Member Bios

Claire Miziolek comes to the Green Cities program from Baltimore, Maryland where she was born and raised. Growing up in Baltimore City, Claire witnessed many serious issues such as poverty, violence, and addiction. This fueled her passion for social justice from a young age. In Baltimore, she volunteered with the Center for Poverty Solutions and the local food bank. In high school, she became more aware of the state of the environment and her passion expanded to include bringing an end to global warming. These passions continued when Claire attended Cornell University, as she took many environmental courses and became a Master Composter. Through college, she had several internships including teaching 3rd graders at a Baltimore City public school, compiling data at the Social Security Administration, and researching at an environmental consulting non-profit. Since age 14, whenever she's home in Baltimore, Claire works at Greg's Bagels, a fantastic bagel shop. After graduating from Cornell with a double major in Economics and Psychology, she moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a career in environmental sustainability and now loves her work through the SCA at GTECH Strategies where she is able to help solve problems of both environmental sustainability and social justice. She has been very fortunate to be able to travel to such locations as the Galapagos Islands, Bangladesh, and Australia. She is a long-time vegetarian and enjoys music, nature, and coffee.

Miriam is a recent graduate of Gettysburg College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Political Science. She has experience in organizing, sustainability programming, service-learning, food security, environmental policy, environmental behavior research, and sustainable development in Central America. Miriam is passionate about gardening and sustainable food systems, global economics, speaking Spanish, large group meals, and thrift store finds. She joined the Green Cities Corps to dive into the center of Pittsburgh’s sustainability movement and learn how she can be useful in our transition to a low-energy, localized, exciting future. She hopes to permanently live in Pittsburgh working closely on sustainability projects.

I am excited to have this opportunity to work on the Wayne National Forest FIREMON team identifying plants and helping to figure out how to manage the vegetation. I recently graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS in Biological Aspects of Conservation and a certificate in Environmental studies and I’m ready to put the knowledge I obtained to good use. In the future I would like to continue working on conservation projects for the national parks and forests.

Hello, my name is Nathan Hoover. I am from East Alton, IL. I like the outdoors and volunteering, so when I heard about the SCA in my ecology class, I knew it would be something I would enjoy. I am looking forward to a great summer in Grand Marais.

I'm Angie Les and I am a sophomore at the University of Connecticut studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I love being outside, whether it's hiking, backpacking, whitewater rafting, or playing soccer and rugby. This is the third time that I have worked with the SCA, after volunteering in Saguaro National Park in 2007 and Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in 2008. I am excited to meet more great new people, see more incredible new places, and learn more about conservation and my place in the environment.