Meet the judges

André is our AGAIAC judge foreman and the founder of Aquabase, which introduced Nature Aquarium to Brazil and inspired the Brazilian style of aquascaping. He judges contests around the world and speaks internationally on aquascaping and the Wabi Sabi concept.

Dave won the Grand Prize at the 2007 IAPLC, the first from Hong Kong to do it, and has kept placing ever since, including a Bronze Prize at the 2011 IAPLC and 1st place at the 2014 AGA contest. He's spent his career pushing the idea of the aquascape as living art.

Frederick is a pro-scaper from Germany who has been designing custom aquariums for stores and private clients since 2015. His contest record runs from EAPLC wins to two AGA Top Ten finishes, and he's judged more than 20 international events.

Gloria is an Italian aquascaper, writer, and educator who ranked in the IAPLC Top 100 in 2021. She judged the AGAIAC and KIAC in 2025 and spends a lot of her time teaching through workshops and publications.

Stu is a British aquascaper and photographer who has been scaping since 2009, with a 54th IAPLC world ranking and a 2017 Art of Planted Aquarium win. He's judged the IIAC and worked with brands like Fluval and Tropica.

Cheatta has been keeping planted tanks for nearly 50 years and developed his own signature "Garden Style" built around healthy, colorful, diverse plant growth. He's no stranger to the AGAIAC either, winning 1st in Dutch in 2022 and multiple Wabi Kusa placings.

Dennis is the creator of The 2hr Aquarist, where he digs into the technical side of the hobby through hands-on experimentation. He's known for sharing propagation methods for tough plants like Eriocaulon quinquangulare and has judged the AGAIAC, ITAC, EAPLC, and more.

Mike co-founded Aquarium Design Group with his brother Jeff in 2000, designing, installing, and maintaining aquariums and paludariums of every style. He's been keeping tanks since he was five and had the honor of knowing Takashi Amano.

Bailin has chaired the AGA Contest and served as a judge since 2007, and joined the AGA Board of Directors in 2010. He founded the Chicago Aquatic Plant Society in 2016 and still leads it as president, with CAPS hosting dozens of Wabi Kusa workshops to introduce people to the art form.

Ivan is a river explorer who has spent years documenting freshwater life in the wild and advocating for its protection. His new book, Flora of the Orinoco, covers the plants he's recorded across the Orinoco basin.

Tai is a freshwater biologist and writer who worked as an aquarist at ZSL London Zoo. He lived and worked in Brazil's Pantanal for years and is the author of the upcoming book Aquatic Habitats.

Kapil is an aquatic ecologist and conservation biologist with more than three decades in the hobby, starting with his local aquarium society at age three. He's explored aquatic habitats across North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and India.

Rodrigo is a zoologist and wildlife filmmaker focused on freshwater fish in their natural habitats. He's currently documenting species across Southeast Asia, showing the ecology and behavior of fish most people only know from aquariums.

Bart is a well-known speaker on aquariums and terrariums in the Netherlands, with many awards at home and abroad. He'd love to see more Dutch Style entries from around the world every year.

Vin goes back to the early days of the planted tank hobby in the US and wrote the "Tips & Tricks for the Dutch Aquascape" series for The Aquatic Gardener, now a free guide on the AGA site. His nutrient experiments and steady stream of new species keep his Dutch scapes anything but predictable.

Joe found Dutch style in 2008 while looking for ideas for a cichlid tank and never looked back. He won the Dutch category in his first AGA contest in 2017 and has added six more Top Three AGAIAC finishes since.

Nick has nearly 20 years of experience across nature style, Dutch, Iwagumi, blackwater, biotopes, and paludariums. His third paludarium ever took 1st place at the 2020 AGAIAC.

David is an aquascaper and educator who blends artistic vision with careful technique. He placed 3rd in the 2024 AGAIAC Riparium class, and 25th at the CIAC.

Jack founded STUDIO AQUATICA, a product design studio for the aquatic industry. He's known for his expertise in Wabi Kusa and emersed plant care, and writes and lectures on it nationally. He's also experienced in biotopes and nature-focused layouts, and his 2025 AGAIAC entry won first place in the Biotope category.

Jo Ann is a horticulturist by training who now enjoys plants as a hobbyist. She serves as Vice President of the Chicago Aquatic Plant Society and is a regular judge of the AGAIAC Wabi Kusa category.