Honoree Receives Audubon/Toyota TogetherGreen Fellowship
New York, NY:—A Lincoln, Nebraska woman is the recipient of a new national fellowship designed to advance the work of individuals with outstanding potential to help shape a brighter environmental future.
Marian Langan is one of only 40 people selected from competitors nationwide for the TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Program, part of a new conservation initiative of the National Audubon Society with support from Toyota. Fellows receive specialized training in conservation planning and execution, the chance to work and share best practices with gifted conservation professionals, and assistance with project outreach and evaluation. Each Fellow will also receive $10,000 towards a community-focused project to engage local residents in conserving land, water and energy, and contributing to greater environmental health.
For her fellowship, Langan will focus her efforts on building relationships with leaders in the faith community near the Spring Creek Audubon Center. Faith-based groups wield a strong influence in the Nebraskan communities where Marian lives and works and Langan believes that a healthy planet is an overlapping goal of people of faith and conservationists alike. She hopes to help develop an interfaith working group to provide local leadership on these issues.
Involved in conservation efforts for over a decade, Langan is currently the Director of the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center. She has proven herself to be a dedicated and innovative leader. Since Langan started at Spring Creek Prairie, the Center has enlarged its property, improved the prairie habitat, increased participation by the thousands, constructed a straw-bale education building, and is attracting more volunteers and visitors than ever before.
“Marian is the kind of person who can make a real difference in the health of our environment and the quality of our future,” said Audubon President John Flicker. “Each of our TogetherGreen Fellows demonstrates exceptional environmental understanding and commitment, combined with tremendous potential to inspire and lead others. Together, they represent the talented and diverse leadership the environmental community will need to tackle the huge challenges and opportunities confronting us now and in the years to come.”
Langan says, “A healthy future for our community is dependent on creating a healthy environment, meaning we need to do all we can to make sure this beautiful part of our heritage – the tallgrass prairie -survives. This fellowship will help broaden the number of people involved in the effort.”
Langan has been affiliated with Audubon Nebraska since 1999. Half of the TogetherGreen fellows come from within Audubon’s far-reaching national network; half channel their environmental efforts through other organizations.
Langan received Masters and Bachelors degrees in biological sciences from the University of Nebraska. In addition to her current duties for Audubon, Langan serves on the Lancaster County Ecological Advisory Committee. She has been named Professional of the Year by the Nebraska Wildlife Society and Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Safari Club.
“Toyota believes in the power of grassroots efforts to develop the environmental leaders of tomorrow,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, Group Vice President, Toyota Motor North America. “These 40 TogetherGreen Fellows will receive invaluable training for the future while immediately making a difference today with on-the-ground community projects.”
A complete list of the 2008 TogetherGreen fellows can be found at www.TogetherGreen.org/fellows.
Audubon and Toyota launched the five-year TogetherGreen initiative in spring, 2008 to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer and individual action opportunities that significantly benefit the environment. As of October, volunteer days have begun in 40, tallying in excess of 11,000 volunteer hours. Funding totaling $1.4 million was recently awarded to innovative conservation projects nationwide, while www.TogetherGreen.org helps users take individual conservation action and share and celebrate success stories. The TogetherGreen initiative and grants programs are funded by a $20 million Toyota gift to Audubon, the largest in the conservation group’s long history.
Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education, and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world. Visit Audubon online at www.audubon.org.
Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants, with another under construction in Mississippi. Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Through its corporate initiatives, manufacturing operations and philanthropy, Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. In 2007, Toyota contributed more than $56 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S. For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/community.
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Lincoln Woman Singled Out for Environmental Leadership
