Learn more about the Slate of Directors for the 2024-2028 Term. All IPS Officers are elected for two-year terms, serving from one Biennial to the next. The Board of Directors is divided into groups elected for four-year terms. The groups are elected at alternating biennials to ensure continuity within the IPS Board.
Robert Blenker
President
Palmetto, Florida, USA
Mr. Blenker brings decades of overseas grassroots development and non-profit experience as well as private sector skills. Since 2000, he has worked as a renewable energy executive, bringing clean energy to markets around the world. His previous experience includes nearly 14 years as senior international staff for the US Peace Corps, as well as overseas stints as a journalist. He has lived in nine countries, worked in 23, and visited more than 100. Blenker’s interests in palms stems from their importance as “charismatic key indicator species” for threatened habitats around the world. Some of the most interesting species come from some of the most diverse and fragile micro-habitats and serve as reminders that our world is varied and perishable and that we must be leaders in preserving its rich diversity. His involvement with the IPS dates to before his first biennial in Rio in 2010. Since then, he has participated in the biennials in Thailand/Vietnam, Miami/Cuba, and a mid-term in Madagascar. In addition, he is an active member of the Central Florida Palm and Cycad Society. Born in Wisconsin, and raised in the mid-West, he call the west coast of Florida home, although he divides his time between Florida, Grenada, Jamaica, and Latin America. Mr. Blenker is past chair and continues as a director of the Caribbean Student Environmental Alliance. He speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He holds a BS in Wildlife Management/Natural Resources Administration from The Ohio State University where he won the Konrad Lorenz Award for outstanding ethological studies. He also holds an MAIA in International Administration and Development Economics from Ohio University.
Jeff Brusseau
Vice President
Vista, California, USA
Jeffry Brusseau was born in Fargo, North Dakota on April 12, 1957. He is the oldest of the five children of Bruce and Clarice Brusseau. The family moved to Newport Beach, California in 1963. Jeffry attended private and public schools and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1980 with a business degree. His major areas of study were Real Estate/Finance. During his adolescence Jeffry became involved in botany and held several jobs in the field including, interior plant maintenance, exterior grounds maintenance, custom design and installations of high-end residential landscapes. After college Jeffry pursued a career in Commercial Real Estate Development, Asset management and Construction and continues in that field today as a principal in charge of development activities with Newport National Corporation. Jeffry’s hobbies to name a few include physical conditioning, research, cycling, barefoot water-skiing, snow skiing, motorcycles, shifter karts, exotic cars, design, gardening, plant collecting and propagation. Jeffry maintains a two-acre garden “Cuesta Linda” in Vista, California, which is home to several thousand species of palms, cycads, ferns, bamboo, succulents, bromeliads, cacti and assorted tropical vegetation. Jeffry also enjoys spending time with his wife, Christine and their two boys, Mason and Dalton. Other involvement’s include membership in several plant societies, Board of Director and Officer positions in three commercial Owners Associations, the ownership of a commercial nursery and the restoration of the family’s historical home. Jeffry is hard working, persistent, determined, and extremely detailed oriented. He believes in living life to it’s fullest and strives for excellence in all matters of his life.
