Ann Berry Somers has been active in the conservation of NC wildlife all her adult life and taught biology at UNCG for over 30 years. A multiple award-winning teacher and conservationist, Ann serves on the Board of Directors of the NC Wildlife Federation and is the founder of the Box Turtle Connection project. 

Etsuko Kinefuchi is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at UNC Greensboro, with a focus on environmental and intercultural communications. 

Samantha (Sam) Athey received her Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of Toronto and has spent the last decade researching the sources, fate and impacts of microplastics and associated contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. Sam now serves as the Education & Outreach Coordinator for the Plastic Ocean Project in Wilmington, NC and is a lecturer in UNCW’s Department of Environmental Science, where she teaches a course on marine debris. 

Robert Booth is a small business entrepreneur who comes from a multigenerational family of landowners and farmers in Beaufort County. He is the Executive Director of Alpha Life Enrichment Center, a nonprofit focused on empowering local communities through and improving multicultural relations through activism. He also serves on the NC Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors. 

Ashley Rose is the Assistant Director of the Environment & Sustainability Program at UNC-Greensboro. She 

Dawn Forrest Dolson is one of the original organizers of the Oceans Advocacy Workshop. She is on the board of the Plastic Oceans Project and a volunteer for Sound Rivers monitoring and maintains the trash trout located in Washington, NC. 

Bonnie Monteleone is the founder and CEO of the Plastic Ocean Project and serves on the Board of Directors for the NC Wildlife Federation. In her research, she travelled the globe collecting plastic marine samples in four of the five main ocean gyres.

Jennifer Skvarla-Alligood (See above) 

About the 2023 Workshop