ALASKA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Network Officer
- Network Program Officer
Aaron has worked in Alaska for over 20 years specializing in natural resource management, partnership development, and community engagement. His efforts have largely focused on helping agencies better understand risks to species and habitats as well as the value that these natural resources have for the communities who depend on them. He is currently the Coordinator for the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative and focuses on building partnerships between agencies, tribes, researchers, industry, and communities to address large-scale issues like climate change and marine vessel traffic in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. He is also the program officer for the Sustainable Southeast Partnership and works with several small communities and nonprofit organizations in southeast Alaska to build localized solutions to socioeconomic and environmental challenges.
Aaron has B.S. degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife Management and Geography, specializing in GIS and Remote Sensing from Utah State University and a Masters in Natural Resource Management from the University of Arizona.
Away from work he enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife and two young children and being a vocal advocate for youth and public schools.
Job Titles:
- Founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers
- Professional Photographer and Writer
Amy Gulick is a professional photographer and writer whose work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer, Audubon, Nature's Best Photography, National Wildlife, Sierra, National Parks, and other publications. Her work has received numerous honors including the prestigious Daniel Housberg Wilderness Image Award from the Alaska Conservation Foundation, the Voice of the Wild Award from the Alaska Wilderness League, and a Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. She is also the recipient of a Philip Hyde Grant Award for her work in the Tongass National Forest of Alaska, and a Mission Award, both presented by the North American Nature Photography Association. Her book, Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest, is the recipient of an Independent Publisher Book Award as well as two Nautilus Book Awards.
Amy is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers, and a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the North American Nature Photography Association.
Job Titles:
- Development and Program Coordinator
Ann was born and raised in Wisconsin and moved around the northern US working for National Parks and Forests before arriving in Alaska in 2008 and stepping into nonprofit work. Ann joined Alaska Conservation Foundation in the Fall of 2019. She focuses on fundraising and collaboration around youth leadership in conservation.
From her first positions volunteering with field research and environmental education in the Lake Superior and Boundary Waters region, Ann has loved connecting people with wild places. Her nonprofit work has focused on expanding opportunities and leadership roles for local youth, including starting the Arctic Youth Ambassadors and Chugach Children's Forest programs. This has included a long learning process toward understanding and overcoming barriers to equitable involvement, with generous partners and colleagues invaluable along the way. Ann graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies, and the University of Montana with an M.S. in Wilderness and Recreation Resources Management.
In her time off Ann spends as much time as possible outside with her husband and three kids, gardening, exploring Anchorage's trails by foot, ski, and bike, and whenever possible on the water in a canoe or kayak.
Job Titles:
- Director of Grants and Programs
Anna, a born and raised Alaskan, joined the Alaska Conservation Foundation team in 2014. She facilitates the grantmaking activities of the organization in addition to managing the Ted Smith Conservation Internship Program. Anna is thrilled to be working for an organization that is committed to protecting the state she calls home.
Anna graduated from Occidental College with a degree in Urban & Environmental Policy and minors in Biology and Sociology. Four years of dwelling in the urban jungle of Los Angeles left her itching to come home to mountains she had taken for granted as a child. Prior to Alaska Conservation Foundation, Anna worked as a grantmaker at the Alaska Community Foundation, where she engaged with non-profit organizations across the state.
When not working, you'll find Anna on Anchorage's trails while training for marathons and half marathons. If she's not running (unlikely), she'll be outside doing some other form of physical activity.
Anne Thomas Donaghy is the daughter of conservationist, pilot, and former Lt. Governor Lowell Thomas Jr. and author, philanthropist, and inspirational leader Tay Thomas. She first saw Alaska in 1958, from the back seat of her father's Cessna 180 as her parents spent the summer flying around what wasn't yet the 49th state. Her family moved up in 1960, and Anne spent her formative years in Anchorage, much of that time on family trips in her father's airplanes, and since the planes were always on skis, skiing on the Eagle Glacier was often the highlight of her summer.
Growing up with the perspective of seeing the magnificence of nature from the air gave her a deep desire to do what she could to protect it. She was raised with her father's example of commitment to protecting the environment. Joining the Alaska Conservation Foundation Board in 2018, she said that "When I read the statements of Alaska Conservation Foundation's mission, vision, and values, I realized that I was brought up with them."
