Scott Knowles, CGIA, CIC, CID, CLIA, is the owner and president of Wolf Creek Company Inc., a distribution group that has been serving the green industry since 1961. Knowles received a degree in agriculture engineering from The Ohio State University and studied irrigation technologies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He has been an instructor for the Irrigation Association for 30 years and is an EPA WaterSense Partner. He has also served as a board member of the Irrigation Association of Ohio for the past three years.

Rick Malkin is the Central Control Product Manager for the Landscape Division of the Rain Bird Corporation. He is based in Tucson Arizona. Rick has worked as an irrigation contractor, designer, consultant, IA instructor and manufacturer employee. He holds several IA certifications including CLIA, CID (Landscape), CIC and CIT. Rick also holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Rick started working part-time for his father's landscape and irrigation business in Southern California in 1970. He later started his own landscape and irrigation contracting business in California later moving to Memphis Tennessee installing residential and commercial projects. Rick left the contracting business to work for Rain Bird in 1988 as an Area Specification Manager later moving to the Product Manager role for controllers and central control products. He also was the product manager for spray heads, rotors and valves during his time at Rain Bird. He left Rain Bird in 2002 to work in the Aerospace industry. In 2019, Rick returned to Rain Bird as the Central Control Product Manager, the position he holds today. Rick holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in Computer Engineering with minors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Rick and his wife Elizabeth have been married for 48 years. They have 7 children and 14 grandchildren.

Kris Loomis, CID, CLIA, has a passion for irrigation and gadgets like no other. Her 20+ years of experience and understanding of irrigation components along with her ability to present complex items in simple terms will make you feel at ease. She is currently a senior programs specialist with the Sonoma County Water Agency and an adjunct professor of agriculture/natural resources at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Christine Hawkins, CID, CLIA, has a passion for teaching within the landscape industry — particularly on best practices in horticulture, water management and landscape irrigation. With many years of experience, she is still eager to learn about challenges and solutions from fellow professionals. After earning a degree in environmental horticultural science from Cal Poly, Hawkins focused on a variety of facets of the green industry. She is currently the specification manager for northern California for Hunter Industries. She collaborates with landscape architects, design professionals, irrigation consultants and municipalities on efficient irrigation systems.

John Raffiani, CIC, CIT, is the owner and president of Raffiani’s Automatic Sprinkler Service in North Jersey and has been with the company since its beginning in 1966. He learned about piping, pumps, field irrigation, horticulture and soil texture at a very young age. When his grandfather began to sell parcels of his land in 1965 for housing developments, Raffiani (along with other family members) started to install lawn sprinklers and landscaping utilizing the leftover piping, sprays heads and shrubs from his grandfather’s business. Five decades and 16,900+ installations later, the company is still going strong.