Organizer Profiles

The Green Corps Class of 2013

 

Front Row (left to right):  Lisa Trope, Kelly Ford, Caroline Wooten, Brinkley Hutchings, Heather MacKenzie

 2nd row:  Dani Neuharth-Keusch, Lucy Sedgwick, Larissa Pittenger, Hanna Saltzman, Alyse Opatowski, Katherine Sawyer, Katie Siegner, Yong Jung Cho, Annie Sanders, Kara Kaufman, Jennifer Rubiello

3rd row: Peter Sargent, Charlotte Olena, Charlotte Bartter, Hannah Snyder, Michelle Kim, Talya Tavor, Desmond Dennis, Emma Boorboor, LeeAnne Felder, Jane Wiedenbeck

Last row:  Emily Rich, Aaron Myran, Ben Hellerstein, Will Vanderbilt, Joshua Buswell-Charkow

 

Green Corps Class of 2013 Bios:

Emma Boorboor, American University

Emma graduated this May from American University with a dual degree in international relations and anthropology.  Emma spent her summers interning with Cities for Progress, researching social safety net solutions for municipal legislators. She also served as an intern with Senator Paul Strauss. 

 

Yong Jung Cho, Bryn Mawr College

Yong Jung graduated this May with a degree in political science. In her senior year, she served as the student government president. She also was the president of the Bryn Mawr College Greens, where she coordinated the annual dorm-wide energy saving competition, created a student-run garden, expanded the Earth Day celebration into a week-long series of events, and helped author the President’s Climate Action Plan. 

 

Desmond Dennis, Vanderbilt University

Desmond graduated from Vanderbilt in May with degrees in political science and African American studies. He served as the president of Omega Psi Phi fraternity and vice president of the wrestling club. Desmond has extensive community service experience through Hands On Atlanta and Grassroots Community Service Organization.

 

LeeAnn Felder, Washington University in St. Louis

LeeAnn graduated from Washington University in May with a degree in environmental studies and anthropology. Passionate about food issues and community gardening, she volunteered at the campus student-run organic garden. She was also a varsity soccer player for four years.

 

Kelly Ford, American University

Kelly graduated from American University with a degree in global environmental politics. She served as the director of communications at her sorority. Last summer she interned with Oceana, where she was responsible for turning out 150 community volunteers to a rally in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

 

Ben Hellerstein, Carleton College

Ben graduated from Carleton College with a degree in American studies.  As the coordinator for Northfield Coalition for Complete Streets, Ben lead a coalition of city council members and Carleton and St. Olaf students working to pass a Complete Streets policy to make Northfield safer and more accessible for bicyclists and pedestrians. As the co-chair of MNPIRG, he lead an organization of 25 active members in three task forces, working to change public policy on a wide range of environmental and social justice issues across the state and on campus.

 

Brinkley Hutchings, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Brinkley graduated this May with degrees in environmental studies and English.  She sits on the Greenpeace student board. As president of UNCW ECO, the student environmental group, she grew the group from 10 to 50 members who attend weekly meetings and a core officer team of 8 students who strategize and implement effective campaign plans. Working with community activists, she has also helped garner the support of 11,000 residents to stop the building of a toxic cement plant in Wilmington.

 

Kara Kaufman, Brown University

Kara graduated from Brown University with a degree in environmental studies.  Kara has interned with Clean Water Action and Environmental Defense Fund. As the media coordinator for New England Climate Summer, she bicycled more than 600 miles, leading Climate Emergency Meetings in eight towns and securing media coverage in 18 news outlets. She is a 2011 Udall Scholar and Brown Environmental Fellow.

 

Michelle Kim, University of Maryland, College Park

Michelle studied environmental science and policy at the University of Maryland, College Park.  She served as the director of sustainability for student government and the co-chair of sustainability for the UMD residence halls. She also served as a student representative on the Maryland Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities.

 

Heather MacKenzie, Clark University

Heather studied environmental science with a concentration in conservation biology.  As outreach coordinator for Clark Sustainability Collaborative, she facilitated collaboration between campus organizations and other universities in the Colleges of Worcester Consortium on green events and initiatives. As the coordinator of Worcester Energy Barn-raisers, she led groups of community members on energy efficiency and weatherization projects. 

 

Dani Neuharth-Keusch, Cornell University

Dani is a recent Cornell graduate with degrees in biology and anthropology.  As the associate editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, she recruited and managed a staff of 30 columnists and 40 bloggers on a daily basis. Her field experience with Cornell Democrats, Organizing for America and Rock the Vote during the 2008 Obama-Biden presidential campaign sparked her interest in political activism. 