Anne graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in both English and Religion and later graduated from Colby-Sawyer College with a BSN (Nursing) degree. She has lived for several decades in New Hampshire where she and her husband raised their daughters and now enjoy time with grandchildren as well. She taught high school English, spent some years in nursing, and then owned and operated a small flight school and aircraft maintenance company. More recently she received her MFA in Writing at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and writes full time. She published Raven, Tell A Story in 2018 and is currently at work on a biography of her mother. She also started her company So Long Productions, which is the executive producer of the documentary of her grandfather, Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Rise of Broadcast News, and also of her father's re-mastered 1949 Tibet film Out Of This World. A life highlight for Anne was interviewing His Holiness the Dalai Lama for these films and hearing him talk about her grandfather and father.
While she still lives in New Hampshire, Anne returns regularly to Alaska. She also loves traveling and seeing as much of the world as possible. So far South Georgia Island is her idea of heaven, but she still hopes to also travel to Greenland and Iceland, and return to the island of Iona off Scotland. Her favorite places always remind her of Alaska, and she swears that she smelled Alaska when she was on the southernmost tip of Patagonia.
Aurora is Iñupiaq from her maternal side and A'aninin (Gros Ventre) from her paternal side. She grew up on the mountainside of the Matsu Valley spending summers subsisting along the rivers of the Tanana river. After attending Mt. Edgecumbe High School in the southeast, Aurora pursued a bachelor's degree in business with a focus on Human Resources through the University of Alaska Southeast. She is currently pursuing an MBA through Alaska Pacific University.
Aurora joined Alaska Conservation Foundation with experience in human resources and most recently worked within community development financial institutions focused on capacity building, providing financial resources to underserved communities in support of economic development efforts throughout Alaska. She is passionate about connecting the community with resources and volunteers with the Arctic Education Foundation in support of indigenous education.
After a lifetime of fishing and subsisting, Aurora now spends time teaching those skills to her kids and spending downtime with her partner. When she's not studying or playing with her kids, she's either reading, beading, or working out.
Dan joined Alaska Conservation Foundation in November of 2020 as the Public Lands Coordinator. Dan works to monitor Alaska conservation efforts and strengthen the movement by supporting grassroots advocacy efforts, especially to inform the foundation's grantmaking and initiatives.
With over twelve years of organizing experience, Dan has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people across the country on a variety of environmental issues. After seven years with Greenpeace USA, most recently Dan worked as the Tongass Forest Program Manager for Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC). At SEACC Dan worked to engage the public in fighting industrial-scale old-growth clearcut logging, preventing roads to nowhere from being built and advocating for national Roadless Rule protections to remain on the Tongass.
Born and raised in Ohio, Dan fell in love with Alaska while visiting a friend living on Prince of Wales Island. Dan holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Dan is an avid backpacker who enjoys local beer and skiing (water and snow) with his wife.
Job Titles:
- Aleutian & Bering Sea Initiative Partnership Coordinator
Darcy L. Peter is our Aleutian & Bering Sea Initiative Partnership Coordinator. Darcy is Koyukon and Gwich'in Athabascan from Beaver, Alaska located along the Yukon River. She grew up living a subsistence way of life: fishing, hunting, and trapping in Beaver. Darcy received her BS from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Following her graduation in 2017, Darcy worked for Alaska Native non-profits in environmental science, policy, and social science. She has an in-depth understanding of Arctic policy, including tribe, city, corporate, state, academic, federal, non-profit, etc. She is on six boards that range from state-wide (Alaska) to international. Darcy comes to us most recently from the Woodwell Climate Research Center where she served as a scientist for 2.5 years. While at Woodwell, Darcy helped other research scientists learn how to work in more equitable and productive partnerships with Indigenous communities. She is a firm believer that all research if properly communicated to locals and policy-makers, has the power to induce change. Darcy has also been an important contributor to the Steering Committee of the Northwest Boreal Partnership and is helping to lead the Indigenous Knowledges working group of the Northern Connections Project that Northern Latitudes launched in 2020. In her free time, Darcy enjoys traveling, spending time with family, and subsistence hunting, fishing & trapping in Alaska.
