Maria’s passion for environmental advocacy was ignited in kindergarten, when she co-founded “The Bug Club” and rescued injured insects from the playground with her best friend, Alexander. Since then, she has earned a degree in environmental science from the University of North Carolina–Asheville and worked as an ecology educator in Maine, Colorado, and California. Maria believes deeply in our collective power to enact change and is endlessly inspired by the creativity, dynamism, and resilience that young leaders bring to the movement.
You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.— Ta-Nehisi Coates
PLATEAU FAVORITES
- Bears Ears
- The confluence
- The Needles District
ANIMALS I LOVE
- Manatees
- Pikas
- Mountain goats
UNUSUAL FACTS
- I was once bitten by a freshwater eel
- I am trained to handle golden eagles
- I have hitchhiked over 2,000 miles
Flagstaff youth leaders traveled to Phoenix to demand climate action at the Arizona Capitol.
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We need to stop locking science up in the lab, and bring it to the people.
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Flagstaff high school students take their advocacy work to the next level.
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Notes from the front lines of conservation on the Colorado Plateau.
Jack Dykinga
Lisa Winters
Blake McCord
Deidra Peaches
Lisa Winters
Amy S. Martin
