$40,000 for 12 months
To hire Amy Rogers as a Pinchot Institute Research Fellow to develop research and conservation plans that will create an ecologically and economically sustainable wildlife corridor connecting the two most significant remaining forest tracts in the Ecuadorian Choco forest.

This project will allow Amy Rogers to begin the implementation of conservation plans that build on her PhD research in the Choco Forest in northwestern Ecuador. This region has been named a global biodiversity \"hot spot\" because of the staggering rate of deforestation and the high levels of biodiversity. The region has less than 4% of its original forest cover, most of which is located within forest preserves in Esmeraldas Province. Amy’s research has focused on reforestation science and strategies to link existing reserves and foster the regeneration of this unique tropical forest ecosystem. This collaboration represents an integration of Amy’s research on reforestation in the Mache-Chindul Reserve with the research and conservation being undertaken by Pinchot Institute and Fundacion Jatun Sacha at the nearby Cotachaci-Cayapas Reserve.

Beverly Craig (1994)
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp.
Dorchester, MA

$35,000 for 12 months
To provide a second year of funding to allow Beverly Craig to build on the work she’s accomplished during the first year of her Leadership Grant collaboration with Dorchester Bay EDC, working on brownfields redevelopment and green building, as well as assisting the organization in developing a policy on fostering green jobs in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Bev (third from right, in photo) was hired last year through a Leadership Grant to add capacity to DBEDC to work on a number of real estate and community development projects that involve brownfields remediation and redevelopment. The first year projects were the demolition and clean up of a gas station site and an adjacent service station to form the base for the Bowdoin-Geneva (neighborhood) Community Center that would be a Silver LEED building, and redevelopment plans for a defunct factory (Maxwell Box) into a small business incubator or mixed use property. A second year of funding will allow Bev to finish overseeing the environmental cleanup of the gas station site for the community center which is underway, and to provide LEED documentation for the Community Center. She will also help DBEDC develop a policy for how to foster green jobs in Dorchester and assist with other projects in which brownfields remediation, smart growth, green design and green jobs can be a factor.

Jason Selwitz (2006)
Green Empowerment
Portland, OR

$30,000 for 12 months
To provide a second year of funding for Jason Selwitz as Director of the Service Learning Department.

Green Empowerment (GE) works with NGO partners in developing countries in southeast Asia and Latin America to develop renewable energy and potable water projects in rural subsistence-level communities. GE’s role is to provide technical expertise, limited manpower, and a funding source to local NGO partners for these projects. GE works with micro-hydro, wind, and photovoltaic technologies. Jason (far left, in photo) will receive a second year of funding to provide continuity in his new position as Director of the Service Learning Department, allowing him to expand and institutionalize this new Department, which is the outreach and education arm of the organization. The primary goal of the Service Learning Department is to educate U.S. citizens about renewable energy and water issues in the developing world by engaging them to participate in educational workshops and GE’s technology installation projects around the world. Jason will continue to be responsible for managing GE’s partnerships with universities, and for the workshops and installation projects that GE sponsors.

Katherine Smith (2004)
The Wildlife Trust
New York, NY

$40,000 for 12 months
To hire Kate Smith as Senior Research Scientist with the Consortium for Conservation Medicine (CCM) to oversee three projects, all aimed at preventing negative outcomes associated with the importation of live animals into the U.S.

Kate will work with CCM to build on an existing suite of projects started during her work with the organization over the past two years under her David H. Smith Conservation Fellowship. The three projects are as follows: (1) developing Conservation Care Sheets for the company PETCO on the conservation implications of pet ownership, particularly with regard to releasing exotic pets into the wild; (2) conducting risk assessments for live animal imports into the U.S. with an eye towards advocating for stricter regulation where appropriate; and (3) launching a program conceived by Kate during her Smith fellowship called PetWatch, a program which will give consumers an at-a-glance rating for which animal species are acceptable to have as pets and which to avoid and why. The environmental issue being addressed with all thre projects is the increasing problem of exotic animal releases into the wild in the U.S., presenting hazards to native wildlife and human health and well-being. Kate will be based at Brown University where she is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Lara Hansen (1995)
American Rivers
Washington, D.C.

