Staff

Meet the Audubon staff that work on the TogetherGreen program.

Luisa Arnedo, Manager, Conservation Leadership Program, coordinates all programming related to the TogetherGreen Fellows and alumni.  Before joining TogetherGreen, Luisa advised EcoAnalytics on the effects of climate change on biodiversity and worked with the Conservation Leadership Programme at Conservation International providing advice and support to young conservationists. Prior to that, Luisa dedicated most of her career to work with endangered species of primates. Conducting fieldwork in the remote tropical rainforests of Colombia and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, she worked with local stakeholders to reduce deforestation, incentivize forest restoration, and develop plans to connect fragments of forest through natural corridors. Luisa has a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, and a Master’s and a Doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Favorite bird/wildlife moment: Running into a puma that was less than 15 feet away from me. Seeing two king vultures flying away after feeding from a mountain tapir. Both events took place at the Macarena forest in Colombia.
What I wanted to be when I was little: A dancer.
Extracurricular activity that would surprise people: I wasn’t born with a nice voice but I love to sing. Some times I can sing for hours…..in the privacy of my own home of course!

Contact: Washington, D.C., 202.600.7976, larnedo@audubon.org

 

Melissa Hopkins, Program Director, leads Toyota TogetherGreen program areas, providing strategic guidance to the Fellows and Innovation Grants programs and overseeing the evaluation. Prior to joining Audubon in 2007, Melissa worked at Discovery Creek Children’s Museum, where she initiated the organization’s first comprehensive evaluation of its programs, and American Rivers, where she was responsible for managing the organization’s foundation portfolio. Melissa has a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, where she studied primate behavior and conducted research on tool use in capuchin monkeys, and an M.S. from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, where she studied environmental psychology and conducted a community needs assessment of an urban park in Detroit, MI.

Favorite wildlife moment: Spotting her first fish eagle in Botswana
What I wanted to be when I was little: Jane Goodall's research assistant
Extracurricular activity that would surprise people: Flamenco

Contact: Washington, D.C., 202.600.7974, mhopkins@audubon.org

Chuck Remington, Director of Field Support for Education & Centers, provides strategic advice across the TogetherGreen program and coordinates TogetherGreen's nationwide volunteer initiative.

Chuck's career in environmental education spans 21 years and includes:  volunteer educator at the New England Aquarium in Boston, education manager at the San Diego Zoo, and curator of education at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. In 1998 he became Audubon New York's first director of education, and led the team that opened Audubon's first urban nature center in the country in Brooklyn, NY. In his current position at National Audubon he serves the nineteen Audubon Centers east of the Mississippi and aids them in program development, staff/volunteer training, marketing, outreach to underserved audiences, fundraising, exhibit and interpretive design. Prior to his work in the field of environmental education he worked in advertising and book publishing.

Favorite bird/wildlife moment: Working with a cuscus at the San Diego Zoo
Environmental hero: Chico Mendes, Peggy Shepard
Extracurricular activity that would surprise people: Glassblowing and bagpiping

Contact: New York, NY, 212.979.3094, cremington@audubon.org

David J. Ringer, Director, Media Relations, leads Audubon’s media relations and social media efforts and provides strategic guidance for TogetherGreen marketing and communications. He was previously Audubon's communications director for the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Flyway and was Audubon's front-line PR manager in Louisiana during the 2010 BP oil disaster. He also served as communications lead for the multi-organization Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign. Before joining Audubon, David did PR and a wide variety of other communications and media work for several NGOs that work on sociolinguistic issues around the world, an experience which took him to more than 25 countries on six continents. He has worked as a web developer and a biological field technician, and he authors articles on bird taxonomy and systematics and other natural history topics.

What did you want to be when you were little: A marine biologist
Extracurricular activity that would surprise people: Musical theater and other vocal performance
Favorite bird/wildlife moment: So very many – but watching blue, turkey-sized Victoria Crowned Pigeons in the forest canopy of New Guinea has to be near the top. Kagus in New Caledonia and warblers on the Gulf Coast aren’t half bad either!

Contact: New York, NY, 212.979.3062, dringer@audubon.org

John Rowden, Research and Grants Manager, oversees all aspects of the Innovation Grants program and evaluation of the Toyota TogetherGreen program. John has worked within the Audubon network since 2009, starting at New York City Audubon where he was the Associate Director for Citizen Science and Outreach. Prior to his role at NYC Audubon, John worked as a researcher with the New Zealand Kiwi Foundation and was the Curator of Animals for the Central Park Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Society. John has his PhD in Zoology from Duke University, and is a current adjunct professor at Columbia University where he teaches classes ranging from Ornithology to Conservation Biology. He sits on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Diversity in Citizen Science Task Force. 

Favorite Bird/Wildlife Moment: Too many! Seeing my first Andean Condor, Kakapo and Rhinoceros Hornbill was breathtaking. Satellite tagging Andean Flamingos in Chile was pretty awesome.
What (actually who) I wanted to be when I was little: Gerald Durrell
Extracurricular activity that would surprise people: Designing scavenger hunts

Contact: New York, NY, 212.979.3087, jrowden@audubon.org

Elizabeth Sorrell, Digital Communications Manager, supports communications efforts for TogetherGreen,with an emphasis on digital engagement and social media. Prior to joining Audubon, Elizabeth spent over four years at The Karpel Group, a boutique PR marketing firm specializing in outreach to LGBT audiences and grassroots campaigns, where she was responsible for a variety of clients, including MTV, Paramount, and Henson Alternative. She holds a B.F.A. in Playwriting from Northern Kentucky University, where she was twice awarded the Women's Studies Creative Writing Award. 

Favorite Outdoor Space: Tie – Cincinnati Nature Center & Cooper Park in Brooklyn.
Favorite wildlife moment: Meeting Jax, a Dolphin who lost his dorsal fin and half his tail in a shark attack, but hasn’t let that slow him down.
What did you want to be when you were little: Captain Planet, but a girl. 

Contact: New York, NY, 212.979.3185, esorrell@audubon.org

Zach Slavin, TogetherGreen Coordinator, assists with all aspects of the program including trainings, communications, evaluation, and reporting. Before joining the TogetherGreen team in 2010, Zach worked with a lobbying firm in Washington, DC, advocating for public transportation projects in the Western United States. Previously he has completed internships in the entomology and paleobiology departments of the National Museum of Natural History, served as the nature counselor at a YMCA summer camp, and worked in social policy research. He has a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Science from Brandeis University.

Favorite bird/wildlife moment: Feeling an Anna’s Hummingbird’s wings against my face as it investigated the brim of my hat in the Sonoran Desert.
What I wanted to be when I was little: A paleontologist
Favorite outdoor space: Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, DC

Contact: Washington, D.C., 202.600.7962, zslavin@audubon.org