People

Mountain Watershed Association began its life around a kitchen table. The organization was founded in 1994 to oppose an underground coal mine proposal in the Indian Creek Watershed in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania. MWA’s input and organized opposition resulted in the denial of the permit. MWA’s board of directors and dedicated community members realized that to restore the watershed to a viable community, they would have to address the legacy of more than 150 years of extraction and disinvestment in our rural Appalachian region. Since then, MWA has restored more than 70 percent of the Indian Creek Watershed and prevented countless sources of additional pollution in the broader Youghiogheny River Watershed. The organization has expanded to eleven full-time employees, a 17-person volunteer Board of Directors, and more than 2500 members and supporters.

Katilyn is passionate about curating hands-on, inquiry-based teaching with a commitment to inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. Their work exemplifies the power of education in addressing local conservation challenges while connecting students to the broader environmental landscape.

My name if Jennifer Veverka. Currently I teach Earth and Environmental Science. i love what I teach and want to continue to be a life long learner.  Nature is my happy place and want to learn more in all areas of the environmental sciences.

CU Boulder Geography and Business student

NAAEE’s Senior Director of Capacity Building, Sarah Bodor comes from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, where she held a number of program management and leadership positions throughout the organization. She worked closely with state education agencies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to develop and pilot standards-based curricula and provide teacher professional development. Her background also includes communications and fundraising. In 2008, she served as the writer of Maryland’s Children in Nature Plan, which resulted in passage of Maryland’s environmental high school graduation requirement.

Judy Braus brings to her role as NAAEE Executive Director a wealth of experience in the environmental education profession, with a focus on conservation education, diversity and inclusion, and using the power of education to help create healthier communities that empower local communities, stakeholders, and individuals to help restore and protect the environment. She comes to NAAEE from the National Audubon Society, where she was the Senior Vice President of Education and Centers, overseeing an extensive nationwide network of nature centers and educators. Prior to that, she led the education programs at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the U.S. Peace Corps, and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

Joe is a Welsh ecologist and Rights of Nature campaigner with a background in ecology and environmental biology and a passion for greater inclusion, transparency, and fairness in conservation and environmental governance. He recently won a Green Heart Hero Award, the UK’s leading climate and sustainability awards, for his work engaging stakeholders in Wales in discussions on nature recovery. A first-language Welsh speaker and a proud Cardi, he enjoys exploring the links between local culture and nature and will always say yes to a story over a paned. When not having a paned or at his desk, you will find him near, on, or in the water, the place he says he feels most at home. ​ Joe works as a freelance consultant on several nature projects in his native Wales and internationally. In addition to his work, Joe serves as Vice President of the Board for Reserva: The Youth Land Trust, Chair of the Advisory Council for National Trust Cymru, a member of the Wales Council for Outdoor Learning and Board of Trustees for Small World Theatre.