Board Members

Friends of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest is governed by a Board of Directors that includes scientists, conservationists, teachers and nature lovers from many fields.  You can read about our Board members by clicking on the links below:

Charles Baudo – Email: cdb7vc@mail.missouri.edu

Charles Baudo is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In May 2012, Charles will receive a B.S. in Biology. He has aspirations for research in microbiology and immunology. Charles’ keen interest in protecting and preserving the earth’s resources has led him to a career in biology research. In accomplishing college in just three years, he has already performed course research at the VIERS Research Station in the Virgin Islands. Charles looks forward to assisting the Friends of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest to help protect this vital resource.

 

 

Alicia Campbell – Email: alicia@campbelllawllc.com 

Alicia’s first career was as an English teacher. She has taught sixth through twelfth grade students. While teaching in the inner city of San Antonio, Alicia decided she wanted to be a lawyer. She moved to St. Louis and was accepted at Saint Louis University School of Law. While attending law school, she interned for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, worked for a local law firm, taught homebound classes to students who could not attend high school, and earned certificates in Employment Law and International Law. After law school, Alicia worked for two years at Gateway Legal Services, Inc.  She has a B.A. from Concordia University at Austin and a J.D. from St. Louis University.  She was voted one of Missouri’s Best Attorneys to call if the Bank wants your house and named a 2010 Up and Coming Lawyer.  She is a member of Missouri’s Inns of Court.

John Campbell – Email: jcampbell@simonlawpc.com

John Campbell is the head of the consumer and class action department at The Simon Law Firm.  John’s time is divided between trial work and appellate work on behalf of individual plaintiffs and classes of plaintiffs. His cases include claims against companies for gender discrimination, predatory lending, pollution of ground water and soil,  failure to pay overtime, the inclusion of unfair and illegal fees on bills, and failure to honor retirement agreements.   John is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Illinois and New York.

 

 

Jeremy Crandell – Email: jeremy@crandell.org

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Eisenberger – Email: maggie.eisenberger@mclus.org

Maggie EisenbergerMaggie has a Master’s Degree in Tropical Ecology from the Whitney R Harris World Ecology Center at University of Missouri-St. Louis (Her research was on the biotic and abiotic effects of opening a hiking trail in the rainforest. She spent 4 months in the Darien Region of Panama and managed the field research station at Cana.) She is a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm and looks forward to hiking, bird-spotting, and adventuring with fellow travelers. She led a trip to the BEN in June 2009 and has led trips since 1991 to Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, the Peruvian Amazon, Ecuador, and the Galapagos. She developed Curricula on rainforest education for which she received Eisenhower funding for her first trip to the Amazon. She has published rainforest educational activities online and distributed them via Fisher Scientific. She has given dozens of talks on rainforest to a wide range of groups, including public and private school s (pre-K-12), senior citizen groups, church youth groups, the St. Louis Audubon Society, conferences for ISACS (Independent Schools Association-Central States), ISSL (Independent Schools-St. Louis),AMS (American Montessori Society), NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers), STOM (Science Teachers of Missouri), the Conservation Forum, and at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sustainability Conference. She served 6 years on the board of directors of Save The Rainforest and served 18 years on the steering committee of St. Louis Rainforest Advocates. She has written many articles for the E-Newsletters of Save the Rainforest and St. Louis Rainforest Advocates. She has 30 years teaching experience (pre-K – 12th; except 5th) and is currently a teacher of high school science and math. She has received several teaching awards, including the St. Louis Zoo’s Teacher of the Year Award.

 Anne Fernandez – Email: anneroth@sbcglobal.net

Anne Fernandez graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and got her MBA from DePaul University in Chicago. She started her career in finance for a Fortune 500 company and after ten years transitioned into Brand Management and Marketing for Nestle Purina. She still works part-time for Nestle in their digital  marketing group. She also is a mother to three young girls. She enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, camping, skiing and cycling and has always been passionate about protecting our environment and eco systems. By joining the MCLUS Board she hopes not only to make a personal contribution to their mission, but to also to be able to educate her children about these important issues and give them a sense of respect and value for our environment. She hopes the work they do together on behalf of MCLUS will show her  daughters they too can make a difference in the world.

Gonzalo Fernandez - Email: gonz@sbcglobal.net

 GonzaloFernandezwas born inMendoza,Argentinaand moved to theUnited Statesas a young child.  He grew up inUniversity City,Missouriin a bilingual and bicultural household.  He attended St. LouisPrioryHigh   School,BostonCollegeand then returned home toSt. Louiswhere he got his J.D. and an M.B.A. fromWashingtonUniversityinSt. Louisin 1989.  Gonzalo is a partner at the firm of Devereaux, Stokes, Nolan, Fernandez & Leonard.  He is a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, the American Association for Justice, the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Hispanic Bar Association, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Lawyers Association.  He is licensed to practice law in the states ofMissouri,IllinoisandColorado. Gonzalo has been a member of the Federal Court’s “Lead Panel” of criminal defense attorneys in which he accepts appointments to defend mostly non English speaking Hispanics charged with Federal crimes in the Eastern District of Missouri.  Gonzalo is active in his community and currently serves as the President of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Region that includes the State of Missouri as well as Chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Committee on Minorities in the Law. Gonzalohas also served on the board of directors for the St. Louis Downtown YMCA, the board of Accion Social Comunitaria, a grass roots organization committed to providing medical care and social services to the growing Hispanic population in theSt. Louisarea, and the board of directors of the St. Louis Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Kim Soltis Hammer – Email: kimhammer@me.com

