The Team
Jessica Srun, Project Lead, received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship through the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to study Spanish in San Ramon, Costa Rica spring of 2013. She holds a Master of Science in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science & Technology with a concentration in Environmental Health from the University of Maryland. She is currently with R3 Energy Management Audit & Review LLC., and previously interned at UN Women. She was a graduate research assistant at the Earth Institute - Columbia University working with greenhouse tomato farmers in rural Kenya.
Madeline Ruid received the Critical Language Scholarship through the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to study Turkish in Ankara, Turkey summer of 2014. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, and Turkish. She has conducted research related to climate change, land use, and agriculture at UW-Madison, NASA Langley Research Center, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Currently, she is Project Lead of the New York Ecological Forecasting Project at GSFC.
Pamela Ito, Director of Children’s Education at the Horticultural Society of New York has teacher certification in secondary science education. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience in Hawaii, Oregon, and New York City public schools, as well as in rural Kenya through the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources. She has developed three 36-hour courses for the New York City Department of Education’s After School Professional Development Program. Through these courses, she trains more than 200 teachers each year. Ms. Ito received her M.S. in Environmental Studies from Bard College and is a founding board member of the Fifth Street Farm Project. In 2014, she was the recipient of The City Gardens Club of New York City’s Melville Award for excellence in science and environmental education.
Julia Sillen is an Environmental Educator & Teaching Artist at the Horticultural Society of New York. She teaches K-12 students all over the city, outdoors in their school gardens. She previously managed a community garden in Minneapolis, where she designed and maintained a vegetable garden, as well as organized public gardening workshops. Julia has a background in visual art with a focus on printmaking and collage. She previously taught printmaking to public school students in Minneapolis. She developed curriculum that integrates art and environmental education, specifically highlighting the importance of pollinators and native plants.
Jasmine Knowles is currently a Licensed Master Social Worker with NYC Mission Society's Learning to Work program based in Emma Lazarus High School. Jasmine graduated from Columbia University's School of Social Work in 2013 with her MSW and University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2012 with her BSW. Since graduation, Jasmine has been an active volunteer in the NYC community and has worked to engage youth from various backgrounds. She has received training in Trauma, Motivational Interviewing, and Working with the International Population, among others.
