We guide our clients to build and enjoy residential landscapes that maximize environmental sustainability and feature native species and reused materials.

Nathanial Buckley is a Certified Arborist and the Vice President of Ecos. His business, For the Love of Trees, LLC, has provided emergency and routine tree care services to clients throughout Western New York since 2014. Nate has worked as an organizer in coordination with Buffalo Green Fund’s Re-Tree Program for 17 years. Through this program, Nate has organized the planting of nearly 2000 trees all across Buffalo with extensive collaboration with block clubs, businesses, community groups, and students. As a co-founder of Nekanehsakt: Friends of Ekwehwe, an indigenous allies organization, Nate supported a successful campaign to change the name of Unity Island from its formerly derogatory name for indigenous women. Nate is a co-founder of Burning Books on Buffalo’s West Side, and coordinates events at the bookstore to support environmental and social justice causes. Nate is excited to be part of a cooperatively run and equitable business with the goal of providing high quality environmental services to benefit the land and people of the Western New York region and help build climate resilience.  

Certifications and Expertise: ISA Certified Arborist, ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified, ISA Certified Climber 

Robbyn Drake is the president and general manager at Ecos. With 25 years of experience, she works as an independent consultant offering organizational capacity building, program management, grant writing, grant seeking, grant administration, community outreach, and educational program development services to organizations and municipalities. Over the past six years, she has helped organizations of all sizes receive, implement, and administer millions of dollars in public and private funds through her business Robbyn Drake Consulting. Robbyn’s personal mission is to build environmental sustainability into the physical, social and educational structure of our society by providing diverse opportunities for people to connect with nature. Her work includes teaching hands-on environmental field courses at the college level; funding, planning and implementing recreational, environmental and educational programs; strategizing public engagement; building partnerships and inspiring collaboration among diverse stakeholders; advocating for water quality and wildlife habitat protection; conducting face-to-face community outreach and leading/facilitating community meetings. Robbyn is passionate about Green Infrastructure as a water quality and workforce development movement and is certified to instruct the 35-hour National Green Infrastructure Certification Program course in green infrastructure construction, maintenance and inspection. 

Certifications and Expertise: Grant Specialist, Environmental Educator, 35-hour National Green Infrastructure Certification 

Joseph Han is the Treasurer of Ecos and has been implementing specialty landscaping projects for over 25 years with his staff at The English Gardener. Through his company, he has developed a reputation for creativity, honesty and dedication to community projects and engages daily with the public to discuss tree care issues and promote beautiful gardens. Joseph is also the Seedling Chapter President for WNY Wild Ones, a non-profit organization promoting the growth of native plants and landscapes throughout Western New York. Through his work at Ecos, Joseph hopes to develop best practices for improving planted spaces with ecologically beneficial designs for nature and humans. He also hopes to share the existing and evolving knowledge of his work and the Green Gospel to the community. 

Certifications and Expertise: Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, Professional Landscape Designer, Local Business Owner 

Joshua, the Secretary of Ecos, has dedicated his professional career to understanding the botanical world around us and has 15 years of experience in habitat restoration and community outreach. As a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner through the Society for Ecological Restoration, his passion is protecting and restoring the ecological function of our landscape. As the Forester for Erie County, Joshua manages the vegetation for 10,000 acres of County parkland by balancing recreational, educational, and economic interests with the conservation of natural resources and ecological communities. Currently, he is leading a comprehensive public engagement process to update the Erie County Forest Management Plan. Joshua is also the owner of Druid, an ecological consultant specializing in conservation management in ecologically sensitive communities, and with rare, threatened, and endangered species. Throughout his career, Joshua has completed a variety of projects including local genotype plant salvage and cultivation, management of protected wetland communities and species, and aquatic restoration projects along the Niagara River.  

