What do you do?:
I am a conservation biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity and my job is to help save plants and animals that are at risk of becoming extinct. My work combines environmental policy, science, and public awareness and includes researching, writing, campaigning, media relations, public speaking and online and community organizing.
What is a typical day like?:
Every day I check the daily legal newspaper of the federal government for announcements that affect endangered species or their habitat, and then I coordinate an advocacy response. I spend most of my time researching, writing, and communicating. I write policy documents that get submitted to federal and state agencies advocating on behalf of endangered species. I write press releases and other outreach materials and talk to journalists to try and get positive coverage of endangered species issues in the media. I organize petitions and comment letters from scientists and from the public advocating for protections for imperiled plants and animals. I travel a lot and participate on panels at scientific, public interest law, and community organizing events to build coalitions in support of the protection of endangered species and their habitat.
What was your path to get to where you are today?:
I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky, a beautiful place that has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, meaning many kinds of plants and animals are found there that are not found anywhere else on Earth. I became interested in environmental issues because in Appalachia coal companies literally blow the tops off of mountains to access seams of coal and then the toxic coal mining waste is dumped directly into streams, permanently filling in the streams and poisoning the downstream water supply for wildlife and people. I grew up playing in a creek and hiking in woods that were later destroyed by coal companies, and I became interested in environmental policy because I wanted to protect the mountains that I love. As I learned more about environmental issues, I became aware that environmental injustices are happening around the globe and that the planet is in the middle of a major extinction event that is being caused by humans. I decided to become a conservation biologist so that I could help save plants and animals from extinction. My English degree prepared me for the writing and media relations component of my career, and my biology masters prepared me for the scientific research component. As an undergraduate I worked as a community service organizer, and in between college and graduate school I served as an AmeriCorps volunteer and then as a conservation corps crew leader focused on environmental education and ecological restoration.
What makes you excited to go to work every day?:
I am excited to go to work because my job is to save plants and animals that are on the brink of extinction. I am passionate about raising awareness that environmental justice, endangered species, and public health are all connected. Many of the factors that harm endangered species also disproportionately affect poor and minority communities. Protecting endangered species and the habitat and climate they need to survive helps make the planet healthier for everyone. Many corporations and politicians have actively sought to make environmental protection a partisan issue and have successfully created the misguided and pessimistic perception that protecting the environmental is harmful to the economy. Long term economic prosperity is dependent on a healthy environment, and it is possible for us to create a green economy that protects public health and endangered species.
Degree:
B.A. English, Minors: Environmental Studies, Spanish (Berea College, KY) 1998; M.S. Biology (PSU) 2007