(Augusta, ME) —The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is pleased to announce that five new members have been elected to its Board of Directors.
The new members bring with them a wide range of experience, relationships, and perspectives from across the state of Maine that will be valuable to NRCM’s work protecting the health of our environment and communities. The new members are:
Gail Carlson (Waterville). Gail is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Colby College and director of Colby’s Buck Lab for Climate and Environment. She teaches courses on environmental public health and activism. Her research relates to the human health impacts of climate change and toxic chemical pollutants. She has published two studies characterizing PFAS contamination in central Maine and a survey of Maine physicians about how climate change is affecting their patients. Gail has authored the textbook Human Health and the Climate Crisis (2023) and is a member of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Maine Climate Council. She co-authored its 2024 update, Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine.
Karen Herold (Cumberland). Karen draws on her legal background and a lifetime of hiking, biking, and paddling to promote sound environmental policies and to protect Maine’s natural areas. A Maine Master Naturalist, she is keenly aware of the importance of older growth forests and undeveloped lakes to the well-being of Maine’s ecological health. She has served on a number of boards including Maine Conservation Voters and Maine Conservation Alliance and has served previously as a member of NRCM’s board of directors. Karen is currently serving as Secretary of NRCM’s board.
Sarah Short (Portland). Sarah has been a member of NRCM since she moved to Maine more than a decade ago. She is most passionate about finding and implementing solutions to climate change and also strongly supported NRCM’s other priorities as a member and as a previous board member. Sarah has worked at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Mitchell Institute, Buckingham Browne and Nichols School, and Portland Public Schools, primarily in fundraising. She has a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from Yale University in nonprofit management.
Sarah Sindo (Millinocket and Kingfield). Sarah works part of the year as Site Manager for Chewonki Foundation at Big Eddy Campground, putting her managerial, financial, and property maintenance skills to use. The other part of the year, she, her husband, and her dog move to Kingfield to enjoy the winter months in the western mountains, where she works seasonally and serves as the part-time Donor Relationship Manager for a Chilean conservation nonprofit organization and also as a hospice volunteer. Sarah enjoys volunteering and was a recent member of NRCM’s young professionals program (currently on hiatus) NRCM Rising.
Bethany L. Woodworth (South Portland). Bethany is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies at the University of New England, where she founded the Climate Change Studies program and taught courses in conservation, climate change, environmental pollution, and ornithology. Prior to moving to Maine in 2002, her conservation biology research took her from Tanzania, where she conducted aerial wildlife surveys of large mammals and human activities for the Frankfurt Zoological Society, to the Caribbean and Hawaii, where she worked to conserve endangered forest birds for the US Geological Survey. Bethany is also on the board of Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness (Save the Boundary Waters campaign), where she chairs the Conservation Policy Committee, and has served on other boards as well.
“On behalf of the NRCM Board of Directors, I am extremely pleased to welcome these five new members,” says NRCM Board Chair Lucy Abbott. “Like all of NRCM’s board members, these new members bring extraordinary experience to the board, in addition to their passion for Maine’s environment and communities. Their leadership and unique perspectives will be a great resource to the important work of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.”
In addition to the five new board members, a new slate of officers was elected. Lucy Abbott (Bethel) is now serving as Chair, Sam Lavallee (Windham) is Vice Chair, and Karen Herold (Cumberland) was elected Secretary. Kevin Kobel (Cape Elizabeth) will continue to serve as Treasurer.
For the full list of NRCM Board members, visit NRCM’s website at www.nrcm.org/about-nrcm/board-of-directors/. Photos available upon request.
