, Rachel has developed designs for green infrastructure and helped restore natural ecological systems across the Baltimore region and beyond. Rachel holds a Master of Community Planning degree from the University of Maryland and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University. She currently lives in Remington and enjoys biking the streets of Baltimore, hiking, reading, and climbing on rocks.