William Brown is a professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. He teaches several courses that combine science and theology with a special focus on ecology and “creation care.” He is the author of The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science and the Ecology of Wonder.

Peyton West is director of the Help for Threatened Wildlife Foundation at the Frankfurt Zoological Society and works with the Dialogue on Science, Education and Religion on initiatives concerning evangelical Christians and theological seminaries. She can address successful ways conservation scientists and religious groups are working together on environmental issues, such as the preservation of elephants.

Ruqayya Khan is an associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif. She is an expert on women in Islam and Islam in the digital age. She teaches courses on feminism in the Quran and Islam and environmentalism.

Bill Patenaude is a special lecturer of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. He is the chief author of Catholic Ecology, where he has speculated about what Pope Francis’ encyclical might contain. Contact via Chrissy Centazzo.

Veerabhadran Ramanathan is a distinguished professor of atmospheric and climate sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and an “ordinary academician” at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome. His work is expected to have contributed to Pope Francis’ encyclical.

Marc Morano is executive director of ClimateDepot.com and communications director at Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a conservative think tank in Washington that is skeptical of man-made climate change. He has been critical of Pope Francis’ involvement in climate change issues and his reliance on United Nations climate change data.