Category: Faculty Advisor

Laura Swessel

LAURA SWESSEL

Faculty Advisor

Laura attended MIT where she earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. She worked for 7 years at Lockheed Martin as a Mechanical Test Engineer, building, testing and launching commercial satellites. During that time, she earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. In 1999, Laura started a Lean Sigma consulting business with clients in the appliances, automotive, advertising and healthcare industries. During that time, Laura also started teaching Physics at the local Purdue University campus. She found a love teaching high school and obtained her teaching license. She loves teaching Aviation, Engineering, Physics and Environmental Science and will be at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, KY this fall.

Lillian Herring

LILLIAN HERRING

Faculty Advisor, WYSE Alum 2016

Lillian (she/her) works as a Wildlife Field Technician gathering research data for conservation management projects. She is currently working on a grassland in Illinois tracking Bobwhites and Black Racer snakes as well as conducting vegetation surveys and bird counts. Her past projects include trapping and tagging Bobwhites to study habitat use also located in Southern Illinois, and a small mammal mark and recapture project to study population distribution on GrandFather Mountain in North Carolina. Lillian graduated from Appalachian State University with a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, & Environmental Biology. She is a 2016 WYSE alumna and a former JFA. When not working Lillian enjoys cooking, hiking with her dog and cat, and hanging out at the rock climbing gym.

Brian Schwenk

Donna Downing

DONNA DOWNING

Faculty Advisor

Donna is the Senior Legal Policy Advisor at the National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) which include states and tribes implementing the Clean Water Act as co-regulators with the federal government. She served as Jurisdiction Team Leader in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Water from 1998 to 2020 working on a variety of issues, with a recent focus on the Clean Water Act. Prior to EPA, Donna worked for the U.S. Congress of Technology Assessment and in private law practice. She has a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard, a MPP from the UC Berkeley a JD cum laude from Georgetown Law School, and an L.L.M in Environmental Law summa cum laude from GW Law School. She has been an adjunct professor of environmental law at GW Law School since 1996. In her free time, she is a professional potter and an unprofessional horse trainer.

Jim Poyser

Faculty Advisor

Jim Poyser left his 2-decade career in journalism because of his urgency regarding climate change, joining Earth Charter Indiana as its executive director in September, 2013, to engage Indiana young people in climate leadership. Poyser directs Youth Power Indiana, ECI’s youth program responsible for the passage of climate recovery resolutions in three Indiana cities. He was trained by the Climate Reality Project and has created the world’s first climate change game show, The Ain’t Too Late Show. He lives in Indianapolis on the White River.

Keni Rienks

KENI RIENKS

Faculty Advisor

Keni Rienks teaches AP Environmental Science, Coastal Engineering, and AP Seminar at an independent school in Wilmington, NC. She also leads the Cape Fear Surfrider Foundation and is on the board for the Duke University Superfund Research Center’s Community Engagement Core. When Keni is not working, she enjoys time on the boat and at the beach with her husband and two children. Keni holds a Masters of Environmental Management degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina – Wilmington.

Serena Seiler

SERENA SEILER

Faculty Advisor, WYSE Alum 2015

Serena is a recent graduate of Western Kentucky University, where she earned her M.S. in Biology. Serena holds a B.S. in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from George Mason University where she worked in Admissions as a Telecounseling Supervisor and Mason Ambassador, and completed a semester at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. After graduation, she spent time on a farm in upstate New York, studied elephant behavior in Florida, and even worked in a bakery before joining Lincoln Park Zoo for a reptile behavior study. Her master’s thesis focused on human-wildlife co-occurrence in Homer, Alaska. Serena is passionate about wildlife behavior, conservation, and helping others explore career paths in the environmental sciences. She’s so excited for WYSE 2025 and can’t wait to meet this year’s amazing Delegates!

Caitlin Wall

CAITLIN WALL

Faculty Advisor

Caitlin is currently directing Potomac Conservancy’s Policy program in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C, working to empower a local clean water movement through grassroots engagement and advocacy efforts. She previously worked at Marstel-Day, LLC, leading policy efforts to develop compatible use partnerships between military installations and communities and conducting studies on environmental challenges facing the military. Caitlin earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in public policy and environmental studies and an M.A. from Colorado State University in political science. She is a Senior Fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program, is an RYT 200 certified yoga instructor, and enjoys hiking, camping, and triathlons.

Gary Swick

GARY SWICK

Faculty Advisor

Gary Swick used his BS in Natural Resource Mgt. from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and a MSEd in Outdoor Teacher Education as the foundation for developing a field-based High School Environmental Science suite of eight courses. The related projects have earned numerous state & national acclaim for their innovative approaches and impressive results. Individually, Gary has received several recognitions on the national level as an outstanding Environmental Educator. With the motto, “Environmental Action through Education”, his students have been active agents of change in their communities. His primary focus has been getting students into their local streams as “Watershed Watchdogs”, collecting data and becoming stewards. He previously taught at Northern Illinois University and is now retired. In addition to teaching, Gary spent 18 summers as a whitewater raft guide in Wyoming. Gary serves as the President of the Friends of the Fox River, the Board President of the Elgin Math & Science Academy, and is a board member on several other non-profit conservation groups. He is an avid outdoor recreationist.

Tom Reid

Faculty Advisor

Last fall Tom left his position as Senior Manager of Business Development at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) in Boston to pursue a Master of Divinity at Boston University School of Theology. Prior to working at MassCEC, Tom was Director of Business Development for The Vertex Companies, Inc. – a Boston-based international environmental consulting firm. Tom also developed the Energy and Sustainability Division at Vertex and started with the company as a project manager in the International division. Before moving to Boston, Tom spent a number of years living in Europe (UK, Italy, Spain) as a Fulbrighter to the European Union (2006-2007) and working in the program administration of the International MBA program at IE Business School in Madrid. He then spent a couple of years working in environmental and green building consulting in Dubai.

Originally from Kansas, Tom holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies and Spanish from the University of Kansas and a master’s in European Politics, Policy and Society granted jointly by the University of Bath (UK) and other members of the Euromaster’s consortium of European universities.

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