Board of Directors
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Laurie Osher (MeIPL Board President), Congregation Beth El in Bangor, ME
Laurie
is a community organizer and educator who lives in Orono, Maine.
She is President of Osher Environment Systems, an environmental
consulting firm providing assistance to clients in central and eastern
Maine. Laurie and her team specialize in helping clients increase
the energy efficiency of their buildings. Prior to launching
her business, Laurie was a faculty member at the University of Maine
in the College of Natural Resources. Her Soil Science, Estuary Ecology,
and Isotope Geochemistry courses identified the role of humans in
altering the Earth’s climate, offered practical tools for
measuring impacts, and advocated for individuals to “think
globally and act locally”. Her research focused on the
impact of land use changes on soil and sediment carbon storage and
loss. She’s quantified soil C in estuaries of Maine,
and in the forests and grasslands of Georgia, Hawaii, and Ecuador.
Before moving to Maine in 1999, Laurie worked at EPA’s Ecosystems
Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia. She earned her PhD
from the University of California Berkeley, her Master’s from
North Carolina State University and her undergraduate degree from
Cornell University.
Rev. Steve Hastings (Vice President), UCC minister serving two Presbyterian churches in Central ME
Steve
is a UCC minister serving two Presbyterian churches in central Maine.
He is the Chair of the Witness Life Commission of the Maine Conference
UCC and the “Stewardship of Creation Enabler” of the Presbytery
of Northern New England. Steve joined the board because MeIPL “goes
to the issue of earth care and the responsibilities of faith communities
[which] is the most important issue of our day and it draws our
attention to the need for faith communities to include nature in
their spiritual, ritual, and moral lives.” Steve earned a master’s
degree from Dartmouth College’s Resource Policy Center and then
worked for the center’s environmental consulting firm Resource Systems
Group. Due to his strong interest in the spiritual/religious basis
for environmentalism, he entered the ministry. He is now working
on a doctoral dissertation in environmental ethics and creation
spirituality at Boston University. Steve is in the process of creating
a vacation bible school-style curriculum for children that is “spiritually
green” which he plans to make the signature issue of his ministry.
Paul
Womer (Secretary), St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brunswick, ME
Paul
is a double-retiree, having retired from the Foreign Service, and
also from the U.S. Army Reserves. Paul continues to work part-time
as a consultant for a firm headquartered outside of Washington,
DC. Paul recently finished a term as a vestry member at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church in Brunswick where, as Chair of the Buildings and
Grounds Committee, he worked to improve the church’s environmental
posture and reduce its carbon footprint. During that time, Paul
worked closely with MEIPL when it held a day-long interfaith meeting
at St. Paul’s. Paul remains active at St. Paul’s on these and other
issues. Paul and his wife, Abbie, actively promote an environmentally-friendly
lifestyle through recycling, bicycle riding, and the installation
of a solar-powered hot water system on their home. Paul is also
active as a mentor under the auspices of Sweetser.
Joel
Leak (Treasurer), Falmouth, ME
Joel
has been interested in alternative energy since he was in high school
in the mid 1970’s when the energy crisis hit. He went to college
and received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in
order to pursue a career in alternative energy. He worked briefly
for Cambridge Solar Enterprises but as opportunities were limited
at the time, he had to leave the field. He cites working with MeIPL
as the opportunity of fulfilling that dream. Joel has focused on
marketing for MeIPL due to his belief in the clean power products
and has set a goal of expanding the customer base. His background
is in analytics which he has been employing through data analysis
assistance at MeIPL.
Sam
Saltonstall, Williston-West Church, UCC, Portland, ME
Sam
is a retired teacher who lives with his wife Linda on Peaks Island,
where he led an effort to test the wind resource for a possible
community wind project. He has spearheaded efforts at his church
to insulate the attic, build inside storm windows for the fellowship
hall and upgrade the lighting, and was involved in a grass roots
effort which called attention to the need for energy conservation
in Portland's buildings. Sam served for 2 1/2 years as MeIPL Board
President and has been actively involved in advocacy efforts related
to climate change and energy issues.
Beth
Fuller Valentine, Church of St. Anne, Gorham, ME
Beth
led development and implementation of the Maryland Clean Marina
Initiative: a program to foster and certify environmentally-responsible
facilities. Subsequently, she lent her expertise to the development
of similar programs in Rhode Island and Mexico. She also developed
the current management plan for Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve (WBNERR) on Cape Cod. WBNERR’s mission is to improve stewardship
of the region’s estuarine and coastal watershed ecosystems. Her
involvement in coastal management has led her to the inescapable
conclusion that climate change is real and must be addressed now.
She tries to minimize her personal carbon footprint and hopes, through
her work with MeIPL, to contribute more substantially to a societal
shift away from fossil fuel.
Bill Getz, Congregational Church, UCC, Cumberland, ME
Bill
has been interested in conservation and alternative energy since
1972. He introduced a one credit course in “The Greening of America”
at the University of Massachusetts. The first house that he built
in 1976 used alternative energy from homemade solid fuel, solar,
and wind appliances. The first house he built in Maine was a passive
solar design. For the last 11 years bill has been instructing trainees
in construction on how to build green and weatherize existing houses.
