|
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, and
launched her own greeting card company in 2010. Aislinn has lived in
Salem ten years with her husband and 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. As Salem Audubon Education
Chair, she is involved in extending
outreach to elementary students in Marion and Polk counties through their
"Traveling Programs" to inspire understanding and appreciation for wildlife,
habitat, and environmental conservation. She lives in West Salem and has a daughter and
son attending the University of Oregon.
Karen Arabas, Vice-President
Originally from Pennsylvania, Karen
Arabas migrated to the Pacific Northwest with her family in 1996
when she joined the faculty at Willamette University as a professor
of Environmental Science and Geography. She teaches courses in
biogeography, water resources, forest ecology and policy,
sustainability, and introductory environmental science. Her
research interests center on questions about natural and human
disturbances to forests. She uses tree rings to help interpret past disturbances, such as fire and climate, and their impacts on
central Oregon forests, and she is currently working on a project
tracking historical changes in oak habitat in the Willamette Valley.
Karen has served on the Salem Environmental Commission and on the
education committee for the FSELC. She holds a Ph.D. in
Geography (Pennsylvania State University), and M.A. in Environmental
Resources Policy (George Washington University) and a B.A. in
Environmental Science (Wesleyan University).
Luca
DeStefanis
Luca De Stefanis
has over thirteen years of experience in the areas of environmental
and conservation analysis, planning, design, and implementation.
Currently, he is the Natural Resource Planner for Frentana
Environmental Services and the Natural Resource Conservation
Service. Luca’s passion for the environment extends throughout
Oregon: He is the Secretary for the Oregon Soil & Water Conservation
Society, and an active member of the Pringle Creek Watershed
Council. He sits on several advisory committees for water quality in
Willamette Valley and rural and urban issues, and he is part of the
Frank Lloyd Wright sustainable building committee. He has completed
Graduate studies in Environmental Management & Planning from
Portland State University and possesses a Bachelor of Science in
Biology from the University of Montana. Having explored fifteen
countries, Luca enjoys global travel, long distance biking around
Oregon, and Italian cooking with an emphasis on comfort food in his
free time.
Nitin Joshi
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.
Gail McEwen,
Secretary
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.
Jenny McNally
Interested in sustainable and urban design, Jenny has worked on a
wide range of new and renovation projects throughout the Western US.
Her management strengths have guided projects from early design
through engineering and construction. Jenny has a Bachelor of
Architecture from the University of Oregon and completed studies at
the Danish School of Design in Copenhagen and the Portland Urban
Design Center. Jenny built her first car during high school,
continues the joy of restoring classic automobiles with her family,
and is an active organizer of various community events.
Kendra Mingo
Kendra works at Willamette University as the
Assistant Director in the Office for Faculty Research and Resources,
where she assists faculty and staff to find grant opportunities and
secure external resources for their research and teaching.
Kendra received
her BS in Biology from Lewis and Clark
College in 1990 and a MA in Environmental, Population and Organismic
Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1997. Prior
to coming to Willamette University in 2005, Kendra helped to direct
the community outreach and education programs of two National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Centers at Oregon State
University, where she developed programs to increase public understanding of the role environmental factors play in human health and disease. She has also successfully translated science topics for
the general public and K-12 audiences working with organizations
like the University of Colorado’s Biological Sciences Institute,
Reed College’s Science Outreach Program, the Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry, and the Science and Math Investigative
Learning Experiences Program at Oregon State University.
Linda Nishioka
Linda is employed at Willamette Ear,
Nose, Throat and Facial Plastic Surgery as the Facial Plastics
Department Manager. She is also the Green Team Leader for that
clinic as well as for River Road Surgery Center. After having
completed the Marion County Master Recycling Program she developed
the first full medical recycling program in Marion County (based on
Providence Hospital’s nationally recognized program in Portland) as
well as leading Willamette ENT & FP Surgery and River Road Surgery
Center to become the first EarthWISE Certified business in Marion
County. Linda has worked in dental and medical offices for over
thirty years. She received her BS from OHSU and is currently
working on her MBA at Marylhurst University. She received her
Sustainable Enterprise Certification from Willamette University in
2009.
Alan Pennington
Alan Pennington is an Arkansas native
who graduated with a BA in Biology from Hendrix College in 1982.
Prior to moving to the Salem area in 1997, Alan was a science and
math teacher in three foreign countries—Indonesia, Spain, and North
Carolina. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1999 with a
Master’s Degree in Environmental Health and then worked at the City
of Salem as a Natural Resource Outreach Specialist and at Dayton
Junior High as a 6th grade science teacher. He joined
Marion County’s Public Works as a Waste Reduction Coordinator in the
summer of 2008 and heads up the EarthWISE program for the county.
He is happily married to Leona Guthrie and has two children—Emmett
and Aaron.
James
Santana
Born and raised in Oregon, James spent his summers on
the 30-acre family farm on Pringle Road, where he now lives. Since
2005 he has worked for Pringle Creek Community, an innovative
low-impact development in South Salem, as Sustainability Analyst and
Community Organizer, his focus being sustainable design, planning
and environmental education. James received a BA in French and
Political Science from Seattle University, where in 1999 he helped
design one of Seattle’s first LEED-certified buildings. Before
moving to the farm three years ago, he bicycled the US west coast
and 800 miles of the US-Mexico Border, spent six months sailing a
38-ft sloop from Atlantic to Pacific, and traversed Central America
by bus. In 2005 he co-founded Flower Power Biodiesel Co-op and more
recently joined the board of Pringle Creek Watershed Council.
John Savage,
Treasurer
John Savage is an Oregon Public Utility Commissioner. John 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, and Salem Library 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.
Jon Yoder,
President
Jon
was a Biology teacher at North Salem High School for 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.
|
