Bio Armor is committed to transforming land conservation through innovative partnerships and resiliency programs. We work alongside landowners, land trusts, government departments and communities to implement large-scale conservation solutions that benefit all stakeholders, local ecosystems, and national defense initiatives.
Our mission is to create a future where landowners can benefit financially from conservation while enhancing environmental health and supporting military readiness.
Through our collaboration with key stakeholders, we ensure that every project meets conservation goals while providing direct economic benefits to participating landowners, communities and employees.
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Joe Knott’s last assignment in the military was the Sustainability Program Manager at Headquarters, Department of the Army, where he was responsible for sustainability planning nationwide. His other Pentagon assignments included Program Director for the Army Compatible Use Buffer program, the Army’s premier land conservation and partnership program, which under his leadership conserved over 70,000 acres of working lands and natural resources.
After retiring from the Army, having served 33+ years in uniform, Joe then worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense before accepting a position with Compatible Lands Foundation (CLF).
Currently, as CLF’s Executive Director, Joe leads several unique resiliency partnerships with federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry. These partnerships include: 1) developing the US Department of Defense’s first climate change mitigation (forest carbon) buffer zone, and 2) establishing training and employment opportunities in sustainable agriculture for military Veterans.
Joe has a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Energy Resources Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies. Under President Obama Joe was awarded the 2013 White House Champion of Change award, and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, and a 2008 Kinship Conservation Fellow. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, four Meritorious Service Medals, and three Army Commendation Medals. Joe serves on the board of the United Nation’s Be Earth Foundation Intergovernmental Organization.
Joe and his wife Leslie reside outside Phoenix, AZ with their rescue dogs and enjoy boating on Canyon Lake in Tonto National Forest.
After a successful career as Founder and President of a solar company which implemented projects in seven nations Greg began the Opportunities Beyond Borders program which installed solar panels on schools in developing countries along with providing computers and teachers to educate the local population about technology growth.
He then became the first Canadian member admitted to the PPAF, a United Nations organization designed to facilitate public-private partnerships for the purpose of advancing sustainability in developing countries. Greg was appointed Chairperson of Canada to the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization at the United Nations in the Economic Social Division of the UN.
He worked with AOSIS, the Alliance of Small Island States, to establish a framework for developing, insuring and financing sustainable projects. Greg has led the development, finance structuring and implementation of projects in Africa, South America, Central America, North America and the EU.
Throughout his time working at the UN and in the private sector, Greg has arranged for the development, insurance partnerships, finance and implementation of over $1.8 billion of sustainable energy projects.
Nicholas is a chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Taxation in England. He has many years of experience in venture capital and corporate finance & structure and has acted as Finance Director for a number of client companies.
He spent four years in the United States, where he oversaw an investment program he had structured for investment by UK individuals into the US oil and gas industry.
He has been involved in the organization of finance, corporate structure and management of marine, power, energy, hotel, and media projects. For the past 8 years he has been the CFO for the Be Energy group of companies, specializing in renewable energy projects.
Leonard Jordan has spent more than four decades building a portfolio focused on conserving our natural resources. Having worked across the nation, Jordan has worked with several interest groups, government agencies and non-profit organizations to ensure that our environment is protected. His passion is to work with the American public, providing assistance that helps improve their lives and bring resilience to rural America.
As Acting Chief of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Leonard Jordan oversaw programs that preserve our natural resources and improve agricultural sustainability through voluntary, private-lands conservation. He led a staff of more than 10,000 employees across the country.
Leonard served as NRCS’ Associate Chief for Conservation 2013 to 2017 where he led the agency’s conservation mission area, including all of NRCS’ conservation programs. Leonard served as Regional Conservationist for the East from 2009 to 2012. He also previously served as State Conservationist in multiple states including Georgia and Washington State.
As a retired federal service leader, Leonard now offers consulting services to conservation minded organizations and landowners. When he’s not working to advance conservation and agriculture, Leonard enjoys gardening and fishing trips. He and his wife, Altregia, live in metro-Atlanta.
Mark Anderson has an extensive background in forestry and land management with 38+ years of experience as a forester and 16+ years in land real estate, at a federal, municipal, and private client level.
Mark worked for the U. S. Forest Service for 13 years on National Forests throughout Mississippi, with duties including fire behavior analyst, wildfire suppression, prescribed fire management and supervisory forester positions.
Then, Mark spent eight years employed by the City of Hattiesburg, MS, building and directing an urban forestry program to work with builders and developers by integrating smart land development with urban natural resources. Also, from 1998 to present, Mark has been a private client forestry consultant, managing timberlands for individuals, family estates, institutions and land trusts.
