Board of Directors
Aislinn Adams
Aislinn worked as a free-lance graphic designer for many years before specializing as an illustrator. She combined a lifelong interest in the environment with her career by working on many projects for the National Parks and Monuments Service in Ireland interpreting the human and natural history of ancient Irish monuments. She returned to school to study horticulture and specialize in native plant gardening. She now combines both careers by illustrating plants and insects and gardening with natives. Aislinn has lived in Salem five years with her husband and four-year old daughter.
Laurie Aguirre
A country tomboy, from Southern Oregon, Laurie comes by her care and concern for the earth naturally. She has been teaching since 1983 in places such as Grants Pass, Roseburg, Sublimity and Salem. For the past four years she has been Environmental Coordinator and second grade teacher at Forest Ridge Elementary/Optimum Learning Environments Charter, an award winning charter school within the public school system. Her students disseminate environmental information to other schools, the community and the public in the form of Power Point Presentations on a variety of topics. She lives in West Salem and has a sixteen year old daughter and nineteen year old son.
David Furr
David works as the Utilities Coordinator for Salem Keizer Public Schools, tracking utility use and costs to find ways of maximizing efficiency. He worked for 12 years as a cabinetmaker and finish carpenter, and for 10 years at Oregon Department of Energy finding energy solutions for schools and residences. He works to promote the practical environmentalism that arises when people are motivated and have understanding. He has a BS in Technical Journalism (Energy minor) from Oregon State, an Energy Management Certificate from NW Energy Education Institute and participates in various environmental and facility groups.
Gail is currently horticulture instructor at Chemeketa Community College, where she is developing a two-year horticulture program focusing on the nursery and greenhouse industry and emphasizing sustainable horticultural practices. In the past Gail has served as Education Director at the Oregon Garden and as an OSU Horticulture Extension Agent in Yamhill County. Environmental education has been a central theme of her teaching throughout her career, and she hopes to help make Bob and Pat Straub ELC a vital community center for environmental education in the mid-Willamette Valley.
Nitin works as the Water Resources Program Manager with Public Works Department of the City of Salem. Water Resources Program is involved in all the environmental permitting and policymaking issues, related to water, for Public Works and also provides the staff liaisons to the various watershed councils within City of Salem. As the Chair of the Groundwater Advisory Committee he is involved with the State Water Resources Department in advising the Water Resources Commission regarding policies related to Groundwater. A Civil Engineer by training, he has a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from California State University, Sacramento.
Jon Mayer
Jon was raised among the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas in a close-knit community of small family farms. As a farm kid he learned very early to respect the earth and what it provides. Jon graduated from Kansas State University in 2000 with a degree in Park Resource Management. In 2001 Jon was hired by the Oregon Department of Forestry to develop, from the ground up, the education and recreation program for the Santiam State Forest. His emphasis has been on creating sustainable recreation opportunities, protecting forest resources and providing natural resource outreach programs to local communities.
Gail McEwen
Gail received a BS in Geology from Georgia State University, a MS in Oceanography from Oregon State University and a JD from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College. She worked for three years as a Coastal Planner in Tillamook County, eight years for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, and fourteen years for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Gail works for the Oregon Consensus Program at Portland State University.
Bailey Payne
Bailey grew up in McMinnville, Oregon and moved to Santa Cruz, CA where he received a B.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of California. After graduation, he worked with the Peace Corps as an environmental awareness educator with environmental groups and the Dominican Republic National Park Service. He returned to California and taught elementary school in Kettleman City while earning a teaching credential from Chapman University. In March of 2002, Bailey began working with Marion County as a Recycling Coordinator.
John Savage is an Oregon Public Utility Commissioner. Savage has worked in the energy and utility field more than twenty five years including eight years as the head of the Oregon Department of Energy under Oregon Governors Roberts and Kitzhaber. Currently, he is Chair of the Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center, President of the Willamette Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, and on the board of the Pringle Creek Watershed Council, Marion County Weed Advisory Council, Salem Library Foundation, and Salem Parks Foundation.
Robin Straughan
Robin works at the Oregon Department of Energy as the Renewable Energy Program Coordinator. In this capacity, she assesses issues and barriers to development of renewable energy resources in Oregon, proposes and analyzes policy changes, and responds to public inquiries about renewable technologies. Her background includes a BS in geology from the University of Notre Dame and a Certificate of Public Management from Willamette University. She grew up in Pendleton, but has lived in the Willamette Valley since 1998. Before joining the Department of Energy, she worked in areas of agricultural research, public outreach, environmental site assessment, and natural resources conservation and restoration.Suzie Torre
Suzie is a recent graduate from Willamette University with a BA in Biology and Environmental Science. She has experience in the business world with the twelve years prior to returning to college spent in the Accounting, Payroll, and/or Benefit Administration departments of various for-profit companies. The last three years have been with the League of Women Voters of Oregon where she maintained their membership database and tracked the success of fundraising mailers.
Jon has been a Biology teacher at North Salem High School for the past twenty-two years. He has been involved in coordinating the Mill Creek project, a restoration and educational project along Mill Creek, and efforts to build the SELC. He is interested in connecting student-citizens to authentic experiences in the community. Jon is also the Secondary Education Coordinator for the Northwest Center for Sustainable Development, which involves conducting teacher institutes and writing educational manuals.
The Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center's bylaws are also available.