From The Jersey Sierran, July - September 2022
By Richard Isaac, Richard.Isaac@Sierraclub.org
A Fond Farewell
Sadly, one of our staff members, Megan Steele, has resigned to take a new job at a higher level. The good news is she’s staying with the Sierra Club.
While I’m happy for Megan and her next adventure, I will definitely miss her—she was one of the best staff persons we’ve had since our Chapter began hiring staff over 30 years ago. Megan was really good at communications—everything from effectively utilizing social media and a variety of software packages (including geographic information systems mapping software) to simply and effectively speaking with others. In particular, Megan was an incredibly good writer, and we were very lucky to have her.
Megan has been promoted within the Sierra Club and is now working at the national level as an online organizer within the Digital Strategies Department, where she has been assigned to work on the Our Wild America (OWA) Campaign. Her job will be to develop digital engagement strategies and help the campaign achieve its set priorities and goals, including planning, strategizing, and implementing online education and mobilization efforts.
I’m convinced that because of where Megan is now working, the Sierra Club nationally is even better staffed than it was previously! Good luck, Megan!
Welcome Back
In an interesting development, Jamie Zaccaria, one of our former staff members, is now back in the area and is working with us as a volunteer!
While working for our Chapter, Jamie was our communications and legislative coordinator. In that capacity, Jamie researched, wrote, and edited articles for our Chapter’s electronic newsletter and did social media, action alerts, flyers, fact sheets, etc., and helped grow our social presence. In addition, she promoted our chapter’s legislative and regulatory agenda to constituents via action alerts and in the media.
After leaving, Jamie spent three years at Panthera, an organization focused on the conservation of the world’s 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems. It partners with local and international nongovernmental organizations, scientific institutions, local communities, governments around the globe, and citizens who want to help ensure a future for wild cats and the vast landscapes on which they depend.
Currently, Jamie works for the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), a nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the ocean and seeking out new discoveries in several fields including geology, chemistry, and biology, while pushing the boundaries of engineering, technology, education, and communications. The OET has a 68-meter research vessel (the EV Nautilus), which travels around the globe and most recently has been doing deep ocean research in the vicinity of Hawaii. Jamie, as an employee, was on it!
Utilizing her strong wildlife conservation background, Jamie is now chairing our Chapter’s new Wild and Endangered Species Committee. She and her committee are working with a pro bono attorney to strengthen legislative language that would make it impossible to get around restrictions on leghold traps.
In addition, Jamie has also signed up and registered as a representative for the Club with the NJ Forest Stewardship Task Force, which will be working to support our state’s forests. With her background, Jamie should be able to help the Forest Stewardship Task Force a lot. Welcome back, Jamie!
Congratulations
Congratulations are in order for Taylor McFarland for her recent promotion to Chapter Conservation Program Manager!
Taylor is now working with Chapter Director Anjuli Ramos-Busot to organize and implement Chapter conservation programs, campaigns, and initiatives according to priorities set by our Chapter Executive Committee, such as public lands protection, transportation planning, renewable energy expansion, and energy equity. In addition, Taylor will work with Anjuli to develop organizing strategies and priorities for our Chapter’s various campaigns.
Taylor has a BS in business administration, concentrating in environmental studies, and an MS in sustainability science, concentrating in applied sustainability, a program where individuals learn to monitor, analyze, predict, and find ways to respond to environmental change. With her additional job experience as a legislative aide and in the environmental field—including over four years working for our Chapter (several months of which she thankfully stepped in as our acting director)—Taylor is clearly prepared and fully capable of doing an outstanding job in this new capacity.
As is Anjuli, I’m glad we have Taylor in this new position and look forward to her success with our Chapter moving forward! Congratulations, Taylor!