2022 NMEA Elections—Candidates
PRESIDENT-ELECT CANDIDATE
Lindsay Patterson, South Carolina
Lindsay Patterson is the Education Coordinator with the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC), where she has worked since 2010. She describes her job as being a non-formal environmental educator teaching standard-based programs in Charleston County Parks. Lindsay shares, “It’s satisfying to help foster good environmental stewards.”
Lindsay is a South Carolina Coastal Master Naturalist and completed the Palmetto Environmental Education Certification (PEEC) program in South Carolina, where she also serves on the PEEC Advisory Board. Lindsay is a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association for Interpretation. Lindsay is also a co-creator of the South Carolina Biodiscovery Project, a STEM-based citizen science and education initiative.
A NMEA member since 2014, Lindsay served on the South Carolina Marine Educators Association Board of Directors from 2014-2018 and is a SCMEA Past-President. Lindsay served as a conference co-chair for the 2017 NMEA Annual Conference. Lindsay has served on the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) Board of Directors since 2018 and is a co-chair of NMEA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. During her time as a DEI co-chair, she worked with the NMEA membership to create NMEA’s DEI position statement and action plan.
“NMEA is instrumental in my professional and personal growth. I treasure the connections and friends I have made as a member, committee co-chair, and director,” Lindsay said. “Not only do I look forward to more growth, I hope to aid NMEA in reaching higher heights and becoming more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”
Secretary Candidate
Jaime Thom, South Carolina
Jaime Thom was raised in a small town of southern Indiana over 650 miles from the ocean. Her love of everything marine grew from spending a week on the beach every summer with her family. That love turned into a career after graduating from the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC with a BS in Marine Biology. She furthered her education with her master’s work in secondary science education. She is the School Programs Manager at the South Carolina Aquarium and is in charge of school programs, outreach, virtual programs, sleepovers, curriculum, teacher workshops and anything related to schools. She is the NMEA Chapter Representative for SCMEA (South Carolina Marine Educators Association) and the SCMEA Chapter Representative for NMEA. She was one of the three co-chairs for the NMEA National Conference in Charleston, SC in 2017 and served as the NMEA Conference Committee Chair from 2017-2020. In South Carolina, she won South Carolina Marine Educator of the Year in 2019 and was also selected as the December ABC News 4 STEM Educator of the Month. Her passion for spreading ocean conservation awareness through education drives her to network with other marine enthusiasts and provide engaging programs to all ocean lovers. If elected as a NMEA Secretary, she would continue to represent South Carolina while also providing valuable insight and passion to serve the NMEA organization.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CANDIDATES
Sean Russell, Florida
For over a decade, Sean Russell has worked with a diverse set of non-profit organizations, corporations, and government agencies, to elevate the role of youth leadership in the fields of marine science, education, and conservation. As EarthEcho International’s Associate Director of Youth Engagement and Partnerships, Sean leads efforts to meaningfully engage youth leaders across EarthEcho’s suite of programs while fostering partnerships to grow the reach and impact of EarthEcho’s work to build a global youth movement to protect and restore our ocean planet. Sean previously managed the EarthEcho Water Challenge, a global community science program that has engaged over 1.6 million participants from 146 countries. Additionally, Sean is the founder and director of the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit. Through this program, he works to empower young people with the knowledge, tools, and funds to launch solutions-oriented ocean conservation projects in communities around the world. He serves as a member of the 5th International Marine Protected Area Congress Young Professionals Committee, as a member of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Community Group, and as an advisor to The Ocean Project. Sean has been a member of the National Marine Educators Association since 2013. During his time with the organization, he has worked to develop and expand initiatives to position the organization as a resource for students and young professionals. He has served two terms on the Board of Directors, as a member of the Executive Committee, and established and co-chairs the student engagement committee, which has played a central role in creating and sustaining the annual NMEA Student Conference, providing high school and college age youth the opportunity to explore the field of marine science education and gain support for their personal conservation work. Sean looks forward to supporting NMEA’s continued efforts to engage the next generation of marine education professionals.
