Waterspirit staff
Executive Director, Blair Nelsen. Photos courtesy Bruno Prata Arte and Yale Divinity School.
Public Policy and Justice Organizer, Rachel Dawn Davis. Photo (right) by Shadia Fayne Wood, Survival Media Project.
Program Manager, Anne Price
Development Director, Lisa Maher
WATERSPIRIT ADVISORY BOARD
We are seeking new board members! To learn more, read our call for board members here.
Karen Auld is a multifaceted environmentalist with over 30 years of experience. She is a Citizen Scientist researching how our inner world reflects the outer world, a Senior Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability Specialist with Johnson & Johnson, and the Brand Ambassador for Global Wrap Share, a reusable, fabric gift wrap company. Pulling from her eclectic background, Karen brings pragmatic thinking to self-help teaching and environmental activism keeping heavy topics fun, light and digestible. This approach let’s her clients and students grow and evolve their way.
Rich Bizub recently retired after working over 42 years in the environmental field with a focus on water resources. Initially in the environmental consulting field and for 22 years as the director for water programs with the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. During this time he has served on various boards of professional, civic and environmental organizations. Rich has been a member of the Waterspirit Advisory Board for over 18 years.
Hugh Carola joined the Waterspirit board in 2013 at the request of Sr. Suzanne Golas. He serves at the Program Director at Hackensack Riverkeeper, a position he has held since 2001. An asset to Riverkeeper’s environmental advocacy and education work, Hugh holds a US Coast Guard-issued Captain’s License and spends a good deal of his work time on the Hackensack River piloting the research vessel Robert H. Boyle II and introducing students of all ages to the river and the unique habitats of the Hackensack Meadowlands.
Kathryn “Kate” Chambers has been an enthusiastic supporter of Waterspirit since its founding and a member of its Advisory Board since 2008. Kate was a member of the founding board of Peace Ministries, Inc. beginning in March 2014 and continuing until her appointment as Director of Mission Integration in October 2016. She has recently retired.
Joe Lavin is a retired business executive with more than 30 years’ experience with Sandoz/Novartis. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas Aquinas College, Ramapo College, and St. Elizabeth University. He earned a BS in math from Manhattan University and an MBA from SHU. In retirement he received an MES (Master of Environmental Studies) from Penn. Currently he serves as co-chair of the Archdiocese of Newark Laudato Si Action Plan. He is a Laudato Si Animator and has a Certificate in Integral Ecology from an alliance of Pontifical Universities in Rome.
Sister Mindy (Melinda) McDonald, CSJP, has been a friend of Waterspirit since its beginning stages, serving on its board in earlier years. She recently completed a term on the Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, and prior to that worked for 30 years as a nurse in AIDS and hospice care. She holds Masters’ Degrees in Pastoral Care (Fordham) and in Earth Literacy (St. Mary of the Woods, IN).
Ann Marie Reardon joined the Waterspirit Advisory Board in 2015. Though currently retired, she has worked as a secondary school science educator and as a chemist. Previous environment-related activities have included participating in three Earthwatch expeditions and holding a natural resources portfolio for the Northern Valley League of Women voters. Ann Marie holds degrees in chemistry and in 2013 completed a doctorate in Public Health (Environmental Health Sciences).
Kathleen Scatassa, Waterspirit’s former Program Manager, joined the board in 2023. Prior to her time at Waterspirit, Kathleen spent more than a decade at Earthjustice where she worked on climate and energy communications campaigns alongside the grassroots activists who successfully took on the fracking industry in New York State and the youth of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who changed the world with three words: ‘water is life.’ She currently works as a freelance writer and communications consultant for progressive leaders and causes.
Sue Smith put her MBA to work in the global financial services industry for 30 years. She serves on the Board of Clean Water Action (NJ) and is a former steering committee member of Presbyterians for Earth Care. She earned her BA in Economics from Cornell University, an MBA from NYU and an M. Div. from New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
EMERITUS - IN MEMORIUM
Fr. Edward J. Ciuba
If you would like to make a donation in Fr. Ed’s memory, please email us at water@waterspirit.org to learn how.