Certifications and Expertise: Commercial Pesticide Applicator, Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner, New York Master Naturalist, Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, Trained Logger, Wetland Delineation and Regional Supplement, Principles and Practices of Erosion and Sediment Control 

Mitchell is a certified horticulturist and is dedicated to recreating a more sustainable environment through organic and native gardening. He is currently a co-owner of Swiftwater: Farmstead & Reserve where he has created a new agricultural district to stop the development of surrounding wilderness, developed valuable relationships with related organizations, and worked to sustainably harvest seeds and spores from dozens of local ecotype species for preservation and propagation. Before Swiftwater, Mitchell worked at a greenhouse where he managed the daily health and marketability of over 3,500 trees and shrubs. 

Certifications and Expertise: NYS Certified Horticulturalist, 900+ of hours operating track loaders, tractors, and UTVs, NYSDEC Approved Pesticide Certification, Drave’s Arboretum Tree Identification Study 

Emma has extensive experience as a landscape designer, horticulturist, and arborist. She trained at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and worked for many years as a sustainable agricultural field hand, a fine gardener, and a garden educator. She is currently the Head Gardener at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff and owns her own garden design business.  When not getting dirty in the garden, Emma is a painter and floral arranger.

Certifications and Expertise: ISA Certified Arborist, NYS Certified Nursey and Landscape Professional 

Dawn is passionate about keeping our waterways clean and healthy. She worked for several years as a Water Ecology Scientist in New York City where she routinely collected water samples, performed water quality tests, wrote water quality reports, performed accuracy checks on field analysis meters, and maintained equipment. Currently, Dawn works with the Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York and performs water quality sampling of the natural habitats protected by the organization.  

Certifications and Expertise: Water Ecology, Water Quality Sampling 

As a gardener and horticulturist, Matthew is passionate about bringing positive change to the community and increasing awareness of sustainable initiatives, regenerative agriculture, and permaculture principles. He has worked as a gardener for many years developing a variety of skills including pest management, garden and landscape design, companion planting, permaculture guilds, soil remediation, and moisture and erosion control to develop sustainable gardens. 

Certifications and Expertise: Horticulture and Landscaping, Sustainable Agriculture, Pest Management, Computer Repair 

Kyle is a Registered Nurse and currently the Farm and Nursery Manager of Swiftwater: Organic Farmstead & Reserve. Where he once dedicated his life to saving others through his service as a Marine combat medicine provider, Registered Nurse, and EMT, he has shifted his focus to now saving our ecosystems and environment. As a sustainable and regenerative farmer, he specializes in growing local, organic produce and native plants. At Swiftwater, Kyle cultivates produce through organic and sustainable farming practices while using natural farming techniques. He specializes in Pawpaw tree plant production and education, and he manages the education, production, and sale of New York native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees at Swiftwater. In addition, Kyle is a member of the Amherst, NY Tree board, where he works to protect and promote the general health and welfare of its residents and ecosystem through tree preservation on public and private property, while preventing the unnecessary clearing, destruction and disturbance of trees on public and private land.

Certifications and Expertise: Horticulturalist, Farm and Nursery Manager, Native Plant and Pawpaw Production, Registered Nurse

Erik has worked in the conservation field for six years in WNY and his main expertise is in vegetation and natural community inventory. This includes a special expertise in identifying remnant old-growth forest elements, conducting tree ring studies, and developing management plans. Erik’s experience also includes development of baseline documentation reports and management plans for both conservation nonprofits and private landowners. In the last eight years, Erik has developed management plans for six WNY nature preserves, and he is a member of the National Champion Tree Program’s cadre of expert measurers where he works to verify candidate trees. Erik also works on rare species surveys and has documented new populations of some of the region’s rarest species like Pumpkin Ash, Shumard Oak, and Canada Bluets. As a technical advisor, Erik is available to provide information about natural resources and elements of conservation concern. In addition, he can ensure management practices benefit ecosystems long-term by conducting detailed site evaluations and inventories, creating baseline documentation reports, and reviewing management plans. Erik believes that the living landscape of WNY is beautiful and fascinating, and, in many ways, overlooked and underappreciated. Protecting the diversity of the region is very important to him so that this landscape can continue telling its unique story. He grateful for the opportunity to support Ecos’ work in safeguarding and restoring the region’s living communities.