Tom Jackson
Treasurer
California, USA
Tom has been an International Palm Society member for more than 20 years and has attended almost all biennials in that time. A native of Wisconsin, his first exposure to palms was in the conservatories of the Midwest. Visits to family and botanic gardens in Southern California got him hooked on palms. While in Medical school, an externship in a small hospital on the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua was his first exposure to the tropics. Tom moved to San Francisco to continue his education in a more palm friendly climate. While pursuing a career in hospital based pathology and blood banking, Tom and his wife, Kathleen Grant (an MD oncologist), purchased a home in Marin County and started their palm garden. A colleague, Dr. Herb Weber, introduced us to the IPS. Years have passed and the garden has matured. Besides palms it also features succulents, bamboos, ferns and rhododendrons. Tom writes “We have hosted many events including the Garden Conservancy, the American Rhododendron Society, the Northern California Chapter of the IPS and an IPS board meeting. We continue our avid interest in palms and travel to palm habitats. Our most recent trip was a visit to the forests of Borneo this April. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the IPS and look forward to working with the other board members to advance the goals of the IPS and its members.” Affiliated Organizations: Palm Society of Southern California
Gregg Hamann
Board Member
San Diego, California, USA
Gregg Hamann was born in San Diego, California in 1957 and has lived virtually his entire life in El Cajon, just a few miles east of San Diego. He went off to college on a full music scholarship (oboe) and played professionally in the Los Angeles area for a couple of years before switching his major to business and returning home. He graduated with a B.S. in Accounting in 1978 and joined the family business, Hamann Construction right out of college. He has spent the last forty years as an Industrial and Commercial Real Estate Contractor and Developer in Southern California, specializing in green building. His zero-carbon footprint, concrete house in Julian called “StoneHaven,” won the 2015 ACI Award for Excellence in Construction. Gregg has also been the founder and/or part Owner of a number of other businesses including an aluminum extrusion plant, a surgical glove manufacturing plant and various food related businesses. He has numerous business interests in Mexico and East Asia as well. With a deep love of the natural world since childhood, Gregg is an internationally known expert in Malacology (mollusks) and has been invited on scientific expeditions for his expertise. Gregg has several seashells discovered by and/or named after him (Conus hamanni, Vokesimurex hamanni and Conus cerutti to name a few). He also participated in a botanical expedition with Montgomery Botanical Center and has a cycad from Panama named after him (Zamia hamanni). Gregg has been a member of the International Palm Society since 1990 and his 1.5 acre garden in El Cajon boasts around 600 species of palms and cycads from all around the world. His interests include music (oboe, English Horn, piano and harp), scuba diving, underwater photography, hiking (with an emphasis on native plants) and travel. He spent twenty-two years as a lay pastor in a Presbyterian Church North Park, CA Affiliated Organizations: Palm Society of Southern California
R. Haresh
Board Member
India
Haresh lives in Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and has been studying and growing palms for over 30 years. Palms are the integral part of his plant hobby that also includes tropical flowering trees, succulents and orchids. As a business executive, his work provides extensive travel opportunities to visit gardens and growers in the US, Europe and in many parts of Asia. He brings his business management and international exposure to the society. Haresh is currently involved in developing two gardens near Madurai. He hopes to take more time off in the coming years to visit threatened habitats and to study the palm populations in his part of the world.
Leland Lai
Board Member
California, USA
Leland, a resident of Topanga, California, is former Vice President of the International Palm Society and a past President of the Palm Society of Southern California. Leland also heads up the Biennial Committee for the IPS. Born and raised in Hawaii, his love for tropical flora and fauna has captivated his work and outside interests with more than a passion. Leland has built his career assisting in the development of sustainable aquaculture: producing and distributing biological and artificial larval and maturation diets, designing hatchery modules for seed stocks, and providing bio-technology in the form of aquatic genetics for selective breeding. Affiliated Organizations: Palm Society of Southern California
Lazaro Priegues
Board Member
Florida, USA
I am Lazaro Priegues. I live in Miami, and have been practicing medicine since 1990. I have been a member of the South Florida Palm Society since 1990 and currently serve on the Board of Directors. Over the years that I have lived in Coral Gables, FL and then Miami, I have planted many palms in my gardens, as well as community plantings. However, I am more notorious for guerrilla gardening of palm trees – especially from the Caribbean – around my neighborhood swales and for getting friends and neighbors to join the IPS and educate them about the importance of palms in the neighborhood and the world. I have also been a loyal member of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, the National Tropical Botanical Garden (through the Kampong in Miami), and Montgomery Botanical Center. During my many attendances at the IPS biennials, I have served as informal translator from English into Spanish (Costa Rica and Dominican Republic) as well as English into French (New Caledonia). Affiliated Organizations: South Florida Palm Society
