J. Carl Ganter, President

Carl Ganter is co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, the center for frontline reporting, research, and analysis on water resource issues and their relationship to food and energy in a changing climate. Mr. Ganter is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and photojournalist whose work has appeared in most major magazines, newspapers, and television and radio networks. He earned his MSJ in investigative and magazine reporting at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism after graduating with honors from the University’s American Studies Program.

Mr. Ganter is the past vice chairman of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water Security and is a current member of the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Environment and its New Vision for Agriculture and Water initiatives. He has presented or moderated sessions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen Environment Forum, World Water Week, Fung Global Institute, Concordia Summit, Impact Summit, International Water Summit, Bioneers (Michigan), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and others. He is a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Centennial Innovation Award.

Eileen Ganter, Secretary and Treasurer

Ms. Ganter founded Circle of Blue with J. Carl Ganter and serves as a writer, director, narrator, operations assistant, bookkeeper and creative contributor. Dedicated to seeing our world from new perspectives, she gave the Circle of Blue project its name. Ms. Ganter produced and hosted regional and national programming during her 13 years at Interlochen Public Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate in Northern Michigan. She has won Telly Awards for her scriptwriting and documentary work, and her association with Circle of Blue follows many years of independent multimedia journalistic projects and a life-long love of the Great Lakes. She holds a BA and MA radio and television from the University of Detroit. Ms. Ganter is currently back at Interlochen on a grant-funded project in the audio archives, and enjoys traveling through time via sound.

Richard F. Odell

Richard F. Odell is recently retired from IMG Academy where he was Vice President of Student Affairs and IMG Academy Headmaster. He founded the PK-PG school of 1,000 students on IMG’s Bradenton, Florida campus in 2000. The school’s academic program and delivery is specifically designed to meet the college preparatory expectations of students and their families from 90 countries. This is accomplished by offering a unique blend of teaching styles that work for students who come to the school with a passion for sport and spend half of each day in that sport and the other half in school.

Mr. Odell began his professional career in 1972, working in fundraising and alumni affairs at his alma mater, Heidelberg University from which he had recently graduated. In 1976, he began serving independent schools in a variety of administrative capacities including: chief financial officer, development, alumni and marketing director, Assistant Headmaster, Headmaster and President. Much of his career has focused on serving schools that have struggled to find a niche that would provide long-term financial stability, a strong public image and success. He has also helped schools develop new revenue sources, streamline administrative operations and think strategically about what elementary–secondary education might look like 10 years out and help Boards, Administrators and faculty design facilities and programs ahead of the education curve.

Mr. Odell has served on a number of not-for-profit boards including: The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and national, state and local arts councils. He is regarded by many as an education visionary.

Mr. Odell graduated with a music education degree from Heidelberg University in 1972 and from Bowling Green State University with a master’s degree in Student Personnel in 1976. He is married and has three grown children.

Peter Gleick

Dr. Peter Gleick is a world-renowned expert, innovator, and communicator on water and climate issues. In 1987, Dr. Gleick co-founded the Pacific Institute, which he led as president until mid-2016, when he became president emeritus.

In 2003, Dr. Gleick was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his work on water resources. Among the issues he has addressed are conflicts over water resources, water and climate change, development, and human health. In 2006, Dr. Gleick was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In 2011, Dr. Gleick was the launch Chairman of the “new task force on scientific ethics and integrity” of the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Gleick received the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Ven Te Chow Memorial Award in 2011, and that same year he and the Pacific Institute were awarded the first U.S. Water Prize. In 2014, the Guardian newspaper listed Dr. Gleick as one of the world’s top 10 “water tweeters.”

Margaret Catley-Carlson

Margaret Catley-Carlson was Chair and is now a Patron of the Global Water Partnership, a working partnership among all those involved in water management formed in 1996 by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Ms. Catley-Carlson served as President of the Canadian International Development Agency (1983-1989) and the Population Council (1993-1999). Ms. Catley-Carlson was also Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare in Canada and Deputy Executive Director for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Ms. Catley-Carlson’s 24-year career in government began with diplomatic posts in Sri Lanka and London as an employee of Canada’s Department of External Affairs.

Leland Maschmeyer

Leland Maschmeyer is chairman of COLLINS, the globally renowned brand design firm. He is also co-founder and board member of Sway, a materials lab inventing seaweed-based plastics. Between 2016 and 2021, Leland was the Chief Brand Officer of Chobani where he led the transformation of the regional, single-product yogurt maker into a international iconoclast brand with a diverse, cross-category portfolio. He has earned recognition from the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, from IBM as “Design Thinking Leader,” from Ad Age as a “Young Influencer,” and the from Association Of National Advertisers as a “Master of Marketing.”

Aubrey Blanche

Aubrey Blanche is The Mathpath (Math Nerd + Empath), Director of Equitable Design & Impact at Culture Amp, and a startup investor and advisor. Through all her work, she seeks to question, reimagine, and redesign the systems and practices that surround us to ensure that all people can access equitable opportunities and build a better world. Her professional expertise in social scientific methods includes equitable enterprise operations, from talent lifecycle programs and accessible product development to event design and communications & media.

She served as global head of diversity for Atlassian and is an advisor/investor to a variety of companies seeking to build a more just world, including OnRamp, Seed&Spark, Stark, Joonko, and Pivot Diversity. Her work has been featured in Wired, the Wall Street Journal, the Australian Financial Review, USA Today, Re/Code, First Round Review, and more. She also has previous academic affiliations with Stanford and Northwestern, and an appointment at the Equity by Design Lab at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jerry Linenger – Board Emeritus

Captain Jerry Linenger is a retired United States Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut who spent nearly five months aboard the Russian Space Station Mir. He faced numerous life-threatening events, including a fire, repeated failure of critical life-support systems, and a computer malfunction that sent the space station tumbling uncontrollably through space. Linenger is one of eight storytellers featured in National Geographic’s ONE STRANGE ROCK, a ten-part television documentary series exploring life on Earth in the company of astronauts.

A Naval Academy graduate, Linenger holds doctorates in both medicine and research methodology, as well as dual master’s degrees in Policy and Systems Management. He has also been awarded three honorary doctorate degrees in science. Linenger was awarded the 2013 “Trailblazer Award” from WSU School of Medicine for his lifelong contributions to medical research and to the advancement of medicine. In 2008, NASA awarded Linenger the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award conferred by NASA, citing his courage and outstanding service to country. Since 2005, Linenger has advised Circle of Blue and currently serves on its Board.

He is author of the books Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station MIR, and Letters from Mir: An Astronaut’s Letters to His Son.

A father of four, Linenger resides in northern Michigan with his wife, Kathryn, and enjoys running, bicycling, swimming, writing and stand-up paddle boarding in his free time.