Certifications and Expertise: Old-Growth Forest Ecology, Conservation Ecology, Rare Species Surveys, Tree Ring Analysis

Josh is a Ph.D. student studying Insect Ecology with an emphasis on wild bees. His research experience includes but is not limited to the nesting biology and natural history of bees and solitary wasps, monitoring the efficacy of pollinator plantings, and the identification of bees. In addition to professional experience, he has eight years of training in botanical surveying, seed collecting, plant propagation/germination, science communication, and photography. Working with wild bees is Josh’s passion because they are fascinating animals with extremely diverse appearances and behaviors. Also, because they can be so specific in their resource needs, the presence of certain species can help to identify areas of conservation concern. As a technical advisor, Josh aids Ecos with conducting wild bee surveys, developing seed mixes and habitat management plans for bee conservation, and monitoring the efficacy of restoration projects and pollinator plantings . In addition, he is interested in hosting workshops to discuss WNY’s bee fauna and leading plant and insect walks. Josh is devoted to the preservation of our shared public landscape and the biological communities that are found within them, and as a Western New Yorker, it is incredibly meaningful for him to share this devotion with the place he came from and with future generations through working with Ecos.  

Certifications and Expertise: Entomology – Wild Bees and Solitary Wasps, Science Communication, Botanical Surveys, Plant Propagation 

Alaina works with Ecos as a consulting engineer specializing in water resources though her company Hydras Engineering, a certified MWBE company. Alaina’s hydraulic engineering experience includes open channel flow, fluvial geomorphology, ice and snow engineering, hydraulic modeling, sediment transport analysis, floodplain analysis, channel stability and river restoration analysis, fish passage design, two-dimensional mud and debris flow analysis, and grading and drainage design. Her hydrologic analysis experience includes rainfall/runoff modeling, peak discharge frequency analysis, development of flow duration curves, gage statistical analysis and low flow analysis. Throughout her career, she has gained extensive field experience in hydrographic data collection and in-depth knowledge of river mechanics which helps her complete more robust evaluations and designs. Outside of work, she is a proud member of the Society of Women Engineers and sits on the Village of East Aurora Zoning Board of Appeals. After 30 years in the corporate realm, Alaina launched Hydras Engineering in 2024 to be able to work with clients at a level she enjoys. She finds that sharing her knowledge in a helpful way is the most rewarding part of her career and she foresees the partnership with Ecos as the intersection of helping clients meet their personal needs while supporting the natural surrounding ecosystem. 

Certifications and Expertise: Professional Engineer – Civil in Colorado, Alaska, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont 

Jon Titus retired from the Biology Dept. at SUNY-Fredonia in 2022 where he taught a variety of courses in basic biology, botany and ecology. His research was in plant ecology focusing on plant communities, succession, forest change and invasive species at sites around the world. Since retirement he has worked part-time for a number of organizations in wetlands ecology, rare and invasive species and plant propagation. He is active in volunteering for botanical surveys, invasive species control and a wide variety of other efforts. Jon presently lives in Silver City, NM with his wife Priscilla. For Ecos, Jon worked on the cemetery tree survey in Fredonia and he is looking forward to working on future projects with Ecos.

Certifications and Expertise: Plant Ecology and Biology

Jonathan has over two decades of environmental experience working in a variety of fields including environmental education, non-profit land trusts, academic education and research, environmental consulting, and government regulation. Currently, he is focused on bat biology and conservation, native plant propagation, and ecological restoration. In 2024, Jonathan earned his Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo and is a Bat Biologist with Environmental Design and Research, a co-owner of Royal Pern Nursery LLC, and the President of the Northeast Bat Working Group. He partners with Ecos to assist in coordinating and implementing projects by supplying native plant material from Royal Fern Nursery. Jonathan appreciates the unique ethos that Ecos has and that Ecos provides expertise and services for smaller projects that municipalities, nonprofits, and private landowners often lack access to. Ecos has worked with Royal Fern Nursery regarding invasive species management on the property and Jonathan has quite impressed with the expertise found at Ecos. 

Certifications and Expertise: PhD in Biogeography, Bat Biologist, Native Plant Specialist