About Us
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center is operated by a Board of Directors, 3 part-time staff members, and a corps of devoted volunteers. Feel free to contact any of us, or you may use the Contact page and your message will be sent to the relevant person(s).
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Diane Noveroske
662-0460 |
Diane attended both the University of Hawaii and the University of Nevada-Reno, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. She moved to Los Alamos in 1979 with her husband, Evan, where they have raised their son. She worked in chemistry at LANL for 15 years, and then as an independent contractor for Los Alamos County and a teaching assistant at Piñon School. She started volunteering for PEEC in 2005 and was hired as PEEC's Administrative Assistant in 2006. Her appreciation for nature and concern for the environment began when she was in high school and first started bird watching. Since, she as been President of the Lahonton Audubon Society, done bird surveys for LANL, participated in the New Mexico Breeding Bird Atlas project, and, as a member of the Pajarito Ornithological Survey, helped gather data for the publication of LANL's "Atlas of Breeding Birds of Los Alamos County". Her interests include hiking, bird watching, reading, and movies. |
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Branden Willman-Kozimor
662-0460 |
Branden moved to Los Alamos in 2006 after spending several years in California where she co-founded a nonprofit organization that starts farmers' markets in low-income communities and worked as the garden manager at an elementary school garden classroom program. She is interested in community food sustainability and place-based environmental education. In addition to working as PEEC's Program Coordinator, she also started the organization's Kids Organic Garden in the summer of 2007. She enjoys traveling, working in her garden, cooking, playing and listening to music, crafting, hiking, biking, backpacking, and most anything that gets her outside. Branden received her B.A. in Sociology and Human Services from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO and her M.P.A. with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from San Francisco State University. |
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Amy Roberts
662-0460 |
Amy brings her love of teaching and dedication to the environment to the position of environmental educator at PEEC. Amy's commitment to environmental education stems from the belief that a child's positive connection to the natural world will ideally result in a sincere appreciation of it and stewardship towards it. Through hands-on activities, explorations, investigations, and discoveries, Amy teaches children the wonders of the world of nature and how best to coexist within it.
The natural world has always played a significant role in Amy's life. She completed a semester with the National Outdoor Leadership School, served in numerous leadership positions in summer programs, taught school in Massachusetts and Costa Rica, and spent years exploring the wilderness of the United States while enjoying a career in journalism. Amy holds a B.A. degree from Tufts University. She lives in Santa Fe with her daughter, Alexandra. |
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Chick Keller
662-7915 |
Chick is a retired scientist from LANL. He came to Los Alamos as a graduate student in 1967 and became a permanent staff member in 1969 upon receiving his doctorate in Astronomy from Indiana University. Chick has had a life-long interest in things natural starting as director of the nature lodge at Hidden Valley Boy Scout Camp, Pennsylvania when he was 16. Chick's professional research has been heavily involved in climate studies, and he has taught a course in this at UNM-LA. For many years he was director of the Lab's UC Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. Chick's non-professional passion is identifying native plants, leading to a herbarium collection of some 1500 specimens primarily from New Mexico and Colorado. Most recently he has begun the study of grasses concentrating on those growing in the recovering burn areas around town, both native and introduced. Chick and his wife, Yvonne, are avid birders and are part of the New Mexico Breeding Bird Atlas project with a study plot in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Chick has served as president of the New Mexico Native Plant Society's Santa Fe Chapter. Founding Board Member, 2000. |
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Becky Shankland
672-9106 |
Becky studied English literature at Harvard/Radcliffe, had a Fulbright in Bristol, England, and then received an M. A. T. at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught English in Massachusetts before moving to New Mexico and teaching for 17 years at Los Alamos High School. In her English classes she incorporated questions about the sustainability of civilizations. She retired in 1997. Becky has served as president of the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos. She's been on other boards: Vision 2020, the Open Space Advisory Committee, the Concert Association, and the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee. Current interests are writing about wildflowers, bird-watching, hiking, reading, solar energy, and traveling abroad and to see children and grandchildren in California. Founding Board Member, 2000. |