At his current home, Bill has been renovating a 1932 house in Portland
and has reduced the fuel use from 900 gallons to 300 gallons while
building two additions with all recycled materials from Habitat
Re-Store. In addition to training people on efficient building techniques,
Bill is training to become a Third Party Building Inspector under
the new Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code. He truly believes
that the time has come when we can not only save the planet, but
save money as well.
Kerry
Whittaker, Congregational Church, Cumberland, ME
Kerry participates in two important committees at her church: the Green Team and Missions. The Green Team strives to educate our church and the wider communities of Maine about how to be more “green” in our daily lives. Mission’s works together for local causes such as a food pantry, and home weatherization this summer in Washington County to name a few. We also hope to have some international missions as well.
She volunteers for Friends of Casco Bay in South Portland and has connected with others interested in protecting Casco Bay from pollutants and helping to educate the public about these issues. Before moving to Maine, she and her family lived on a lake in Massachusetts and we enjoyed nature around the lake in all 4 seasons. Since moving to Maine, she continue to enjoy nature and at Winslow Park, Pineland, Chebeague Island, Mackworth Island, the Portland Trails and Twin Brooks recreational area in Cumberland just to name a few. She would like to continue learning about political avenues to protect our beautiful state of Maine and the natural world and all its creatures. She believes that education is key to betterment.
Parivash
Rohani, Baha'i Faith, Auburn, ME
Parivash
Rohani left Iran and fled to India in 1979 due to religious persecution.
She arrived in the United States in 1986 as an immigrant. Currently
she lives in Auburn with her husband and children. Professionally,
she is a registered nurse working in the intensive care unit at
St. Mary’s Hospital. She has been involved with many humanitarian,
environmental, and interfaith projects.
Her involvement in MIPL is due to her firm conviction that change
happens organically at the grass roots level, and justice demands
universal participation. Parivash believes it is our moral obligation
to be involved in social action and participate in the prevalent
discourse of society.
Deborah
Lewis, West Parish Congregational Church UCC, Bethel, ME
Deb
Lewis is a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, and a former Christian
Education director at West Parish Congregational Church, in Bethel
Maine. Initially trained in marine intertidal invertebrate research
with a concern for the effects of pollution and global warming,
later as a professional sculptor and painter, and most recently
in geology, Deb has used many diverse opportunities to teach the
necessity of preserving ecosystems. As an assistant librarian who
has worked at all academic levels, elementary through collegiate,
Deb enjoys sharing information and networking with people of all
ages. A gardener who is exploring a plant-based diet, Deb is currently
experimenting with winter indoor vegetable container gardening and
edible landscaping. She is also interested in renewable energy sources
and is following increased rail systems, and new developments in
solar and wind power with great interest. This summer you will find
Deb in Lewiston twice a week, teaching art and gardening at the
Tree Street program, a inner-city youth summer program to provide
opportunities to keep academic skills strong while learning community
building skills through growing vegetable gardens, sports and art.
Dan Huisjen, Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, Brooksville, ME
Dan came
back to Maine ten years ago after living on the west coast for 13
years. His wife, Sara Huisjen, is the minister at the UU Church
of Ellsworth. His early upgringing was Christian, but he's
now philosophically more Buddhist/Taoist than anything. Dan
has tried to be a market gardener and is still active in the garden,
but is focusing professionally on energy auditing. Dan has
a deep concern for how we will make the transition to a low-carbon
society, either voluntarily or not. He feels that how we stay
warm in the winter, keep food on our plates, and keep joy in our
hearts needs to be a local, sustainable, thoughtful endeavor.
He will happily talk for hours about food, gardening, home scale
greenhouses, and home weatherization.
Rabbi Justin Goldstein, Congregation Beth Israel, Bangor, ME
.
Rev. Susan Gilpin, Foreside Community Church, Falmouth, ME
Frank Mundo,
The First Universalist Church in Rockland, Rockland,
ME
2011 Staff
Elizabeth England (Executive Director)
Danielle Plourde (Outreach Coordinator)
___________________________________________________________________
IN LOVING MEMORY
Christopher
Pottle (Chris served on MeIPL's board from 2007-2011)
Chris
spent his professional career as a professor of electrical engineering
at Cornell, and retired in 1998. His research area was in computer
applications to circuit theory, much of that in power system simulation.
Upon retiring, he moved to western Maine where his parents were
born and raised. Chris was a life-long member of the Episcopal Church
and his home parish was Christ Church, Norway. His general interest
in social concerns led him to apply for, and be elected as, the
Episcopal representative to the Board of Directors of the Maine
Council of Churches in 2005. Chris applied for the MCC position
on the board of Maine Interfaith Power & Light in 2007 as it
brought together his faith-based concerns for the environment and
his expertise as a power systems engineer.
We miss you Chris!
(to read Chris' obituary please click here)
P.O. Box 4834 - Portland, ME 04112-4834 / (207) 721-0444 / info@meipl.org