Deborah Niedermeyer is the oldest child of a large family from Portland, Oregon. Growing up, she was enthralled by the Alaskan Indigenous art collection at the Portland Art Museum. Drawn largely by her desire to experience the landscape in which such thrilling artworks were produced and to meet the people who created them, Deborah moved to Alaska shortly after her graduation from Harvard in 1976. Deborah settled in Fairbanks where she quickly became involved in Alaska's environmental, tribal sovereignty, and cultural and linguistic preservation movements. She served on the board of what was then known as the Fairbanks Environmental Center. In 1979 she edited "This Is the Way We Make Our Baskets" a bilingual Tanana Athabaskan/English book by Dorothy and Mathew Titus; the book won first prize in the Alaska State Arts Council 1982 "Collaborative Works of Art" competition. In 1986, Deborah left Alaska to earn a JD degree from New York University School of Law, where she published the article "‘The True Interests of a White Population': The Alaska Indian Country Decisions of Judge Mathew P. Deady". The article won the 1989 Montcrieffe Award for outstanding scholarship in the area of "Race, Values and the American Legal System". Deborah returned to Alaska after law school, where she rejoined the board of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. As one of the attorneys in the 1999 Alaska Supreme Court case John v. Baker, Deborah helped to establish Alaska's recognition of tribal courts.
Despite their love of Alaska and long float trips on interior Alaska rivers, family responsibilities in the Lower 48 pulled Deborah, her husband, and their son south to Seattle in 1999. There Deborah focused her law practice on political asylum and consumer protection. In 2015, Deborah and a colleague won the Washington State Bar Association's highest annual award, the "Award of Merit", for their innovative use of consumer protection law to assist vulnerable non-citizens harmed by illegal, nonlawyer "immigration consultants". Deborah remains involved in immigration law but has refocused her main attention toward helping address the many threats to Alaska's healthy environment and traditional lifeways.
Denny Wilcher was Alaska Conservation Foundation's founding father - our George Washington, as it were. He was a visionary and effective leader who took the helm of the enterprise he helped create and steered it on the course to long-term success.
Celia Hunter was Alaska's modern era John Muir - a bold adventurer, tireless conservation advocate & inspirational leader
Celia Hunter came to Alaska long before the steady march of civilization reached the far north, with its widespread threats of reckless development. Arriving in 1947, she was looking for adventure in Alaska, not to save it.
She ended up staying a lifetime, leaving behind a treasure of well-protected natural wonders and a strong movement to defend and expand them. Among her many legacies is the Alaska Conservation Foundation, which she helped launch in 1980.
Celia Hunter was Alaska's modern-era John Muir - bold adventurer, tireless conservation advocate, inspirational leader. Few have done more to save Alaska's wilds from exploitation at the hands of man.
Celia Hunter was a cornerstone of the conservation movement in Alaska, opening minds and halting disasters with unwavering strength and persistence.
Being raised a Quaker on a small farm during the Depression instilled Celia with values that she carried throughout her life. As friend and colleague Rick Caulfield described, "She tried to live to the best of those values: non-violence, seeing beauty in people and in the natural world, and treating all people equally." She found the confidence to follow her dreams, regardless of whether they were conventional paths for women.
In her last radio interview-only two weeks before her death-Celia offered this advice: "Change is possible, but you have to put your energy into it. You can't expect me, I'm past 80, to be the mover and the shaker of this, but people like you are. And you're going to have to bite the bullet and really decide what kind of world you want to live in."
It only takes one trip to Alaska to fall in love with this extraordinary place. Celia didn't plan on coming to Alaska, and she certainly didn't plan on staying.
But as Celia liked to say "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans."
Celia Hunter was an Alaska pilot and adventurer who had been fighting to protect Alaska's environment since the late 1950s. Denny Wilcher helped the legendary David Brower build the Sierra Club during the 1960s, before Alaska's beauty lured him north.
Celia and Denny knew that protecting the state's wild and unspoiled wonders would require a strong Alaska-based conservation movement. That's where Alaska Conservation Foundation came in.