Kim and her husband Matt met at Texas A&M University, married in 1979, and have lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, since 1988. They have one daughter, Caitlin, a moving image archivist in New York.   After an early career as a seismic data broker in San Antonio and Denver, Kim switched career paths in 1985 and opened Celebrations Catering in Beeville, Texas, followed by The Magnolia Company in 1991 in Corpus Christi.  Later she moved into event planning with her company Special Events by Kim Hammer and at the same time began teaching in the  Hospitality Management Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi.   In 2006 Kim began working with the Soltis Family Foundation on the Casa Verde project which would eventually become the Texas A&M niversity Soltis Center for Research and Education in Costa Rica (http://soltiscentercostarica.tamu.edu).   The Soltis Center opened in June 2009 and Kim maintains a seat on the advisory board and remains an active advocate for the Center.  In addition to overseeing the Soltis family holdings and reforestation projects in Costa  Rica, Kim is the managing partner for a tree farm that uses organic, sustainable models for reforestation, development and extraction of hardwoods in San Isidro de Penas Blancas, Costa Rica.  Kim enjoys being a part of the thriving art scene in Corpus Christi and sits on the executive committee of the Art Center of Corpus Christi, a community education and exhibition facility for visual arts, music and writing.  She and Matt are also active sponsors of Sara’s Kids, a support system for children in foster care.

Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy – Email: lovejoy@HeinzCtr.org

Thomas E. Lovejoy is President of the Heinz Center and currently the Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for the Environment for the Latin American region for the World Bank. He is also the Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation and is a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. In the past, Tom worked as the Assistant Secretary for Environmental and External Affairs for the Smithsonian Institution, and as Executive Vice President of World Wildlife Fund-US. Tom conceived the idea for the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project, originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps, and is the founder of the public television series Nature. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. (biology) from Yale University. Tom is past president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, past chairman of the United States Man and Biosphere Program, and past president of the Society for Conservation Biology. In 1998, Brazil awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of Scientific Merit. In April 2001 he received the John & Alice Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. He serves on numerous scientific and conservation boards and advisory groups including: the New York Botanical Garden, Committee for the National Institute for the Environment, Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, Wildlife Preservation Trust, Resources for the Future, Woods Hole Research Center, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.

Dra. Julia Matamoras – Email: julmat@racsa.co.cr

Dra. Julia Matamoras was born in Costa Rica in 1952, but moved to NYC (Staten Island) in 1958 where she went to Catholic grammar and high school. In 1970 Julia began studying Medicine at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. In 1975 she transferred to the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico where she received her degree in 1979.That year Julia went back to live in Costa Rica and started her internship. She has worked as a General Practitioner since then and has worked in the San Carlos area in northern Costa Rica since 1986. Dra. Matamoras spent 10 years working in the ER. Currently, part of her work is with terminally ill patients in a Pain Clinic and Palliative Care center (since 1997). She is also involved in a committee that deals with the prevention and treatment of Domestic Violence in her region since 1993. Dra. Matamoras first came into contact with the Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) in 1993 and in 1994 became a member and was asked to participate on the board of directors .She has participated in different posts since then, and, is the immediate past president of MCL’s board of directors. Julia is married and has a daughter and a son.

Tom Newmark – Email: tnewmark@newchapter.com

Tom Newmark was president and co-CEO of New Chapter, Inc., a certified organic provider of leading multivitamins and herbal formulations until his retirement in 2012. He is co-owner of Luna Nueva Extractos de Costa Rica that operates a model biodynamic and certified organic ginger and turmeric farm in the volcanic rainforest at the edge of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Tom is co-founder of Semillas Sagradas, a sanctuary for endangered medicinal herbs of the neo-tropics. He is on the board of Scientific Advisors for the organic Center for Education, on the board of Biodynamic Trade Association, a member of Organic Trade Association, the American Herbal Products Association, the American Botanical Council, the NNFA, the Society of Integrative oncology and the Bar Association of Missouri. Tom received his BA and his JD from Washington University and had twenty years experience as a trial lawyer. Tom has several patents and has authored numerous articles. His books include Beyond Aspirin and The Life Bridge.  Tom is currently collaborating with scientists at Columbia University on the first herbal clinical trial for the prevention of prostate cancer using proprietary formulation Zyflamend.