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Felicia Orth
661-8530 |
Felicia is the New Mexico Environment Department Hearing Officer. She conducts permitting, adjudicatory and rulemaking hearings in air quality, solid waste, hazardous waste, liquid waste, ground water, surface water and construction programs. Previously, she worked in the Los Alamos County Attorney's Office, the NMED Office of General Counsel, and as an associate in a large law firm in the Midwest specializing in toxic tort litigation. Ms. Orth has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has served on the Los Alamos Utilities Board. She and her husband and two sons have especially enjoyed the canyons in Los Alamos since moving here in 1996. She joined the board in the fall of 2006. |
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Natali Steinberg
662-7449 |
Natali Steinberg, received a BA in Geography from the University of Colorado. She continued to live in Boulder County, Colorado for 50 years. For 30 years, Natali and her husband lived on a small family farm, where they raised beef and dairy cattle, sheep, vegetables and kids. Natali served as Chairman of the Boulder County Planning Commission for 10 years and was the Boulder County representative on the Denver Regional Council of Governments Citizen's Advisory Committee. She worked 20 years in a large greenhouse and nursery and taught gardening classes there. Natali moved to New Mexico in 2002 and has lived in Los Alamos since 2004 to be closer to her grandchildren and family. Currently she is a weekly volunteer at PEEC, Randall Davey Audubon Center, and Leonora Curtin Wetlands Preserve. Natali's favorite hobbies include gardening, hiking and hand-spinning. She joined the board in the fall of 2006. |
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Hedy Dunn
672-3866 |
Hedy Dunn has an undergraduate degree from Newcomb College in New Orleans and an MAT from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She has been the director of the Los Alamos Historical Museum for 23 years. During that time she has directed its educational outreach programs, exhibit design and installation, grant-writing and administration, newsletter writing, editing and publishing, and has become thoroughly familiar with working for a non-profit organization and volunteer boards. She is eager to see the activities and facilities for an environmental group flourish in Los Alamos. Having lived in Los Alamos for 26 years, she and her family have enjoyed a myriad of outdoor activities from hiking and camping to cross-country skiing. She and her husband Skip have a particular interest in birds because Skip's sister Erica Dunn, an ornithologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service, is the founder of "Project Feeder Watch." Skip and Hedy are contributors to the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy and are pleased to support PEEC in Los Alamos. Board Memeber since 2002. |
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Peter O'Rourke
663-0524 |
Peter O'Rourke obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University in 1980. He is currently retired from LANL, where he worked in the Theoretical Division on computer simulations of fluid flows. He has been actively involved in Los Alamos Pathways Association and the Los Alamos Bicycle Subcommittee, where he served for many years as chairman. He enjoys a variety of outdoor activities available in the Los Alamos area, but particularly likes hiking and bicycling. Board Member since summer 2005. |
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Robert Dryja
661-9602 |
Robert Dryja has had an interest in biology since he was child in the Panama Canal Zone. When he was four years old, he was providing cutting ants with different types of leaves to see if they had a preference. As a teenager he had a pet boa constrictor which he fed hamburger with the help of his mother. Robert attended Tulane University, receiving both a bachelor and master's degree there. He later attended the University of Minnesota for additional graduate study. Robert has had a thirty-year career in health care management. He has worked for medical schools, hospitals, and medical group practices throughout the United States. His management interest has been in organizational development. He came to Los Alamos ten years ago as a part of organizing a network of physicians in northern New Mexico. He made a career shift to teach high school sciences on full time basis. He has taught biology, chemistry, and physics for the past four years in Santa Fe and Espanola. His wife Susan is a kindergarten teacher, and his son Steven is a college student. Board member since the fall of 2005. |
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Selvi Viswanathan
661-2618 |
Selvi Viswanathan has a B.Sc. in math, physics, and chemistry from Utkal University in India. She taught science and math for 8 years before coming to New York City in 1967. She and her husband moved to New Mexico in 1976. She has worked in real estate, including being president of the Los Alamos Association of Realtors. Selvi introduced her son Hari to birds when he was young. He now works in Environmental Engineering at LANL, and he has continued to collaborate in building the family's National Wildlife Federation-certified back yard. Selvi enjoys helping with PEEC's children's classes and organizing the Backyard Wildlife Habitat yard tours. Board member since the fall of 2005. |