$40,000 for 12 months
To hire Lara Hansen as a consultant to work jointly with American Rivers and the Sierra Club on implementing climate change adaptation measures in the Puget Sound region. Lara will be the resource person on climate adaptation strategies, pulling together the concurrent efforts and complementary expertise of these two national organizations towards on-the-ground adaptation measures and policy/management change.

American Rivers and the Sierra Club each have active campaigns focusing on climate change, and protection and restoration of species and habitats, in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Lara Hansen will provide critical expertise to each organization on climate change adaptation measures, forming a ‘hub’ of information on the latest adaptation science. This work will help to refine specific ongoing campaigns of each organization allowing them to increase their overall effectiveness in protecting rivers and lands in the Puget Sound.

Lisa Bunin (1994)
The Center for Food Safety
San Francisco, CA

$33,000 for 12 months
To provide a second year of funding for Lisa Bunin’s role as Campaigns Director at the Center for Food Safety (CFS) where she develops, directs, implements and evaluates all CFS programs and campaigns to be sure they are appropriately aligned with the organization’s mission and direction.

During this second year in her position as Campaigns Director, Lisa will continue to oversee CFS programs to ensure they are robust, with the appropriate mix of research, policy, advocacy, education/outreach, and activism as the organization celebrates its 10-year anniversary. She will also play an integral role in the strategic visioning work of the organization, including working with staff at all levels and with an outside consultant to facilitate the creation of an organizational vision statement, and with creating a visual “brand” for CFS. CFS has developed a vision of major change in the American food system by 2020. Lisa’s unifying work in the organization will be integral to keeping up the momentum it has gained since she started eight months ago.

Nicole Ardoin (2002)
Environmental Grantmakers Association
New York, NY

$20,000 for 12 months
To hire Nicole Ardoin as an EGA Research Fellow documenting trends in funding for environmental education, particularly with regard to the funding of non-traditional, innovative programs.

The Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) recently instituted a research fellowship program whereby every year it contracts with a scholar to undertake research designed to inform the environmental philanthropic community on a variety of issues. This year, EGA is contracting with Switzer Fellow Nicole Ardoin to address a growing need for more information on trends in environmental education. The basis for Nicole’s research is that some environmental funders have reported they have seen reductions in the amount of funding going to traditional schools-based environmental education programs. They have hypothesized that what is happening is less a disinterest in funding traditional environmental education projects, but more likely funders are being presented with a greater diversity of types of projects under the environmental education umbrella. The field of environmental education may be changing to include more alternative strategies for engaging school-aged youth in the environmental movement, including social and environmental justice issues, or community recycling programs. EGA is contracting with Nicole to research this trend to inform EGA’s member funders and to broaden the environmental community’s knowledge of what constitutes environmental education today.

Will Yandik (2007)
Hubbard Brook Research Foundation
Hanover, NH

$40,000 for 12 months
To hire Will Yandik as full-time staff in charge of the policy and outreach components of Hubbard Brook Research Foundation’s Science Links Carbon Project.

The Carbon Project is a collaborative effort headed by the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (HBRF) working with a national team of 16 academic scientists to develop standardized methods for calculating carbon sources and sinks in the northeastern U.S. The work under this project will culminate in the development and implementation of a carbon calculator to be used at the regional/county level to help states and municipalities compare and contrast various regulatory scenarios as they pertain to carbon emissions. Will Yandik has been hired to develop the outreach component of the project as HBRF takes the science to the public. This project will build on Will’s background in journalism and environmental sciences, utilizing his communication skills to build capacity for HBRF in its efforts to inform the public about the science being conducted at the facility. The overarching goal of the Carbon Project, and Will’s role in it, is to provide accessible and understandable information on climate change science and carbon calculation to state, regional and local governments.