Frankie Barker followed an early passion for mountains and skiing from her east coast home to the Rocky Mountains and eventually to Alaska. She graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Human Development and immediately went west to Jackson, Wyoming for a summer camp counselor job where she loved exploring and teaching people about the outdoors. After graduate studies in environmental education at the University of Wyoming, she became the first Field Director for the Keystone Science School in Colorado. A summer job as a tour driver in Denali National Park hooked her on Alaska where she has lived since 1985. As Executive Director of Alaska Natural History Association, she directed publication projects and educational bookstores for over 30 parks, refuges, and forests in Alaska. Throughout the years, she has explored many of the public lands in Alaska including climbing Denali, kayaking in Glacier Bay, skiing in Hatcher Pass, and hiking the Chilkoot Trail.
More recently she worked as the Environmental Planner for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, headquartered in Palmer, Alaska. Her responsibilities included managing water quality citizen science activities, supervising the borough's air quality program, staffing the Fish and Wildlife Commission, and serving on the steering committee for the Mat-Su Salmon Habitat Partnership. She developed several first environmental plans for the Mat-Su including the Matanuska River Management Plan, Stormwater Management Plan, and a Mat-Su Wetlands Plan.
She has been active on many conservation and community nonprofit boards including the Anchorage Committee for Resource Education, Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Women's Environmental Network, Alaska Public Employees Association, and the Chickaloon Community Council. She has been recognized by the Nature Conservancy (2012) and the Great Land Trust (2014) for her many years of conservation work and by the Alaska chapter of the American Planning Association (2015) with their Environmental Planning award.
In recognition of his support for the Alaska conservation movement through signing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) into law, President Jimmy Carter is the Honorary Chair of Alaska Conservation Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Representing the single greatest piece of land conservation legislation in the history of the nation, ANILCA protected over 100 million acres of land in Alaska, creating such natural treasures as the Kenai Fjords National Park, Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Gates of the Arctic National Park, 26 Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, White Mountains National Recreation Area, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, and Lake Clark National Park. Since its passage, Alaskans and people throughout the nation have come to understand and appreciate ANILCA's exceptional contributions to biodiversity, to the cultural integrity of Alaska Natives, to Alaska's economy, and to Alaska's quality of life. For this, we thank President Jimmy Carter.
Job Titles:
- Northwest Boreal Partnership Director
Leanna holds a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in Oceanography where she worked with other scientists, coastal managers, and community members to develop solutions to watershed pollution and climate change adaptation. For her post-doctoral work, Leanna was part of an interdisciplinary team of designers, engineers, and scientists at Louisiana State University's Coastal Sustainability Studio tackling the land loss crisis on the Mississippi River Delta. Upon her arrival in Alaska in 2016, Leanna worked as the Science Communications Coordinator for the Western Alaska Partnership, a similar organization based in western Alaska that is also part of the Northern Latitudes Partnerships.
Leanna stepped into her leadership role as the Partnership Director with the Northwest Boreal Partnership in 2018 and has immensely enjoyed her work with a wonderful group of partners, all of whom are dedicated, passionate, and genuinely interested in collectively creating positive change from the ground up. In her current role with the Northwest Boreal Partnership, Leanna officially joined the Alaska Conservation Foundation team in early 2021.
Leanna enjoys hiking, rock climbing, playing piano, board games, teaching and practicing yoga, and spending time with her husband Larry, two dogs Khody and Kush, and her two black kitties Luna and Loki. Leanna is based in Anchorage and originally hails from the beautiful desert lands of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Job Titles:
- Development and Operations Associate
Macy Rae Kenworthy (Iñupiagisiga Kikiktagruk) was hired as the Development & Operations Associate in November 2020. Macy is Iñupiaq and is originally from Kotzebue and Sisualik, Alaska on the Northwest coast. She grew up learning to respect and take care of the land and applies the values learned in her childhood in everything she does today. Macy has participated in youth programs from a young age and became a strong advocate for climate change, Native issues, and education in rural Alaska. She uses her stories and experiences to educate others about life in the Arctic. She graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a boarding school in Sitka, Alaska, and is currently a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing her degree in Psychology with a minor in Digital Journalism. Her involvement with youth programs, including the U.S. Arctic Youth Ambassadors program (2015-2017), has allowed her to make connections throughout Alaska and throughout other Arctic Nations where she has found many cultural connections. Macy enjoys photography, videography, sewing, and reading. She also enjoys spending as much time as she can out on the tundra with her family and her dog Kaiser Qipmiq.