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Jennifer Macke
695-9275 |
Jennifer studied biology at the College of Wooster and received a master's degree in molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University. She worked for many years as a molecular biologist, followed by several years as a freelance biomedical editor. Working at home as an editor was enlivened by volunteer work at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. Since moving to Los Alamos in 2003, she has worked for the HIV Database at LANL. As the result of a college project on newts, she became interested in keeping and breeding newts and salamanders. This hobby has led to additional interests in aquariums, terrariums, earthworms, websites, and amphibian conservation. When she isn't cleaning aquariums, she spends time with her husband and sons. Board Member since the fall of 2007. |
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John Hogan
662-5052 |
John is a Physical Scientist with the Jemez Mountains Field Station of the US Geological Survey. This long-time Los Alamos resident came to visit northern New Mexico in 1978 and never left. John has been involved in landscape change research, with an emphasis on fire ecology, for the last 16 years. After the Cerro Grande Fire burned through his neighborhood in May 2000, John became deeply involved in post-fire rehabilitation efforts and was one of the co-founders of the Volunteer Task Force (VTF), combining ecological education with hands-on stewardship at the community and regional level. He received the Department of the Interior's Superior Service Award for his efforts. He and VTF co-founder Craig Martin have led approximately 6,000 northern New Mexico students in field science and public service projects over the last eight years. He was a co-leader of last summer's PEEC/VTF collaboration - the Living Earth Adventure Program. John is currently involved in scientific monitoring and outreach for the Los Alamos County Fuel Mitigation - Forest Restoration Project. He continues to work with students and fire-affected and at-risk communities throughout the western U.S. John enjoys hiking, backpacking, downhill and cross-country skiing, mountain biking, fly fishing, birding, and gardening, all with Cindia, his wife of 28 years. Board Member since fall 2008. |
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Teralene Foxx
672-9056 |
Terry has worked in the field of biology and ecology for over 40 years. She retired from LANL, where she did ecological studies. During her career, she studied fire ecology, wetland ecology, botany, and endangered species conservation. She has taught at UNM-LA and Ghost Ranch. She is a Master Storyteller and uses storytelling, field activities, and lectures to encourage students (children and adults) to understand ecological principles and care for the environment. Along with Dorothy Hoard, she has written "Plants of the Southwestern Woodlands" published by Otowi Press, which is used in wildflower identification classes. She has also written many technical publications including "Out of the Ashes, A Story of Natural Recovery" and "Amphibians and Reptiles of Los Alamos County." She lives in Los Alamos with her husband Jim. She is a quilter and artist and incorporates her love of the outdoors in her work. She sees the importance of training the next generation to love and conserve the earth. Board Member since fall 2008. |
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Mary Carol Williams
662-9505 |
Mary Carol Williams was born and raised in Coastal Virginia. She attended the College of William and Mary and Northwestern University. She interned in Medical Technology in Evanston IL and worked in hospitals in Minneapolis and Waynesboro VA. She moved to Los Alamos in 1972 and joined Los Alamos National Lab in 1978 working in the Environmental Chemistry Lab. During her tenure at the Lab, she received M.S. degrees in Analytical Chemistry in 1984 and Safety Engineering in 1996. After retiring in 2002, Mary Carol took up watercolor painting and photography. She served on the Board of the Art Center at Fuller Lodge from 2002 to 2006 and as Chairman from 2004 to 2006. Her favorite subjects are flowers, birds and landscapes. Her hobbies also include gardening, adventure travel and bird watching. Her yard is Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat. She also volunteers for the Art Center, Betty Ehart Senior Center, Aspen Ridge, and Habitat for Humanity. She joined the board in the fall of 2009. |
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Marion Good
575-543-5484 |
Board Member since fall 2009. |
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Nathan Clements
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Nathan is a student representative to the PEEC Board of Directors. He is interested in Environmental Science, especially Ichthyology. He has volunteered at the YES Corps (YMCA Earth Service Corps) for 3 years and worked for the YCC (Youth Conservation Corps) for one summer. He participated in PEEC's Kinnikinnick Club and Summer Adventure Programs, and has been a counselor for the LEAP program. He has done research in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, looking at both fishing pressure on brown trout populations and the effects of cattle grazing on crayfish populations. He has also won one of the American Museum of Natural History's 2009 Young Naturalist Awards. Board Member since fall 2009. |