Staff Profile: Jeannine Richards

Name:  Jeannine Richards

Job Title: [Special] Projects Coordinator

What does that entail?  It’s become an office joke that nobody knows what I actually do here!  I do a little bit of a lot of different things, including working on our newsletter and website publications, curating our archival collections, provide input on the direction of our communications and education departments, support and logistical arrangements for conference groups, and public outreach.  Probably my most discrete project is running the Woodland School, our curriculum of classes for private landowners.

What is your educational and professional background?  I have a B.A. in Conservation Biology and Environmental Policy from Boston University.  I spent a total of almost a year (in three separate trips) studying tropical ecology in Ecuador.  I also studied forest dynamics in upstate New York through Fordham University for a summer prior to coming to work at ALF.  Recently I was trained as a lecturer on climate change by Al Gore’s group, The Climate Project.

Where are you originally from? I grew up in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, a small town in the Connecticut River Valley.  My parents still live there.

What brought you to work in the environmental field?  I grew up in a rural area with parents who liked camping and hiking, so I spent lots of time outdoors when I was young.   In high school I got interested in environmental policy through several school projects, and decided to pursue that interest in college, thinking that I would like to work in more of a political arena.  But then, upper level college biology classes and my studies in Ecuador captured my inner scientist and my sense of wonder; the upshot –working in conservation – is something of a balance between the two paths.

How long have you worked for ALF?  I started working for ALF in February 2003.  I was hired as a seasonal intern and planned on staying in Wisconsin for 9 months.  I am still here.

What is your favorite part of your job?  I love the fact that people here, among both the staff and visitors, are here because they want to talk and think about the issues that face our society today on a deeper level, one that involves connections between many things.  Being in such an atmosphere challenges all of us to think more deeply about the things that we do and keeps every day interesting with a an influx of new, intriguing ideas and information. 

I also love running the Woodland School.  I enjoy interacting with people who care deeply about their land and want to learn how to become better stewards of it, and I like thinking about new and different ways to present information so that it can change the ways land is managed.

What is the biggest challenge?  Leopold’s land ethic is a lesson that we as a human community still need to learn, but because of the context and time at which it was written, it is hard for all people to relate to.  Our challenge is to present it in a way that is intelligible and relevant to a majority of people today.

How has working for ALF changed your thinking?  I think that my experience here has broadened my thinking to make connections between history, values, social systems, and nature that I would not have recognized before.  It has also made me less willing to cast issues or problems into black and white categories.  Working here has also given me practice and confidence at articulating my thinking and values to others.

What is your favorite Leopold quote/essay?  Leopold frequently mentions the relationship between humans and the tools that we use.  He argues that our technologies have developed faster than our understanding of how to use them without causing harm, suggesting that only when we have a communal agreement of what is acceptable use will we be able to live in harmony with the land.  He wrote in “The Ecological Conscience,” that we may not see this accomplished within our lifetimes, but tells us that each step along the path is important in itself.  He writes: “In such matters we should not worry much about anything except the direction in which we travel.”  It is an idea that I go back to often – the direction in which we travel – for my own personal encouragement and as a message of hope for others.