Dr. Jim Martin-Schramm - Board PresidentJim Martin-Schramm joined the Religion faculty of Luther College in 1993. He is an ordained member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and holds a doctorate in Christian Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Most of his scholarship has focused on issues related to ethics and public policy. He is the author of Population Perils and the Churches’ Response, (World Council of Churches, 1997), the co-author of Christian Environmental Ethics: A Case-Method Approach, (Orbis Books, 2003), and the author of Climate Justice: Ethics, Energy, and Public Policy, (Fortress Press, 2010).
Jim served as a member of the Population and Consumption task force of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during the Clinton administration. Jim serves on the board of the Iowa Wind Energy Association and is a member of its Legislative Advocacy Committee. Jim has also been active in sustainability initiatives at Luther College. He served on a task force devoted to these issues during Luther’s latest round of strategic planning and is chair of the Energy and Water committee of Luther’s new Campus Sustainability Council.
Wendell Saunders - Vice PresidentWendell Saunders retired as a VP from Goodrich, an aerospace company, in 2006 after 34 years of service. Wendell and his wife Connie have two children Scott and Dara that are both married and they have two grandchildren, Ben and Aenea. Scott’s wife, Medea, is the pastor at the United Methodist church in Story City.
Since retirement Wendell has been devoting his life to community service and his church, Immanuel United Methodist in Des Moines. As trustee chair for the last three years he has dramatically reduced the energy use at the church and worked diligently to reduce the church’s carbon footprint. Over the past three summers Wendell worked on mission trips to Denver, Kansas City and Mission SD helping those in need.
Wendell is also devoted to his department at ISU and has served on the advisor committee for over 15 years including acting as guest speaker on industry to the students in the department. His department is committed to using technology to solve problems by responsibly using the earth’s resources.
Sister Cathleen Real - SecretarySr. Cathleen Real is a member of the Davenport based Congregation of the Humility of Mary. She recently retired as co-director of Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat (a 200 acre farm and natural prairie preserve) and is a former professor of math and college president. She is currently a member of the Sierra Club, the environmental forum of Quad City Progressive Action for the Common Good and Pacem in Terris (a diocesan committee to select recipients of a peace and justice award).
Cathleen completed faith-based training in addressing climate change with Nobel Laureate Al Gore as the principal trainer. For the past year she has kept busy preparing and giving power point presentations about climate change.
Linda Farkas - Treasurer
Linda is a retired Sr. Vice President of
Marshall and Ilslely Bank, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She and her
husband, Ed, came back to the Iowa City area to be close to their
daughter, Pam, son-in-law, Mike, and two grandsons, Sam and Jack. She
is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Iowa City.
Linda received her B.A. and M.B.A. from
the University of Iowa. She is currently serving on numerous
boards in Iowa City, including, Iowa City Library Foundation and
Riverside Theatre Her hobbies are travel, reading music, and
hiking. Linda embraces opportunities to make our planet more
sustainable for all.
Bill Cox
Bill Cox is a retired physics teacher
at Dowling Catholic High School. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer,
member of many environmental organizations, and active in his
church. He combines his professional scientific background
with his experience in education and a recognition of our moral
responsibility to live sustainably. For the past few years he
has been making global climate change presentations to schools,
parishes, and civic organizations.
Bill Ferrel
Bill
Ferrel has been a general contractor in the residential building
business in the Iowa City/Coralville area for nearly 20 years, building
over 150 Energy Star rated homes. Most recently he has started a new
endeavor providing expertise in sustainable practices and disaster
prepa ration and recovery. His company, Agape Sustainability Advisors,
has a mission to educate businesses, churches and non-profits about the
cost savings methods and long term strategic value of being sustainable
and planning in advance for disasters.
Barbra Jotzke-TorrierBarbra returned to her hometown of Des Moines in August of 2007 to direct the fundraising efforts for the Iowa Environmental Council. She received her M.A. in philosophy from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in June 1998. Prior to her work with IEC, she worked for the Chicago Foundation for Women where she coordinated outreach, special events and the annual fund, and she spent five years in the annual fund department at Lake Forest College.
Barbra has extensive experience in securing diverse funding sources and developing a broad base of supporters. Her passion for fundraising for advocacy rises from a belief in the importance of working for true solutions rather than short term fixes. Barbra is a member of Urbandale United Church of Christ.
Gereon Kopf Gereon grew up in a Roman Catholic family in Southwest Germany. After high school, he first studied Roman Catholic theology at Tübingen and, then, Comparative Religious Studies and philosophy at Temple University in Philadelphia. In his dissertation, he compared the philosophy of the Japanese medieval Zen master Dōgen with Jungian psychology and phenomenology. His current research focuses on the application of Zen Buddhist philosophy to social and ethical challenges of today.
Gereon has been practicing tea ceremony and Zen meditation for over ten years. Currently, he is associated with Ryumonji, a temple in the Sōtō Zen lineage, in Northeast Iowa. In addition, he has received the first level certification as tea teacher in the lineage of the Urasenke school.
Andrea LewisAndi Lewis is Prairiewoods’ marketing coordinator. She grew up in Michigan and attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she earned degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Women’s Studies. After college, she stayed primarily in the Chicago area, working as a reporter and producer for an NBC-affiliated TV station, the marketing and operations director at a professional organizing service, and a textbook writer and editor. Throughout all of her careers, she has developed a love for various aspects of marketing and communications. Andi and her husband, Steve, relocated to Cedar Rapids in February of 2011 to be closer to family.
Andi was raised as an active member of Covenant Community Church, which is part of the Reformed Church of America (RCA). She worshiped at numerous churches in the Chicago area. In Cedar Rapids, she worships at First Lutheran Church, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Andi’s religious beliefs tend to be open and inclusive of all faiths and people.
Cantor Linda ShiversCantor Shivers is the Cantor at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Des Moines. She graduated from the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary. She has been a cantor for over 25 years and served pulpits in Charleston, SC and Portland, OR. She is part of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and a founder of the Women Cantors Network. She has been a recycler and a user of CFL bulbs for many years.
Lauri Young Lauri Young is a newly retired RN and Health Promotion Manager who sees care of the environment in the context of our responsibility to promote the wholeness of health for the planet and all who live on it. In the 1970's she and her husband, Jim, began recycling glass bottles, carrying their own sacks to grocery stores, and in 1981 moved into their passive solar home. After many years of caring and working on an individual basis, she is glad to have the opportunity to participate in an organization dedicated to spreading the word of sustainability to others.
Lauri and her husband live in Cedar Falls where they share an interest in distance road biking and travel with a special interest in visiting three daughters and 2 grandchildren. Lauri also serves on the board of Lutheran Services of Iowa, the Art and Culture Board of Cedar Falls, and volunteers with a number of organizations, including a local free medical clinic. She is especially proud of her ability to sheet rock and lay flooring etc. following volunteer efforts in New Orleans.