2010 Speakers

Leslie Fields

Environmental Justice & Community Partnerships Program Director, Sierra Club
September 2010

Leslie Fields brings over twenty years of international, federal, state and local environmental justice and environmental law and policy experience to the Sierra Club. Fields is the former International Director of Friends of the Earth-US (an environmental NGO) in Washington, D.C. Fields is currently an adjunct law professor at Howard University School of Law. She serves as a Commissioner on the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies’ Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change.

She has worked with community groups, nonprofit organizations, the private sector and all levels of government and is particularly interested in the intersection of environmental justice, democracy, corporate and civic governance and globalization. Fields has worked extensively on oil/gas natural resource extraction issues and climate change in East, West and Southern Africa. Leslie has also been known to periodically detour into redistricting and voting rights issues. She serves on the board of Horn Relief (a Somali women’s development/environmental organization). Leslie Fields is a graduate of Cornell University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Vivian Buckingham

Director of Government Relations, Ceres
July 2010

Vivian Buckingham is the Director of Government Relations for Ceres.  Prior to Ceres Vivian worked for the 1Sky Campaign where she served as Policy Director during its launch phase.  Prior to joining 1Sky, Vivian directed the Campaign for Communities for Earth Day Network, worked for the Environmental Law Institute, the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Program of Earthjustice and the Center for International Environmental Law in Geneva, Switzerland.

Vivian was appointed a fellow by the First Nations Institute to the Roundtable on the North American Pharmaceutical Industry and Research Involving Indigenous Knowledge. In 2002 she directed and coordinated the “Conference on Trade, Sustainability and Global Governance” (Symposium Issue, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Volume 27 No. 2).

Before joining the legal profession, Vivian enjoyed careers in the field of public relations, in university administration and finance, and in project management for Fortune 100 companies. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University magna cum laude and earned her JD from Columbia University School of Law graduating as a Lowenstein Fellow, a CLEA Outstanding Student awardee and a recipient of the Alfred A. Forsyth Prize for Environmental Law. She currently serves on the boards of Redefining Progress, the Eastern Environmental Law Center, the Institute for Conservation Leadership and the Columbia Law School Alumni Association.
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Sybille Klenzendorf

Managing Director, WWF Species Conservation Program
 June 2010

Dr. Sybille Klenzendorf has been the managing director of WWF’s Species and Wildlife Trade Program since January 2009. Dr. Klenzendorf is an expert on tiger conservation, bears, other large mammal conservation issues, human-wildlife conflict, and carnivore. Previously she directed all mammal-related programs in Asia for WWF. Her work includes technical advisor for field projects, writing proposals and reports, media relations, and interagency communications.

Before joining WWF in 2002, she was a field biologist for the Virginia Fish and Game Department, studying Alleghany black bear ecology and management for her PhD degree. She also worked for a team in Europe to design an Austrian brown bear management plan, which earned her an M.S. degree. A native German, Sybille came to the United States in 1994 and has continued to work internationally finding solutions for wildlife-human conflicts. Sybille received her Ph.D. in wildlife science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

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Mary Kearns

Herban Lifestyle, LLC
 May 2010

Mary Kearns lives in the DC area where she does her best to balance her urban lifestyle with healthful habits – mind, body and spirit. She shares this knowledge with others through her writing and workshops. Since moving to DC, as part of this balance, she began formal herbalism studies, and this inspired her to resurrect the handcrafted herbal bath and body product business that she had several years ago.

The mission of her company, Herban Lifestyle, LLC, is to promote beauty and self-care while supporting the health and wellbeing of people and the planet through the creation of high-quality bath and body products handcrafted with only the purest natural, organic and Fair Trade ingredients, in attractive earth-friendly packaging.

Mary holds a BA in Fine Arts and a doctorate in Developmental Psychology, with a focus on Health Psychology. In addition to running Herban Lifestyle, she also works as a consultant in the scientific review of health promotion research.

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Leda Huta

Executive Director; Endangered Species Coalition
 April 2010

Leda Huta is the Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition, a national network of hundreds of conservation, scientific, education, religious, sporting, outdoor recreation, humane, business and community groups across the country. Through public education, scientific information and citizen participation, the Endangered Species Coalition works to protect our nation’s wildlife and wild places. The ESC is a non-partisan coalition working with concerned citizens and decision makers from all parties to protect endangered species and habitat.