Grant Stephenson
Board Member
Texas, USA
At age 3, Grant Stephenson began helping his grandmother tend her garden. Little did she know, she ignited in Grant a passion for plants that would one day lead him to a life in horticulture. Grant worked for several nurseries at the start of his career, but it wasn’t until the early 1980’s that he met Joe Montgomery, an IPS member from Austin, TX who introduced him to the world of palms–especially cold-hardy species. Joe became a close friend and mentor, and he encouraged Grant to pursue his growing passion for palms and other cold-hardy yet tropical-looking plants. In the mid-1980s, Grant joined the IPS and in 1993, with a vision of assembling one of the largest collections of cold-hardy species of palms, Grant started Horticultural Consultants, Inc (HCI), a wholesale nursery focused on the sale and distribution of specimen palms, bamboo, and cycads worldwide. He designed and patented the Oasis Palm Tree Anchoring System, along with the Oasis Palm Cart, which can be used to move large specimens weighing up to 6000 lbs. by hand. Zoos, botanical gardens, arboreta, and architects alike frequently rely on Grant as a consultant and for his ability to procure superior specimens and rare and coveted species. Grant’s involvement with the IPS began in the mid-1990s when he became a commercial and lifetime member. He brought in rare, hard-to-find palms for local Texas chapters and sponsored lectures by Paul Craft, Alan Meerow, and Larry Noblick to educate and excite people about the wonders of palms. Grant also passionately teaches others about these elegant, regal trees, and he continues to expand the available palette of hardy palms and tropical-looking plants with new varieties. Grant also performs appraisals for banks and real estate companies and valuation for attorneys and Insurance companies. Grant resides in Marble Falls, Texas with Susan and his two children, Audrey and Derek. He is honored to be elected to the board of directors and looks forward to advancing the efforts of the IPS. Affiliated Organizations: Palm Society of South Texas
Michael Valentine
Board Member
Texas, USA
Michael received a BS in Business Technology from the University of Houston, Houston, Texas in December 1981 concentrating in Distribution, a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston in May 1986 concentrating in Taxation, and a MBA from Rice University, Houston, Texas in May 1999, concentrating in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Michael has been a tax attorney for 30 years and represents clients before the IRS. He also owns five H & R Blocks in Colorado preparing over 7000 tax returns annually. Michael is a real estate investor in Texas with rental properties. He is active in his local community of Seabrook Texas. Michael is an accomplished whitewater rafter and snow skier and loves to read almost anything.
Susan Hubbell
Board Member
Puerto Rico, USA
Susan, originally from Connecticut, earned a BA in interior design from Pratt Institute. She came to Puerto Rico over 30 years ago as an international staff member with Citibank where she managed the branch bank and major building design and construction department. Later she moved into the bank’s financial area specializing as a trader of tax exempt CDs and marketing of banking products and account officer to local and international corporate clients. Her last position before retirement was as branch manager of the Spanish bank, Banco Central Hispano on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico. She and her husband, Pedro Rodriguez, have a collection of over 50 palm species at their country home on Culebra. They have traveled extensively with the IPS and on their own in Europe, South America, in the USA as well as in the Caribbean via their sailboat and their private plane. Besides gardening, Susan’s other interests include gourmet cooking, abstract acrylic painting and mosaics. Susan’s principle residence is in San Juan, PR. She also has a home north of Orlando, FL so she is available to travel from either location to attend IPS board meetings. As a member of the IPS board Susan is hoping to increase IPS membership from the Caribbean area.
Colin Wilson
Board Member
Australia
Colin Wilson, MD of Shandan Pty Ltd (a property and investment company) in NSW Australia. Wilson has a passion in Palm conservation by sharing many different species with Botanic Gardens mainly in Australia. since 2008, he has helped increase the palm collection within the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and has created a new 6000 sqm Palm Garden in Wollongong Botanic Gardens in 2013. Since the Wilson has been active in both gardens. Additionally, he is currently sharing species with Cairns Botanic Gardens and Australian Botanic Gardens in Mt Annan NSW, as well as Waite Institute Arboretum in South Australia, concentrating on rare and endangered palms when possible. Wilson is always looking for new species they don’t currently have in their botanic gardens or looking for seed donations to ensure the survival of species long term. Life outside of palm horticulture includes family, sailing and researching his family history.