Jane Oliver – Email: janeoliver@condoninc.com

President of Condominium Property Management a company which has provided management and consulting services to condominium and homeowner communities for over 20 years. Served as trustee on the Robinwood West Community Improvement District for 4 years. An avid gardner. Committed to work done by MCLUS. Worked in accounting at Chromalloy, Love Real Estate, Equitable Real Estate and the accounting firm of Rubin Brown Gornstein.

 

 

Dr. Peter H. Raven- Email: peter.raven@mobot.org

Peter H. Raven has served as Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, and George Engelmann Professor of Botany, Washington University in St. Louis, since 1971 until his retirement in 2010.  He is now President Emeritus of the garden.  He has visited Costa Rica since 1966, and has served as a member of the Board and also President of the Organization for Tropical Studies. The Garden supports the work of Bill Haber at Monteverde and is currently producing the Manual Flora de Costa Rica, an account of all the plants of the country, in cooperation with INBio and the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. The Garden’s staff of some 45 Ph.D. level scientists is conducting research throughout the tropics of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Dr. Raven is currently chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, chair of the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, and a member of the board of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science. A native of California and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (A.B. 1957) and U.C.L.A. (Ph.D. 1960), Dr. Raven was a member of the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University for nine years before coming to St. Louis. He is a member or foreign member of some two dozen academies of science around the world and served as Home Secretary of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for 12 years.

David Robnak – Email: dandkrobnak@charter.net

David Robnak joined the board in 2012. He has previously gone on ecotours with his family to the rain forest in Belize, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. He strongly feels that all rainforest need to be protected, and was glad to join the  board to help the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.  David received a Bachelor degree from Indiana University in Business,  with a minor in small business and entrepreneurship. He is president and owner of Central Paper Stock, a paper and plastics recycling company. Last year, Central Paper Stock recycled enough paper to save 1,263,00 trees and recycled over 3,000,000 pounds of scrap plastic. David lives in St. Louis with his wife and two sons.

Michael Salsich – Email: msalsich@audubon.org

Michael S. Salsich is a certified fund raising executive who started his working career in 1981 as an English and Music teacher.  He is currently the Director of Development, Mississippi Flyway, at the National Audubon Society.  In 1983, he founded Eduproducts, Inc. which supplied educational equipment and furniture nationwide to early childhood institutions including day care centers, preschools and elementary schools.  In 2002, he sold the business and switched careers to become the Vice President for Advancement at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School.  And in 2007 he moved to Saint Louis University, serving as Director of Development for the Cancer Center, Executive Director of Medical Center Development and Senior Director of Development for the School of Medicine.   He brings to MCLUS over eight years of experience in building, growing and managing fundraising operations.  Outside of work his interests are his wife and three children, gardening, hiking, & music.

Carol Weisman – Email: carol@boardbuilders.com

Carol Weisman is Presient of Board Builders. She is an internationally known speaker and author who specializes in fundraising, governance and philanthropy. She is the author of 9 books and has served on 33 boards and been president of 7.

 

 

 

 

Co-Founder, Rachel Crandell in memoriam

Rachel Crandell retired June, 2001 after teaching for 20 years at Principia Lower School in St Louis and 9 years running a nursery school on her family’s farm in Indiana. Rachel has taught numerous seminars for teachers and given hundreds of slide shows around the nation about tropical rain forests. She and her husband Dwight have 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren. On the Indiana farm they grew all their own food organically including goats, chickens, pigs, and horses (though they didn’t eat the horses). Rachel has volunteered with Girl Scouts, 4-H, elected to school board and is active in the Christian Science church. She worked for the Smithsonian Institution and the Nation’s Capitol Girl Scout Council as a Field Director the first year after receiving a BA from Principia College in English and Art History. Later, she received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Webster U in St Louis. She has been an environmentalist forever and has been President of the St Louis Rain Forest Advocates, leads trips to the tropics (have been 25 times since 1989) hoping to give folks a peek at conservation and the impact our lives at home have on distant endangered places — hoping to change habits and thinking. Rachel passed away on Sept 7, 2009.

Co-Founder, Dwight Crandell in memoriam

Dwight Crandell retired on June 30, 2001 after serving 15 years as Executive Vice President of the St. Louis Science Center and 5 years as Assistant Director and Executive Director of the Museum of Science and Natural History in St. Louis. He also spent 9 years on the staff of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana, 1 1/2 years at Mount Vernon (George Washington’s Home in Virginia) and 5 years in the United States Air Force. He is a member of Rotary International, American Association of Museums and AAM/ICOM, an Associate of the Monteverde Conservation League and holds degrees of Bachelor of Arts (History and Education), Principia College and of Master of Arts (History Museum Studies), Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University College at Oneonta, NY. With his wife Rachel he has enjoyed traveling in Central and South America since 1990 and supporting educational/conservation activities in Belize, Ecuador, Bolivia and Costa Rica as well as numerous conservation and cultural organizations within the United States. Dwight passed away on Feb 16, 2008.

 

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