Previously, Leda was the Acting Executive Director for Finding Species, a nonprofit that uses photography as a niche to protect species biodiversity—from the United States to the Amazon, and she remains on the Finding Species Board. Previous to that, Leda worked for Resource Conservation Alliance to protect forests from a “markets” perspective—advancing alternatives to ancient forest wood products.

Leda is one of the co-founders of EcoWomen—a community of women who foster networking and collaboration for a healthy environment. Leda speaks Ukrainian and Spanish and has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto with a double major in environmental science and environment & resource management and a minor in zoology.

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Rebecca Bell

Environmental Education Specialist; Maryland State Department of Education
 March 2010

Rebecca Bell has provided outstanding leadership in embedding environmental issues into the Maryland State curriculum for all public schools. She taught middle and high school science for 26 years, and piloted the Gifted and Talented middle school program in Washington County, MD. Honored as the Maryland Middle School Science Teacher of the Year, Ms. Bell was selected in 2008 to participate in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Teacher at Sea program to help scientists monitor the changing ocean ecosystem.

She was recently involved in developing the Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards for K-12 education and the State Plan for Environmental Literacy. Rebecca also serves on the Governor’s Climate Change Commission. In 2009 she was honored as part of the National Women’s History Project Women Taking the Lead to Save the Planet.

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Jessica Berk Ross

Executive Vice President; Ruder Finn Washington, DC
 February 2010

Jessica Berk Ross is the managing director of the Ruder Finn Washington, DC office. Jessica brings more than 20 years of experience blending political, public affairs and public relations experience into winning communications strategies for clients. Jessica has provided strategic counsel to numerous clients across industry sectors—helping them navigate the political, policy and business landscapes. From building visibility with opinion leaders, to having a voice in the crowded marketplace of ideas, to mobilizing support with grassroots constituencies, Jessica has helped clients to make their voices heard, increase awareness of their issues and build both momentum and support.

From corporate reputation management and corporate social responsibility, to capital development campaigns and building mindshare for non-profit organizations, Jessica has worked with a broad spectrum of clients using strategic communications for meaningful organizational outcomes. She has worked with a number of organizations on varied environmental issues including locally grown food and renewable energy. Recent projectsinclude the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Campaign with the Alice Ferguson Foundation and the launch of The George Washington University Institute for Solar Analysis.

Jessica began her career as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill, and has served as the principal advisor on infrastructure and transportation issues and to Secretary Norman Mineta—former Chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Prior to joining Ruder Finn, Jessica ran her own public relations and public affairs consulting firm. She is the former Public Affairs practice director for Hill & Knowlton. Jessica is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and holds a Master’s degree in Legislative Affairs/Political Science from The George Washington University. Jessica is an avid gardener, and she teaches art history and art appreciation classes to elementary school students.

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Ellen McBarnette, Esq.

Founder, Urban Solar Solutions
 January 2010

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Smith College, she came to Washington, DC to work in public policy, and environmental and social justice. She served as Legislative Assistant for Congressman Robert Garcia of the South Bronx, NY(retired) and, later, for Congresswoman Barbara-Rose Collins of East Detroit (retired). Both districts were 1st and 2nd poorest Urban Districts in the US at that time.

From 1993, she represented the Sierra Club as a lobbyist before Congress on Global Warming, Energy and Environmental Justice. From the Sierra Club National Legislative Office, she also lobbied on the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, on wetlands, polluted runoff and CAFE standards. She left to pursue a law degree at the College of William and Mary School of Law. After acquiring her juris doctorate in 1999, she returned to legislative affairs.

She served as lobbyist for the American Bar Association. She represented the bar on civil rights and constitutional Law. She lobbied against proposed changes to the First Amendment and against the PATRIOT Act, as well as in favor of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Title IX and the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.

She began Urban Solar Solutions, LLC in Washington, DC in 2006, when she found how challenging it was to locate green products to renovate her own home. In 2008, she left the ABA to manage her young green business full time. Urban Solar Solutions is an alternative energy and energy efficiency consulting firm that offers green job trainings, provides consumer education in green energy issues, sells energy saving products and consults on energy saving processes and retrofits. Its retail store is located in Edmonston, MD, just south of Hyattsville.

Its customers include state and local governments, churches, coop boards, schools, local businesses and individual home owners! Its mantra is “Power to the People!”’ Ellen McBarnette serves on the boards of several organizations in the region, including her church, her neighborhood association and the Prince Georges County Workforce Investment Board. She is the chair of the Environmental Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC.

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