 

Charlotte Olena, Colby College

Charlotte graduated with a degree in international relations and environmental studies. She developed, filmed and edited Shadow of Normandia, a documentary about environmental hazards and environmental discrimination against Guarani Indians.  She was the founder and captain of the campus curling team, and the captain of the campus equestrian team.

 

Alyse Opatowski, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

Alyse Opatowski graduated this May with a degree in international studies focusing on health and the environment.  She was the campus coordinator for Take Back the Tap with Food and Water Watch. She was involved with the campus Ecology Center throughout college and has taken kids on wilderness canoe trips during the summers.  She was selected for the Graham Sustainability Scholars Program, which honors the top 25 students each year.

 

Larissa Pittenger, University of Chicago

Larissa is a recent University of Chicago graduate with degrees in history and Latin American studies.  She was active with Students Organizing United With Labor, Students for a Democratic Society Chicago, Southside Solidary Network, and United Students Against Sweatshops.  She was an active participant in Occupy Chicago.

 

Emily Rich, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Emily was a biology major at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She was an undergraduate researcher and a volunteer for UNC Hospitals. She served as Secretary of Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, where she coordinated service projects with the Human Rights Center, TABLE, Habitat for Humanity, and Relay for Life.

 

Jennifer Rubiello, University of California, Berkeley 

Jennifer graduated in May with a degree in American studies and public policy from University of California, Berkeley. Jennifer founded the student group Keep Education Public, Berkeley, which worked to get students appointed to the administrative committees, increasing students’ voice in education and costs at the university.  

 

Hanna Saltzman, Williams College

Hanna graduated from Williams College with a degree in anthropology.  She organized more than 100 students from Williams to attend the DC rally against the Keystone XL pipeline.

 

Katherine Sawyer, Tufts University

Katherine studied international relations and environmental studies at Tufts.  She was an intern at the Tufts Office of Sustainability and the leader of the successful campaign for duplex printing across campus.  She also was the editor of the Tufts Daily News.

 

Lucy Sedgwick, Brown University

Lucy graduated last December from Brown with degrees in environmental studies and English. She coordinated Brown’s outdoor leadership training program. As a steering committee member of the Sustainable Food Initiative, she coordinated all food-related projects on campus, including a student garden, market share program, farm visit schedule, and a Real Food initiative with Brown Dining Services. 

 

Katherine Siegner, Middlebury College

Katherine studied international studies at Middlebury College and played soccer on the varsity team. As a recipient of the Middlebury Sustainable Study Abroad Grant, she developed an environmental education program Valparaiso, Chile. Through this program, she organized and led field trips to natural sites for third grade students from low-income public schools. 

 

Hanna Snyder, Pomona College

Hannah graduated this May with a degree in environmental analysis from Pomona College. As her capstone project, she developed a system for mapping the environmental justice footprint of Pomona College as an institution. She was actively involved in Workers for Justice, an organization formed to support the college’s dining hall workers’ efforts for unionization. She was active in theater and the Claremont a capella group throughout college.  

 

Talya Tavor, Michigan State University

Talya graduated with a degree in English, with a concentration in creative writing and a specialization in peace and justice. As the president of the MSU Beyond Coal Campaign, a campaign geared towards retiring the largest on-campus coal plant in the country while moving towards 100% renewable energy, she developed a strong passion for organizing. Serving on the executive board of the MSU Green Coalition, she helped coordinate recruitment and logistics for Powershift 2011.

 

Lisa Trope, University of Colorado, Boulder

Lisa studied evolutionary biology and ecology at University of Colorado, Boulder. She worked with staff in the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services to conduct research and protect an endangered marsupial mammal, the mahogany glider. On campus, she played an instrumental role in building the field hockey team and served as fundraising chair.

 

Will Vanderbilt, McGill University

Will graduated in 2011 from McGill with a degree in environmental studies and policy. As a researcher for the McGill Department of Geography, he conducted a systematic review of climate change adaptation in the media and academic literature, and assisted with fieldwork in arctic regions. He coordinated the National Conference of Canadian University Press, a 5-day conference in Montreal with 350 attendees and 50 speakers.  As an undergraduate, he was the production and design editor of the campus newspaper.

 

Caroline Wooten, University of Chicago

Caroline graduated this May from University of Chicago with a degree in religious studies.  She served as an organizing intern with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Chicago for two years. She is the founder of the Chicago Youth Climate Coalition and the Chicago Climate Action Network.