Honoree Receives Audubon/Toyota TogetherGreen Fellowship
New York, NY – A Santa Fe, New Mexico 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.
Avery Anderson 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, Anderson will focus her efforts on the restoration of a degraded section of the Dry Cimarron River in northeastern New Mexico. She plans to help improve both water quality and supply through on-site volunteer workshops that reach out to the local ranching community.
The Coordinator of The Quivira Coalition’s Conservation and Ranch Leadership and Youth (CARLY) program has been involved in a wide range of conservation efforts before choosing to focus on organizing ranchers and conservationists. After working as a field assistant for the Wyoming Wolf Project and as a field researcher in Kenya’s Amboseli - Tsavo West ecosystem, Anderson became interested in studying not only wildlife, but people’s interactions with wildlife and the environment as a whole. That led her to work as a children’s environmental science teacher at the Urban Resources Institute, as the lead instructor for incoming Yale Forestry & Environmental Studies graduate students in New Haven, CT, and ultimately to her current role in Santa Fe. At The Quivira Coalition she uses her skills and experience to help develop leadership skills in the field of land conservation.
“Avery 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.”
“I feel very privileged to have been selected as a TogetherGreen Fellow, and know that the support of Audubon and Toyota will be a great asset to my restoration project on the Dry Cimarron River,” said Anderson. “The Quivira Coalition and I are eager to engage a diverse audience with this project, and look forward to meeting new folks at our upcoming river restoration workshops.”
Anderson received a Masters from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Her Master’s project, which focused on establishing a dialogue about the carnivore-livestock conflict in Wyoming, will be published in a book entitled, “Large Carnivores, People and Governance.” She graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in Geoarcheology.
“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 TogetherGreen fellows can be found online at www.TogetherGreen.org/fellows.
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Santa Fe Woman Singled Out for Environmental Leadership
