Dear
Great Lakes Neighbor,
Each week we invite grassroots activists,
artists, officials, physicians, parents, young people and others to offer
insightful commentary on their Great Lakes
experiences and views. Of course, we also invite you to comment on their
thoughts!
This week, the Town Hall is pleased to
welcome the Adopt-A-Beach organizers,
who through the Alliance for the Great Lakes,
orchestrate a two week long initiative to clean up the Great
Lakes beaches. Come visit the Great Lakes
Town Hall to read and respond to
Adopt-A-Beach's stories and perspectives about the Great Lakes every day this
week - only in the Great
Lakes Town Hall!
About
the organizers of Adopt-A-Beach...
Stephanie Smith has been on staff with the Alliance since 2001, and serves as the
education director for the organization. Her responsibilities include education
to students of all ages. She is responsible for developing and implementing Great Lakes in My World, a comprehensive K-8 educational
resource. She oversees and coordinates the Alliance's Adopt-a-Beach program.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time at Lake
Michigan with her husband and 18 month old daughter.
Jamie S. Cross joined the staff at the Alliance in 1999, and serves as Outreach
Program Manager for the organization. She coordinates the Alliance's
Adopt-a-Beach program in Michigan and oversees
the September Adopt-a-Beach event in Michigan.
She also serves as the coordinator for the Partner Network, a coalition of more
than 200 community-based and regional organizations from around the Great Lakes basin focused on restoring and maintaining
the land and waters that feed into the lakes.
In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her teenage daughter Alex and
walks along the Lake Michigan shoreline near her home in West
Michigan.
Frances Canonizado joined the Alliance
staff in 2007, and serves as Outreach Coordinator for Illinois
and Indiana.
Her responsibilities include coordinating the Adopt-a-Beach program in Illinois and Indiana
and overseeing the September Adopt-a-Beach cleanup events in those states.
Additionally, she coordinates the Lake Michigan Watershed Ecosystem
Partnership, a coalition of public, private and not-for-profit entities created
to promote, preserve, protect and enhance the natural, cultural, recreational
and sustainable economic resources of Lake Michigan and its watershed in Illinois.
Frances and her husband, Dennis, live in the Chicago area. Enjoying the beauty of Lake Michigan has always been part of their lives -- now
more than ever, since they adopted their dachshund, Marley, who loves to play
in the sand.
Todd Brennan joined the Alliance
staff in April 2008, and serves as the Wisconsin Outreach Coordinator. His
responsibilities include outreach to schools, residents and organizations while
coordinating the Adopt-a-Beach program in Wisconsin. In addition, he will assist the Alliance's policy and
advocacy program staff with work on water conservation and the Great Lakes
Water Resources Compact.
Todd has spent the last five years sailing nearly 20,000 nautical miles on all
five Great Lakes, the East Coast and the Caribbean
engaging learners of all ages in immersive marine/aquatic experiential education
and scientific research. He is happiest spending time with his daughter
gardening, sailing and exploring their world together.
Read
and respond to the organizers of Adopt-A-Beach in the Town Hall
This week’s Featured
Issue…
In addition to guest speakers, the Great Lakes Town Hall
focuses on a new featured Great Lakes issue
each week, provided by co-moderators Dave Dempsey, Gary Wilson, and Brenna
Wanous. This week, Gary
advocates for using the Precautionary Principle when dealing with the Great Lakes, and postulates that "the consequences
of not doing so are not palatable."
Don't miss this great opportunity to read
and comment on our featured issue - The
Precautionary Principle - and the history and future of the
Adopt-A-Beach program, in the Great Lakes
Town Hall all this week!
Guest speakers contribute content on a Great Lakes topic of their choice for five days. While
there are basic rules of conduct, guest speakers are unedited and diverse views
are welcome. If you are interested in serving
as a guest speaker, please reply to this email. We encourage
individuals of all ages, occupations, and opinions to participate in the
conversation.
Your Great Lakes
Neighbor,
Brenna Wanous
Great Lakes Town
Hall Manager
Biodiversity Project
214 N. Henry St. #201
Madison, WI
53703
(work) 608-250-9876
(cell) 507-456-4944
bwanous@biodiverse.org
Life. Nature. You. Make the Connection.
www.greatlakestownhall.org
www.biodiversityproject.org