Staff
Staff photos, bios and contact info
Karen Max Kelly, Executive Director
(907)452-5021 Ext. 25 karen@northern.org
Karen holds a B.S. in Anthropology and an M.S. in Botany from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her graduate research focused on Arctic plant ecology and evolution and she has worked throughout Alaska as a field biologist on resource conservation issues including mining and oilfield reclamation, wetlands mapping, and ecological assessments. She also holds a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. Karen’s broad experience in the non-profit sector includes work as a fund-raiser, board member, board chair, and political activist working with groups advocating for progressive public policy on population, environment and health care. After living in Juneau and in DC for seven years, Karen returned to the ski trails, friends, and boreal forest of Fairbanks to join the NAEC in May 2009.
Pete Dronkers, Clean Water and Mining Program Director
(907)452-5021 Ext. 28 pete@northern.org
Pete joins the NAEC after working on several environmental campaigns in Nevada, including: a successful legislative push to designate 13 new Wilderness areas; an organizing effort to pass a comprehensive energy and climate change bill in the US Senate; and a watchdog campaign dealing with exploratory mining activity on Nevada's undeveloped National Forest lands. He graduated from the University of Nevada with a degree in journalism, and has also worked as a features writer and photographer for various publications over the years. Ready for the next professional challenge, he's also thrilled to be living near the Alaska and Brooks Ranges, where his alpine climbing addiction can be supported. When not at work or in the mountains, Pete spends time scheming about his beloved 21 acres, solar panels and straw bales, biofuels and water wells.
Lori Hanemann, Membership Coordinator
(907)452-5021 Ext. 26 lori@northern.org
Lori returned to Fairbanks after being away for a couple years in Washington State to be with family. She first came to Alaska in 1996 and spent her first five years living in the Arctic working in tourism and exploring the Brooks Range. Lori worked for the NAEC 2007 - 2008 and is thrilled to be back working with members and the Fairbanks’ community in her new role as Membership Coordinator. She enjoys cross country skiing, movies, and geocaching with her kids. Lori re-joined the NAEC in February 2010.
Jenna Hertz, Program Assistant and Events Coordinator
(907)452-5021 jenna@northern.org
Jenna first came to Alaska as the Alaska Conservation Foundation Arctic Intern at the NAEC in the summer of 2009. She graduated from Kalamazoo College with a degree in History and American Studies. She wrote her honors Thesis, “Rampart Rhetoric,” on the role of frontier mythology in the development of Alaska’s natural resources and identity. She spent her junior year trekking, snorkeling, and kayaking through Thailand as a student at the Institute for Sustainable Development Studies International, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While in Thailand, she worked with EarthRights International at the Burma and Mekong Schools. In Michigan she served as the president of Kalamazoo College’s Environmental Organization and was active in the local foods movement. She loves anything outside, playing ultimate Frisbee in costume, dabbling in guitar, and attempting to bake things in her wood stove.
Lissa Hughes, Legislative Liaison and Conservation Solutions Coordinator
(907)452-5021 Ext. 22 lissa@northern.org
- With Fish
Lissa graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a B.A. in Rural Development, focusing on land and renewable resource management. Her experience in government relations includes working for the Alaska State Legislature and the Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor’s Office. She is experienced in grassroots organizing, having managed local and statewide campaigns for political candidates, ballot initiatives and advocating for the University of Alaska and statewide trade organizations. Lissa spent time growing up on military bases and arrived in Fairbanks in 1995. Her hobbies include cooking, salmon fishing, traveling, biking, back country skiing and spending time with her husband and their pets. Lissa joined the NAEC in November, 2009.
Pamela A. Miller, Arctic Program Director
(907)452-5021 Ext. 24 pam@northern.org
Pamela has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from The Evergreen State College and M.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon. She came to Alaska about 25 years ago to study fish at Denali National Park. For eight years she served the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, six of them in Fairbanks, Alaska. As wildlife biologist for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge she studied bird habitats on the coastal plain and was a field monitor of seismic oil exploration. She reviewed the impacts of oil development projects in Prudhoe Bay for the Fairbanks FWS field office. She worked for The Wilderness Society as Assistant Regional Director in and Alaska Program Director in Washington, D.C. and chaired the Alaska Coalition working nationwide to protect the Arctic Refuge. In 1996 she opened Arctic Connections, a small business focused on Arctic oil impact research and wilderness guiding for non-profit organizations and media. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and joined the NAEC in January 2006. She recieved the prestigous Conservation Leadership Award from the Wilburforce Foundation and was honored as an "Arctic Hero" by Alaska Wilderness League.
Kristen Sullivan, Office Manager
(907)452-5021 Ext. 27 kristen@northern.org
Kristen moved to Fairbanks in 1998 to play volleyball at UAF. She has a B.S. in Psychology, an A.A. in CAD drafting, and most recently started an Alaskan dog biscuit company called Ruby Snacks using local ingredients. In July of 2009 she bought Hyperborea, a cabin compound between Moose Mountain and Murphy Dome that altered the course of her life. She is renovating the 5 acre compound to become a summer run, dog friendly bed and breakfast by summer 2014. In 2006, she did a fly in fishing trip to the Brooks Range and left her heart there. She is elated and honored to be working for an organization that protects one of her favorite places on Earth. She never knows where the journey will take her next, but sets forth with a smile and plenty of gumption.
