October 13, 2021
My commitment to environmental advocacy and my passion for nature is life-long, starting with developing inner-city gardens as a teen, becoming a science teacher and an environmental educator in the New York City and Buffalo public schools, and a hiking and biking trip leader for American Youth Hostels as a young adult. I graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a degree in Environmental Science and began a forty year career working in Parks Department management. I held many positions in the New York City Department of Parks, including the Central Park Landscape Manager, the Director of the Parks Opportunity Program (the nation’s largest welfare-to-work jobs training program) and the Rockaway Parks Administrator, where I managed the restoration of the beaches and wetlands following Hurricane Sandy. In 2015 I became the Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation for the Town of North Hempstead, where I prioritized open space management and habitat restoration. Other jobs that I’ve held include instructor with the New York City Street Tree Consortium and the Gardening and Horticulture Education Program Coordinator at the New York Botanical Gardens. All of these experiences provided me with an opportunity to gain insight and skills, while acting locally and thinking globally.
With the current political climate and growing concerns about climate change and environmental degradation, advocacy for the environment is more important than ever. I am a proud long time member of the Sierra Club. I joined the Long Island Group Executive Committee in February of 2020, am on the Political Committee and serve as the group’s Conservation Chairperson. I aspire to be an At Large Delegate to the Atlantic Chapter Executive Committee and to continue to work to advance the interests of the Club and its members.