About Us:
Sophie Arp
Executive Director
sophie@friendsoftherainforest.org
Sophie Arp started with Friends of the Rainforest in 2019 as our Development Coordinator. At the end of 2021, she took on the role of Executive Director. She has worked with a variety of non-profits across St. Louis, through volunteer and consulting work, mostly focused on development, media communications, and fundraising. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sophie attended Webster University at the Leiden Campus in the Netherlands to receive a BA in International Relations and Media Communications. After spending 3.5 years in Europe, Sophie completed her last semester at the Webster Campus in St. Louis. Outside of work, Sophie is passionate about social and environmental justice, reading (send her all your book recommendations), video editing, making music, taking walks, playing soccer and DND with friends, and hanging out with her cat, Frankie.
Tori Green
Program Director
tori@friendsoftherainforest.org
Tori Green joined Friends of the Rainforest in March 2023. Her lifelong passion for wildlife and global conservation drove her to obtain a B.A. in Conservation Biology and Ecology with a minor in Geography. Prior to FOTR, Tori's background includes a mixture of fieldwork, lab work, education facilitation, nonprofit management, and wildlife research. Tori also serves on the Board of Directors for Treehouse Wildlife Center and works as a supervisor and consultant for Earthday365. While not in the office or in the field teaching, you can find Tori caring for her rescue ranch of animals and plants, working in her garden, painting or drawing, cooking up new recipes, rehabilitating local wildlife, reading, doing renovations on her home, or on crazy explorations with family and friends. She loves hiking, caving, and especially kayaking.
Zoe Grace
Development Coordinator
zoe@friendsoftherainforest.org
Zoe Grace joined Friends of the Rainforest as the Development Coordinator in January 2025. Her passion for cultural diversity, environmental sustainability, and community engagement has shaped her academic and professional journey. Zoe will graduate from Washington University in St. Louis in 2025 with a B.A. in Global Cultural Studies and a minor in African and African American Studies, focusing on cultural representation and advocacy. Before joining Friends of the Rainforest, Zoe worked with environmental nonprofits dedicated to fostering environmental stewardship among Black youth. She recently returned from a semester in South Africa, where she researched education development for children in shelters. Outside of work and school, Zoe enjoys watching movies, playing volleyball, and propagating plant clippings from her friends.
Board Members:
Maggie Eisenberger - Board Chair
Maggie Eisenberger has a Master’s Degree in Tropical Ecology from the Whitney R Harris World Ecology Center at the 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 has given dozens of talks on rainforests to a wide range of groups, including public and private schools (pre-K-12), senior citizen groups, church youth groups, the St. Louis Audubon Society, and many conferences. 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 30 years of teaching experience (pre-K – 12th) and is retired teacher of high school science and math. She has received several teaching awards, including the St. Louis Zoo’s Teacher of the Year Award.
Marilyn Chandler
Marilyn Chandler has had a lifelong love of books and travel, and she has travelled extensively throughout the world. Due to her love of travel, she became a travel agent for Best Way Travel. She met Maggie in the Amazon Rainforest and has since travelled with her to Cuba and South Korea. She graduated summa cum laude with a history degree (minor in Psychology) from Maryville University. She has established several businesses including APR Advertising, Epic Video, Midwest 4 Wheel Drive and BIGFOOT 4x4 INC - which has been in business since 1975. She is excited to be a part of Friends of the Rainforest and is dedicated to preserving our beautiful world.
Emily Crites
Emily Crites is a dedicated Sustainability Strategist with over 20 years of experience helping organizations embrace sustainability and drive meaningful change. Her work spans industries such as consumer goods, manufacturing, energy, and chemicals, building on her background in chemical engineering. Emily specializes in climate change, decarbonization, ESG reporting, and circular economy strategies, focusing on integrating sustainability into core business practices.
In her current role at Accenture, Emily works with global industry leaders to develop strategic sustainability plans, mitigate risks, engage stakeholders, and implement impactful programs. She has supported major organizations in advancing supply chain traceability, improving sustainability reporting, and crafting long-term strategies to align with global standards.
Sandy Laurie
Sandy Laurie's concern for the environment began years ago when she learned that everything on the planet is connected and everything we do daily matters. In 2006, she was introduced to Rachel Crandell and toured her classroom - in awe of the Rainforest created within the school walls. In 2008, she was privileged to join Rachel on a rainforest trip - assisted by Maggie Eisenberger. It was life-changing to learn about the rainforest through immersion, which included some community service projects. She deeply appreciates Friends of the Rainforest’s continued direct support of the rainforest through patrols, protection, expansion, and education. A recent trip to Costa Rica included hiking in the Children's Eternal Rainforest (El Bosque Eterno de los Niños), confirming the importance of protecting it for future generations.
Cheryl Reinhold
Cheryl Reinhold joined the board of The Friends of the Rainforest in May 2024 to assist in their fundraising and education events. Concerned about rainforest loss around the world, she believes that educating future generations in importance of rainforest conservation will help slow down climate change. Children should be shown that rainforest’s role in health and preservation of our planet is more important than profits of corporations that destroy them. Children can be encouraged to do their own part to help our planet’s future, through recycling, planting trees, growing vegetables and flowers, reducing plastic usage, advocating climate issues to government officials. Cheryl has a Bachelor of Administration-Accounting degree from St. Louis University. She was employed in the accounting profession for over 40 years. She is retired and enjoys spending time volunteering.
David Robnak
David Robnak joined the board in 2012. He has previously gone on ecotours with his family to the rainforest in Belize, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. He strongly feels that all rainforests need to be protected, and was glad to join the board to help the Rainforest. David received a Bachelor's 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 1,263,000 trees and recycled over 3,000,000 pounds of scrap plastic. David lives in St. Louis with his family.
Jennifer Savage
Jennifer Savage, a former teacher with a deep-rooted passion for nature, has joined Friends of the Rainforest. Her educational journey took a wild turn when she worked with Saint Louis Zoo's Education Department, igniting a love for wildlife in many young explorers. Her safari in Tanzania was a defining moment, where the vast savannahs and their inhabitants left an indelible mark on her heart. Now, she leverages her experiences to rainforest conservation, blending education with adventure to inspire community action.
Alissa White
Alissa White was an econometrician at Southwestern Bell for 10 years before she began teaching elementary classes at Chesterfield Day School, a job she held for 22 years. Alissa holds an M.S. (Economics) from the University of Arizona. She currently works part-time, tutoring elementary students in mathematics. Having visited the Children's Eternal Rainforest, Alissa is passionate about helping preserve the forest and about educating others about the need to protect this special forest for the future.
Emily Wonnacott-Stanley
Emily Wonnacott-Stanley is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville STEM Center. She is a career nonformal educator and an advocate for quality accessible STEM Education in out of school time environments. She has over 15 years of experience working with populations that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Currently she is part of the Engineering Plus STEM Peers Academy and focusing on her implementation project, “Bright Futures for Girls”. This is a program to encourage BIPOC girls to attend college to earn their degrees in Engineering and increase the number of girls entering engineering fields. She has served as an instructor for SIUE First Semester Transition courses to help incoming students settle into university life. In addition to a Masters of Science in Zoology, Emily is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Diversity and Equity in Education.