Mark’s formal educational background includes receiving a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management, Mississippi State University in 1986, and an Associate’s degree from Pearl River Community College in 1982. Mark graduated from Forrest County Agricultural High School, and while working with the U.S. Forest Service, he completed the Program of Advanced Studies of Silviculture.
Other qualifications and relevant membership include being an advisory board member for the Mississippi State University Forestry School, University of Southern Mississippi tree board, Lake Thoreau Education Center Advisory Board, Mississippi Forestry Association, and Forrest-Lamar County Forestry Association.
Mark is a MS Registered Forester, and a licensed real estate broker in Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia. Mark and his wife Lori reside in the Hattiesburg, MS area.
Renato is Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist for International Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley. In this capacity he is part of the Global Investment Office and is responsible for providing global investment direction and intellectualcapital to Morgan Stanley’s clients.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Renato was Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Link Capital Advisors LLC, an independent investment advisor serving select families manage and grow their global wealth, as well as providing tailored strategic advice to investors and companies on investments, real estate, financial and corporate governance issues. He served as a Board Member and Advisor to single family office Investment Committees.
Prior to Link Capital Advisors, Renato worked for UBS as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for the Latin America region, within the Global CIO Wealth Management Area, and covering clients of UBS AG (Switzerland) and UBS Financial Services Inc (USA). He spent 10 years as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Citi Private Bank, Latin America. Since joining the firm in 2006, he was a voting member of Citi Private Bank’s Global Investment Committee and chaired Citi’s Wealth Management’s Latin America and Brazil Investment Policy Committees. He also served as Head of Citi Private Bank’s New York Investment Center from 2008 to 2011, covering the regions of Latin America, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was also responsible for the regional Investment Counseling Team and the Investment Laboratory. Renato served as Global Chief Investment Officer for Citi Private Bank on an interim basis during 2009-2010 when Citi sold Smith Barney. As such, he was responsible for rebuilding the office of the Chief Investment Officer and Global Investment Committee functions, client research publications, marketing strategy and helped in the separation of investment products.
From 2009 to 2016, he was Chief Investment Officer for Citi’s Wealth Management in Latin America. He was part of the Management Committee working on the integration of the businesses and was responsible for providing intellectual capital to the following regional groups: Citi Private Bank, Banamex Advisory Board, Banamex Banca Privada & Patrimonial, International Personal Banking, Affluent and High Net Worth (AHS), Citigold Private Client, Citigold International, Banco de Chile, and Citi Brazil Asset Management. He also worked on Treasury & Trade Solutions and country-head initiatives.
Before joining Citigroup, he was Managing Director and Equity Portfolio Manager at GreenAm Advisors; a multistrategy hedgefund part of Paloma Partners. Before moving to the buy-side, Renato founded and headed Deutsche Bank’s Global Corporate Governance Research group. He pioneered corporate governance research by combining governance and financial analysis to identify company risk and investment opportunities. Prior to that, he was Director of Latin America Investment Strategy for Deutsche Bank in New York. Before that, he was Latin America Strategist for Merrill Lynch in New York. Before that, he was Economist with Wharton Econometrics Forecasting Associates, WEFA Group, in Philadelphia.
He is the Fintech Sector Co-Lead of the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York, the largest angel group in NY. Renato has actively participated in the reform of capital markets’ laws, regulations and listing standards in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Due to his research on this subject, Deutsche Bank was the only foreign financial institution invited to give testimony before the Brazilian Congress on the importance of the corporate law reform. He served as a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group and the Investor Responsibility Task Force, established by the World Bank/IFC/OECD Global Corporate Governance Forum.
He has been a speaker at many international forums on issues ranging from corporate governance to financial markets to investment strategy and economics. He has been a guest speaker to the Yale University School of Management’s MBA class of Prof. Ira Millstein. He has been a presenter at major policy conferences including the Commonwealth Central Bank Governors annual conference, the International Corporate Governance Network annual conference (which represents investors with over US$10 trillion in assets under management) and the Latin America Business Council (CEAL). He has written articles for the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), Institutional Investor Magazine, and The Financial Times, among others.
Renato completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, received a Master of Science in Economics with specialization in International Financial Economics and Econometrics from the University of Montreal. He graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a double major in International Business and Economics. He is fluent in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English. He was born in Brazil and lives in Greenwich, CT, with his wife and children.
We work closely with a variety of organizations to achieve our goals, including: