Current Leadership Grants

Following is a list of this year's Switzer Leadership Program Grants.  These grants are awarded to organizations working with a Switzer Fellow on projects that address critical environmental issues, increase the capacity of the organization to address the issue, and provide ample leadership development opportunities for the Switzer Fellow.

Tompkins, Mark - American Rivers Spring 2010 (LG)

Ecological Leadership for California's Flood Management Future
Nevada City, CA
$30,000

Mark TompkinsAmerican Rivers has hired Dr. Mark Tompkins to serve as a technical and policy advisor in high-level stakeholder deliberations on California’s Central Valley Flood Management Plan.  Mark will develop technical studies, provide engineering knowledge, and submit testimony to demonstrate the benefits of ecologically sensitive flood management policy.  American Rivers has been a leading advocate and stakeholder in the initial stages of the two-year Central Valley Flood Management Plan process.  It is leading the effort to advance a new paradigm of non-structural flood risk management that focuses on multiple benefits, including effective public safety and flood protection, restored riverine ecosystems, and resiliency against climate change.  This approach entails restrictions on floodplain development, changes in building codes, planning to encourage sustainable infrastructure, additional land for rivers to flood, changes in reservoir management, and a watershed-wide approach.  Mark will provide needed technical expertise to the organization throughout the process.

Johnson, Doug - California Invasive Plants Council - Spring 2010 (LG)

California Invasive Species Advisory Committee
Berkeley, CA
$25,000

Doug JohnsonUnder this Leadership Grant, Doug Johnson, Executive Director of the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC), will spend a portion of his time acting as Chair of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee.  The Committee is the working group of the Invasive Species Council of California, created in February, 2009, comprised of the secretaries of six state agencies.  Under Doug’s direction, the Committee will develop a comprehensive list of invasive species currently found in California as well as those expected to arrive in California, and to draft the strategic plan for managing them based on input from a 24-member Advisory Committee which includes diverse stakeholders from government agencies, farming groups, NGOs, universities and nursery growers, among others.

Jones, Meagan - Whale Trust - Spring 2010 (LG)

Executive Director
Maui, HI
$40,000

Meagan JonesWhale Trust received this Leadership Grant to hire Meagan Jones as its first full-time Executive Director.  Meagan was one of the founders of the organization in 2001 and has been involved with the organization from the start.  This year, she will work closely with Whale Trust’s board of directors to develop and begin implementation of a three-year strategic and fundraising plan, with the ultimate goal of building a regional public education and research center in Hawaii.  Meagan’s specific objectives for the year as she guides Whale Trust through its next phase of growth and development will include conducting an in-depth strategic organizational plan; developing a long term fundraising plan; developing plans for the public research and education center; and exploring collaborative opportunities with the University of Hawaii-Maui.

Wilson, Michael P. - Year Two, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry - Spring 2010 (LG)

Chemicals Policy and Green Chemistry Program Development
Berkeley, CA
$30,000

Dr. Michael WilsonDr. Michael P. Wilson received a second year of funding to continue his role as a public interest research scientist in chemicals policy at UC Berkeley.  Mike will serve in his new role as Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s new Center for Green Chemistry.  He will continue to play a leadership role in the adoption of Green Chemistry as a discipline and as a unifying concept for applied science and practice at Berkeley.  Mike’s objectives for the second year will include providing leadership for the Center for Green Chemistry’s institutional structure, curriculum development and research initiatives; strengthening relationships with labor, business and NGOs on worker-training curriculum and chemicals policy reform; providing technical support to California EPA and the state legislature and serving on scientific advisory panels and legislative committees; and continuing his outreach role in public speaking, publication, and media engagement.

Mytar, Misha - Year 2, Maine Department of Conservation - Spring 2010 (LG)

Year Two - Senior Planner
Hancock and Washington Counties, Maine
$30,000

Misha MytarThis grant provides a second year of funding for Misha Mytar’s position as Senior Planner in Maine’s Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands.  Misha’s work focuses on enhancing the economic and community development potential of conservation lands in rural downeast Maine.  Misha’s work for this second year will continue to involve acting as a bridge between local and state-level planning needs.  This region of Maine has great potential for economic development based on the amount of conservation lands acquired in recent years and the corresponding potential for nature-based tourism.  Misha provides needed state staff resources while continuing to be an active participant in local initiatives in this remote area.

Menten, Beckie - California PUC - Spring 2010 (LG)

Building Energy Efficiency in California
Berkeley, CA
$40,000

Beckie MentenBeckie Menten will work as a consultant with the California Public Utilities Commission in researching and developing energy efficiency implementation strategies to incorporate the goals of the recently adopted Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan into state and local government policies.  Beckie will work closely with city and county officials in California to help them design, implement, and finance building energy efficiency programs.  In the absence of Congressional action on climate policy, California has been a national leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, passing the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) which requires the state to reduce GHGs to 1990 levels by 2020.  Energy efficiency improvements in the building sector represent a significant untapped reservoir of energy savings and GHG reductions.  With the combination of AB32 requirements, stimulus funding, and new municipal financing programs, California is poised to launch the nation’s largest building retrofit program and achieve dramatic energy savings.  Beckie will take the lead role within the Energy and Efficiency Planning Section to monitor and facilitate local government participation in retrofit programs.

K. Smith - 2010 - Consulting Senior Scientist, Wildlife Importation Risks (Year Two)

Year Two, Consulting Senior Scientist, Wildlife Importation Risks
Providence, RI and New York, NY
8,000

Kate SmithTo continue funding for Kate Smith's position as Consulting Senior Research Scientist so she can complete the risk analysis on diseases and live animal importation, with the end goal of improving wildlife trade regulations at a critical time in the legislative process.  This second year of funding will provide Kate with the opportunity to finish the bieconomic risk assessment of the importation of exotic species into the U.S.  This assessment looks at risks to the U.S. economy as well as risks of disease and invasion potential.  Kate has played a significant role in presenting the ongoing results of the assessment to national and international audiences, bringing this issue to attention of policy makers and scientists.  The results of this assessment will be used to shape U.S. policy on wildlife trade.

Mulvaney - 2010 - Clean and Just Solar Energy Initiative (Year Two)

Year Two, Clean and Just Solar Energy Initiative
San Jose, CA
20,000

Dustin MulvaneyTo build on the success of Dustin's first year researching the safety and sustainability of the solar photovoltaic industry, expanding the investigation of solar energy manufacturing and recycling and to make the information accessible to industry, workers, legislators, investors, and the public.  Based on Dustin’s research so far, SVTC is ready to move into the next phase of this campaign, calling for an industry-wide take-back and recycling initiative.  A second year of funding will allow Dustin to expand his work to include the issue of toxics and the potential for green chemistry in the solar industry, collaborating with colleagues at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

St. Antoine - 2010 - Connecting Families with Nature (Year 2)

Year Two, Connecting Families with Nature
Cambridge, MA
20,000

Sara St. AntoineTo continue Sara St. Antoine's consulting role as the organization expands and refines its outreach materials, and to allow Sara to take on a greater range of writing, editing and evaluative responsibilities.  Sara will continue to take the lead on refining, updating and editing the family activities resources to keep them timely and relevant, but she will also contribute to the development and dissemination of a national survey on the public’s attitudes towards children and nature.  In addition, Sara will begin writing a weekly blog that will appear prominently on the C&NN website in 2010.  Sara has also facilitated a relationship between C&NN and WGBH, the Boston-area public television station, in which C&NN will play an advisory role on a television show being developed to teach kids about systems thinking and the natural world.