Marina Anderson was raised with a rich Tlingit-Haida heritage. As she says, she was raised to be as wild as a black bear, as observant as a deer, as industrious as an eagle, and as philosophical as a raven. Everything outside the family front door was a relative; all were connected. She was raised by her family and community to be a steward of the land. But she grew up seeing the declining health and wholeness of the land, the water, the animals, the people- everything is thrown out of balance by irresponsible mining, and overharvesting of resources from an introduced worldview of taking rather than serving. She became an artist and a community activist, joining the Alaska Native Sisterhood, serving as an advisory council member of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and serving on the board of the Southeast Indigenous Transboundary Commission. Currently, Marina is the Administrator of the Organized Village of Kasaan, an Advisory Board member and Founder of the Southeast Alaska Tribal Youth Commission, and a Steering Committee member of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership.
Michael started as a Program Officer at Alaska Conservation Foundation in 2013; he now serves as Executive Director. His professional career in conservation began at the Municipality of Anchorage as the LED Lighting Project manager, a project that saved the city millions of dollars and reduced energy consumption by 60%.
Prior to joining Alaska Conservation Foundation, Michael co-founded an energy efficiency development company to engage utilities, cities, and military facilities in large-scale efficiency retrofits. As a research economist for renewable energy projects, he applied his energy efficiency experience across rural Alaska. Michael also managed the complex merger of Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Conservation Alliance and Voters and Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, a project supported by Alaska Conservation Foundation. Prior to that, he served as Board Treasurer for Alaska Conservation Alliance.
Born in Anchorage, Michael is a fourth-generation Alaskan. He received his undergraduate degree from St. John's College in Santa Fe, and his MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco. He is an avid winter sports enthusiast and musician.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- Donor & Media Inquiries
Mike joined Alaska Conservation Foundation in 2013 to lead a team of grantmaking program staff. Born in Seward, raised in Anchorage and the Southwest U.S., he returned to Alaska at age 19 to find his roots, and then went about replanting them here.
He worked for the Alaska Legislature during pipeline construction days and again in recent years. He's been an active participant in the political process throughout his life and an organizer in campaigns to protect Kachemak Bay State Park and the Anchorage Coastal Trail. His years with the League of Conservation Voters bolstered and connected conservation groups, Alaska Native organizations, Labor unions, and others across Alaska. He served as Alaska Conservation Alliance and Alaska Conservation Voters Interim Executive Director for a stint.
Hiking in the mountains, biking the Coastal Trail, and traveling globally are some of the ways he enjoys life.
By profession, Nan is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. By nature, she is an adventurer. Like many Alaskans, she has
Nancy Bird has over 40 years' experience in Alaska working with nonprofit organizations, state and local governments and a diversity of community positions from museum curator to newspaper editor. Recently, she managed the Legislative Information Office in Cordova, coordinating communications between legislators and constituents. She was employed with the Prince William Sound Science Center in Cordova from 1989 to 2011, serving as the CEO and President from 2003-2011. At PWSSC, she supervised a staff of researchers, managed budgets, developed strategic plans with the Board of Directors and implemented fundraising strategies. She has served the City of Cordova in a variety of elected positions including being on the city council for two terms and as Acting Mayor. She has been committed to protecting the ecosystems of Prince William Sound through work with the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, North Pacific Research Board and as the Cordova representative to the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council. She enjoys birding, history, politics and international travels.
Job Titles:
- Western Alaska Partnership Network Coordinator
Nyssa Russell was born and raised at the "end of the road" in Homer and currently lives on Alutiiq Sugpiaq lands in Kodiak. She is excited to join the Alaska Conservation Foundation team as the Western Alaska Partnership Network Coordinator, where she will act as a liaison between a diverse network of partners to coordinate and facilitate work that promotes stewardship of lands, waters, and resources that sustain the life ways of Alaskans. Nyssa has previously worked with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a fishery biologist in many locations across Western Alaska, and most recently spent three years with a small climate adaptation consulting firm, Adaptation International, where she worked with municipalities and Tribes across the country to identify climate concerns and actions that could be taken to address them. Nyssa graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy and received her Master's degree in Marine Policy and Science Communication from the University of Washington. Most of her professional work has focused on marine and coastal science and policy, broader climate resilience planning efforts, and science communication. Away from her computer, Nyssa loves exploring the outdoors with her husband, 3 dogs, and young son. You may also find her Googling the next dessert or bread recipe to make or on the softball diamond coaching high school girls or playing adult league herself.