Tara Hicks Johnson, New Hampshire
Tara Hicks Johnson is the Outreach Specialist at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, where she manages programs like Seacoast SeaPerch, and helps to coordinate school visits and outreach events like Ocean Discovery Day. Tara has served on the NMEA Board of Directors for the past three years, and is the current chair of the NMEA Conference Committee, having been a co-chair of both the 2019 Durham NH Annual Conference and the 2021 Virtual Conference. She is on the Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association board as the Treasurer, and serves on other marine education committees like NEOSEC (New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative). Tara moved to New Hampshire from Honolulu where she was the Outreach Specialist for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. There she organized the biennial Open House event, handled media relations for the school, and ran the Hawaii Ocean Sciences Bowl, the Aloha Bowl. She also worked for the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, helping to create a science themed exhibit called “X-treme Science! Exploring Oceans, Volcanos and Outer Space”, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto (where she was born and raised). Tara's BSc is in Geophysics from the University of Western Ontario, and her MS is from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Geology and Geophysics where she studied Meteorites. She loves spending time on the coast with her family, and especially her doggo who is her favorite hiking companion.
Emily Yam, California
Emily Yam is the Director of Learning and Public Engagement at the Aquarium of the Pacific. In this role, she oversees the team’s long term planning, strategic partnerships, and grant-funded projects. Making science more welcoming and meaningful for all learners is a key priority in Emily’s work. Emily is also interested in how places like aquariums can work towards social change in the communities they serve. In addition to two decades of teaching experience in both classroom- and free-choice environments, Emily is a biological oceanographer by training.
Valerie Cournoyer, Connecticut
Valerie Cournoyer has been teaching biology and marine biology at Amity High School in Woodbridge, CT for 23 years. For 14 of those years she has also been the Director of the Bermuda Studies Program. The Bermuda course is a half year course culminating in a field study at BIOS-The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. She also advises the Marine Biology Club. The Marine Biology and Oceanography year-long course features marine technology STEM projects. She is a past participant in the MaTTS Project, a joint educational effort between the University of Rhode Island and the University of Connecticut. She has also studied at the Monterey Bay Aquarium through a professional development program called “Connecting with Marine Science” and completed the MATE program at Monterey Peninsula College. She has also completed NGSX training at The CT Science Center. During the pandemic, she piloted the University of Colorado, CIRES curriculum called “Arctic Feedbacks” and “A Changing Arctic” featuring the MOSAiC Project. Nature journaling with students has also become an important Social Emotional Learning activity in Ms. Cournoyer’s classes. Valerie is the SENEME Chapter Representative and former Curator of Education at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. She lives in Seymour, CT with her family.
Leann Winn, New York
Leann Winn has been an educator for over 15 years and currently holds an Upper School Faculty position at Trevor Day School (Manhattan, NY). There, Leann instituted the Marine Science curriculum. As a member of the Teacher Advisory Council for the NY Aquarium, Leann collaborates in the development and assessment of their educational programming. Leann first presented at the 2015 NMEA annual conference while studying at Florida Tech (Melbourne, FL) and spoke on Incorporating Skills into the Ocean Literacy Scope & Sequence for grades 9-12. In 2016, Leann spoke at both the main and student conference on behalf of Sharks4kids, which since its inception, Leann has volunteered in developing curriculum and working to create new ocean advocates on a global scale giving talks virtually and in-person. Leann has represented the NYSMEA chapter for the last 5 years and recently was awarded in recognition of being its lifeline keeping them going through virtual activities. Leann is a member of the DEI (name TBD) Committee, which they have been part of since the 2019 discussions. Leann was a co-chair for the 2021 annual conference held virtually and is currently one for the 2022 conference being offered in a hybrid style with the in-person hosted at Hofstra University (Long Island, NY).
Colleen Shipley, Colorado
I grew up in landlocked Colorado, but from my first visit to SeaWorld when I was 5, I knew I wanted to study and work with marine life. So in 2001 I got my big break as an Educator at the new aquarium in Denver, called Ocean Journey (now called Downtown Aquarium). I have continued to bring marine science education to Denver over the last 21 years. I am currently the Education Manager at the Denver Downtown Aquarium, overseeing all Downtown Aquarium education programming. I have served as the Colorado representative for SWMEA and also the SWMEA membership/treasurer for the last several years.
The general membership of the organization is encouraged to submit other nominees for elected positions on the Board. Deadline for submissions is Monday, June 6th and each submission from the membership must include signatures of at least five (5) members of the organization in addition to the signature of the nominee. Submissions should be sent to Lauren Rader at lradernmea@gmail.com. The election will open on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.