We are excited to announce three new additions to the Sierra Club’s Texas team. Kristal Ibarra-Rodríguez is our new Volunteer Coordinator based in Austin, Greg Harman is our new Clean Energy Organizer based in San Antonio, and Bryan Parras is our new Dirty Fuels Gulf Organizer based in Houston! These three new hires will play key roles in helping to build a justice-focused, environmental movement in the Lone Star state and help Texas achieve its clean energy future.
Greg Harman
Prior to joining the Sierra Club, Greg Harman worked for more than 15 years as a reporter and editor, writing extensively on environmental health and justice struggles in Texas and beyond. His work has appeared in the Austin Chronicle, Guardian Sustainable Business, Indian Country Today, Yes! Magazine, and Texas Observer, among many others, He has been honored by a range of media and environmental organizations. He was selected by the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter for its annual environmental reporting award in 1999 and 2009. His knowledge of San Antonio's many environmental challenges and opportunities is informed by his time as a staff writer and editor at the San Antonio Current, where he worked from 2007 to 2012. He is a former contributing editor for Texas Climate News and current a Master’s candidate in International Relations (emphasis on conflict transformation) at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.
Kristal Ibarra-Rodríguez
After serving as a long-time volunteer with the Sierra Club at both local and national levels, Kristal now works with Lone Star Chapter volunteer leaders and staff to develop and implement outreach programs that support the work of existing volunteers and aim to recruit new ones. Prior to this role, she conducted outreach on waste management practices in California with successful efforts toward achieving the ambitious goal of 75% waste diversion from landfills by 2020. Kristal is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, her home island, where she studied General Science with particular focus on Environmental Education and Sociology.
Bryan Parras
Bryan Parras is a co-founder of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (t.e.j.a.s.) based out of Houston. He serves as an advisor to the Gulf Coast Fund, and sits on the board of the Environmental Support Center. Bryan was recently awarded a Gulf Coast Fellowship and has been working to help organizations use media for education, organizing, and advocacy. He co-produces Nuestra Palabra on KPFT, Houston’s local Pacifica affiliate. He is currently acting as a Bridge the Gulf Fellow and helping to launch a new interactive website where communities along the Gulf Coast can share their stories through the use of blogs, video, and photography. Bryan has been trained by Augusto & Julian Boal as a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator. He has made presentations at various national Pedagogy & Theater of the Oppressed (TO) conferences and worked with communities in Buffalo, Chattanooga, and Harlingen. Bryan has also contributed to projects involving on-the-job environmental exposures of immigrant workers.