Paul grew up in the St. Louis, Missouri area. His interest in and commitment to conservation issues had their genesis in childhood experiences in the hills and streams of the Ozarks. Life took him to college in North Carolina, graduate school in Wisconsin, and the beginning of a career as an academic chemist in Ohio.
Paul and his wife, Terry, first visited Alaska in 1971. A year later a dream came true, and they moved to Fairbanks where Paul began a career as a chemistry professor and administrator at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He retired in 2007, and he and his wife still live in the Goldstream Valley outside of Fairbanks.
Paul's connection to the Alaskan environment has been two-fold. As a researcher, over a period of about twenty years he and a team of colleagues explored and described the role that plant-produced defensive chemicals play in the environments of Alaska and other northern lands. As an activist, he has had a four-decade involvement with the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, including service on its board and as an interim executive director.
For Paul, Alaska hasn't just been a place to live, it has been a way of life - one he wants to pass on to future generations. His involvement with Alaska Conservation Foundation is one way in which he can work to make that happen.
Rachael was born and raised in Junea u, where she first developed her love for exploring the Alaskan outdoors. After high school, she left Alaska to attend college, and obtained a BS in bioengineering from Syracuse University and subsequently a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin. After working in the medical device field for several years, Rachael returned to Alaska in 2011 with her husband and two small children. Rachael is currently taking a break from the corporate world to raise her children (ages 3 and 5). After living outside of Alaska Rachael feels even more fortunate to live and raise children, in a place with so much accessible wilderness. The kids don't always appreciate Rachael's dedication to playing in the aforementioned wilderness, especially on cold winter days, but Rachael believes that getting kids outside to play is one of the most important things we can do for their future. Not only is it important for an individual's long-term health and happiness, but, hopefully,
one day, by exposing today's kids to the beauty of Alaska's wilderness, they will want to continue protecting our wild areas into the future. Rachael especially enjoys hiking, trail running, tide-pooling, reading, and spending time with family and friends.
Rosa grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles knowing that was not her place in the world. A life-long animal lover and an appreciator of open spaces, she moved north first to UC Santa Cruz for undergraduate studies then the University of Alaska in Fairbanks for graduate work studying owls. Life in the north provided endless adventures traveling around Alaska initially as a student, then with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and a brief period at UC Boulder where she completed a Ph.D. It was while evaluating impacts of oil and gas development for the Service that Rosa refined her interest in ecology and understanding and mitigating development impacts. Throughout her studies and career, she continued her interest in and support of wildlife and wildland conservation. Interest and support for environmental monitoring continued with her involvement in the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program where she led the marine mammal group's contribution to the State of the Arctic report to the Arctic Council.
Rosa's career with the Service focused on conservation principles related to evaluating development scenarios both on land and in the marine environment. She has a long history of working on oil and gas issues beginning with the initial development in Prudhoe Bay through reviewing potential lease sales across the North Slope and offshore. She also worked with indigenous people throughout Alaska in the Federal Subsistence program and in marine mammal management. A highlight was the successful development and passage of the US-Russia Polar Bear treaty for the cooperative management of the Chukchi Polar Bear population. shared between the two countries. The multi-year process success was due in large part to effective partnerships with Alaska Natives and their Russian counterparts with support from all levels in the Federal government.
Over the years, Rosa has worked with many groups to advocate conservation, most recently with the Chugach State Park Advisory Board. Her commitment to Alaska and Arctic issues is deep and reflects a life-long passion for wildlife and wildlands. Her family history in Alaska began with her grandfather's uncles who worked on Yukon River Steamboats and helped identify (and profit from) the gold strike near Fairbanks in the early 1900s. Her grandfather joined his uncles in mining ventures and a townsite near Pedro Dome is named for them. Her father served in the Airforce as a flight physician during the Korean war. While stationed in Fairbanks, he organized and flew medical supplies and conducted clinics throughout the State. He retained a lifelong love of Alaska and enjoyed annual visits. Rosa's commitment to conservation and the Arctic reflects at least in part her family's interest and involvement in Alaska.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Operations
Ruan was born and raised about as far away from the Alaskan wilderness as one can get - at the Southern tip of Africa. He spent five years with PwC, both in South Africa and Bermuda, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant along the way, before making his way over to the U.S. As a finance consultant for The Siegfried Group, he worked on projects at Fortune 1000 companies. He traveled throughout the country in the process, including doing an assignment in Alaska, where he quickly became captivated by the natural splendor.