Anthony Glomski
Board Member
California, USA
Anthony Glomski is the author of Liquidity and You: A Personal Guide for Tech and Business Entrepreneurs Approaching an Exit. He is also the founder of AG Asset Advisory, an SEC-registered Family Office. His team works extensively with entrepreneurs to build family offices and optimize their financial world. This collaborative process addresses an array of family, financial and lifestyle concerns along with coordination and oversight of various professionals to keep everyone focused tightly on their goals. A defining characteristic of the entrepreneurs Anthony works with is the complexity in their lives and their desire to address this complexity effectively. This is the key issue that inspired his own venture to solve that problem. Anthony is a widely recognized thought leader in the community. He has been featured in several publications including Forbes, US News & World Report and Yahoo! Tech and is currently a contributor for Accounting Today and CPA Trendlines. Anthony is an alumnus of KPMG and a member of the Milken Institute Associates. Originally from the Midwest, he is also a student and practitioner of Eastern philosophy. He is active in several charities, including the Surfrider Foundation and an annual commitment to Project Hope Alliance to help them end the cycle of childhood homelessness. An avid surfer and a car enthusiast, Anthony is a member of the Silicon Beach Surfers and the Porsche Club of America. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York.
Boyd Marts, M.D., Ph.D.
Board Member
North Dakota, USA
Dr. Marts is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon practicing in Fargo, North Dakota. He is one of many of our IPS members who live and garden well outside the tropics. Of his interest in palms and our society, he writes the following: In 2018, Andy Hurwitz encouraged me to join the Palm Society, which I did. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the biennial that year. At Andy’s invitation, my wife Stacy and I attended the 2019 midterm in San Diego. The public and private gardens we visited and the palm tree collections they sustained were fascinating to us. We were very impressed with the diverse backgrounds of the Society members and their extensive knowledge of the world’s palm trees, which they patiently shared with us. Having been born in Nebraska and raised in the Midwest, my knowledge of palm trees was limited. My interest in Midwest garden plants and trees developed while attending Indiana University, where I completed a bachelor’s degree in Biology. During that time, I also found an interest in flowering tropical plants and succulents. After finishing medical school at Indiana University and subsequent residency training, I was able to devote the time necessary to maintain a modest sunroom growing tropical plants – still planning the arrival of my first palm however. The importance of palm trees and their associated tropical ecosystems was better appreciated following the 2019 midterm, and the ensuring continued success of the Palm Society in its mission to preserve the world’s palms became an interest.
Jason Dewees
Board Member
California, USA
Author of Designing with Palms (Timber Press, 2018), Jason is the horticulturist and palm expert at Flora Grubb Gardens, in San Francisco, and Grubb & Nadler Nurseries in Fallbrook, California. A volunteer at the San Francisco Botanical Garden since 1994, he works as a salesperson and horticultural consultant for landscape designers, landscape architects, and gardeners. He has offered guidance to the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, the University of California Botanical Garden, the Presidio Trust, the San Francisco Department of Public Works, and the San Francisco Botanical Garden, trained volunteers and docents, and has propagated thousands of trees. He has lectured at the California Horticultural Society, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Garden, the Marin Art and Garden Center, Flamingo Gardens, the Charleston Horticultural Society, the Sherman Library and Gardens, and the Garden Conservancy. Jason gardens at home in San Francisco and with his partner, Ken Chen, at Healdsburg, in the Wine Country of Sonoma County. He joined the Northern California Chapter of the International Palm Society as the youngest member in 1986, and has served on the council of the California Horticultural Society, as well as on the Horticultural Advisory Committee of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and the Advisory Council of the Conservatory of Flowers. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.