Interlaced with his professional assignments, Ruan also consulted with various conservation organizations on how to improve their financial operations and he decided to make the switch from corporate accounting permanent by joining Alaska Conservation Foundation in May 2018.
When not wielding debits and credits to protect Alaska's natural environment, Ruan can be found hiking, enjoying a good glass of wine or getting lost exploring a new town or city.
Job Titles:
- Communications and Development Manager
Sadie joined Alaska Conservation Foundation in the Fall of 2018. Having grown up in Anchorage, she spent most of her childhood exploring the incredible wild places that Alaska has to offer.
On a brief hiatus from Alaska, Sadie attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR where she graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration on the interplay between conservation and indigenous rights. Her studies allowed her to travel, live, learn, and conduct research with unique communities across the world as they worked to implement different conservation strategies. Following graduation, Sadie worked for several environmental non-profits helping to mobilize members, strengthen environmental programming, and grow community engagement. Eventually, the lures of the Chugach and the calls from Prince William Sound were too much to withstand and Sadie is thrilled to be back in Alaska and be able to continue strengthening the conservation landscape with Alaska Conservation Foundation.
In her free time, Sadie enjoys hiking, backpacking, kayaking, rafting, trail running, XC skiing, and spending time with her assorted four-legged critters.
Job Titles:
- Northern Latitudes Partnership Communications Coordinator
Sijo joined the Alaska Conservation Foundation team in early 2021. Raised in Alaska, she is excited to be working for an organization that works to protect the wonderful state where she spent her childhood. Sijo is the coordinator for the Northern Latitudes Partnerships, a group of three regional partnerships across Alaska and Western Canada. She is thrilled to be working with a broad range of individuals and organizations, all of whom are passionate about working together to address local and large-scale issues.
Sijo left Alaska for college, where she received a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Her studies there offered exposure to unique communities and issues across the country, and their many approaches to environmental and socio-economic challenges. She also organized campaigns in Alaska and California as part of the climate justice movement and remains deeply invested in equitable climate solutions.
Outside of work, Sijo enjoys backpacking with her partner, diving in California's waters, cooking, reading, and drinking tea.
Tami has been a civil servant with 25 years of federal employment most recently working as a Self-Determination Specialist. Tami is of Inupiaq and Athabascan descent and grew up believing the notion that she received "free healthcare." In the early 2000's, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium began an earnest effort of educating the beneficiaries of the Alaska Tribal Health System that their health care was not "free" it was "pre-paid" by the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975, PL 93-638. Wanting to further understand this; Tami spent a semester at the Alaska Pacific University researching this topic when the English Professor told all the students to select one topic that they would write about for the entire course. One semester's time was not enough to learn about the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975; so, Tami applied for a job in the Self-Determination field and thus the passion for serving as a liaison between the Tribes and Government began. She is thrilled to continue working with Tribal and non-Tribal partners here at Alaska Conservation Foundation.
Outside of work, Tami loves spending time with her family; sewing qaspeq's and helping others.
Billy Wailand grew up in New York City, spending weekends in the Berkshires. Billy knew early in his young life that he was passionate about the environment. He attended Andover Boarding School where he chaired their Environmental Committee and worked for the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council while at College.
After graduating from Harvard University with a B.A. in Environmental Science & Public Policy, he received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He moved to Alaska in 2009 to Clerk for the Honorable Dana Fabe, Alaska Supreme Court. For the next few years, he was an attorney and then Partner with the firm Feldman Orlansky & Sanders LLP. While there, Billy successfully represented Alaska Conservation Foundation before the Alaska Supreme Court in the Bristol Bay litigation, fighting off Pebble Partnership's efforts to obtain Alaska Conservation Foundations donor list. Billy is a senior executive at GCI Communication Corp. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife and two young daughters, spending as much time camping and in the outdoors as he can.
He is excited to continue to be part of Alaska Conservation Foundation and its legacy of important environmental work. He has a particular interest in the impacts of climate change in Alaska and working with affected communities to build resiliency and develop sustainable solutions.