Staff

Jeanne Dodds, Creative Engagement Director, is a visual artist whose work investigates human and more-than-human relationships, conflicts and interdependencies. At ESC, she oversees the Pollinator Protectors campaign for native plant and pollinator conservation and values working with creatives who are dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places. She graduated with a Master of Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College in Washington. Her thesis explores wildlife trafficking, animal welfare, and the use of visual art for biodiversity conservation. As a researcher, she continues to explore these subjects, presenting on the wildlife trade and the role of art in biodiversity conservation for organizations in Malaysia, Colombia, New Zealand and the United States. After earning a BFA in Photography and a Certificate in Scientific Illustration, she owned and operated a small arts business for a decade, creating artwork and teaching via artist residencies in the US and internationally. As a long-time arts and environmental education professional, she designed and presented curriculum for schools, museums and non-profits across the Pacific Northwest. She strongly values linking biodiversity conservation and environmental justice in her work at ESC. As a passionate naturalist, she loves equally experiencing deep wilderness and the local ecology of urban and rural spaces.

Beth Fellenstein, Operations Manager for the Endangered Species Coalition, has over 25 years of leadership experience with non-profits. After beginning her career developing leadership and nature programs for youth, she later transitioned into data management, strategic planning, and donor development roles. Prior to joining ESC, she worked for the Cheetah Conservation Fund for 10 years, where she gained deep and wide-ranging operations and finance experience, helping to manage a geographically dispersed organization. Under Beth’s leadership as their Director of Operations and Finance, the organization experienced rapid program and funding growth. When Beth is not working, you are likely to find her at the beach or on the water.

Derek has worked with the Endangered Species Coalition since 2005. He has advocated and organized primarily around gray wolf and grizzly bear issues, in addition to other species issues in the region. Derek has spent 14 years as a campaign manager with M+R Strategic Services, where he developed and implemented local ballot issue campaigns, including a successful effort to protect an aquifer from a water bottling operation, and funding measures for open space conservation, public schools, a new library and public transportation. Derek cut his teeth on wildlife conservation issues as a legislative intern with Montana Audubon, and a field volunteer with the Buffalo Field Campaign. He also has been engaged in social justice issues, serving as a board member of a grassroots Latin American solidarity group, which mobilized against unfair trade policies and U.S. intervention in Latin America. Prior to earning a M.S. Environmental Studies from the University of Montana in 2004, Derek worked as a river guide in Wyoming, Alaska, Utah and Montana and a snowboard instructor in Wyoming. He lives in Missoula, Montana, where he enjoys exploring the backcountry by foot, boat, snowboard and paraglider.

 

Susan oversees the operations and programs of the organization. She works closely with Endangered Species Coalition’s board of directors and staff to ensure the financial health of the organization and leads its long-term strategic program development and planning.

Susan Holmes has over 25 years of experience in wildlife campaign management, coalition building, and federal and state conservation policy. Before joining ESC, Susan was the Wildlife Campaigns Director at Environment America. She has also worked for the Wildlands Network, Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, and the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. Since her childhood on Long Island and New England, Susan has been passionate about wildlife and wild places. Most recently, she has focused on promoting wildlife corridors and road mitigation and led a coalition to secure the first federal funding for wildlife crossings.   She is also a long-time board member of the Endangered Species Coalition. Susan received her BA from Dartmouth College and is a recipient of Dartmouth’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Distinguished Public Service Award.

Susan lives on Capital Hill in Washington, DC, with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring wild places, cooking for friends and family, and curling up with a good book. 

Mitch Merry, the Digital Director for the Endangered Species Coalition, has been with the organization for more than a decade. He manages the organization’s website, email campaigns, and technology. He lives in Baltimore, MD and is an enthusiast runner and enjoys reading and microadventures in his time outside of work.

Gabby Mora is the Development Associate at ESC. After going vegan in 2015 thanks to the adoption of her dog, Arlo, Gabby left her previous career in higher education to follow her passion for helping animals and the environment by working at nonprofits. Gabby has worked at diverse animal rights, food justice, and political organizations—including as a philanthropic specialist at PETA and a donor relations officer at Farm Sanctuary—before coming to ESC. Originally from Venezuela, Gabby came to the United States on a tennis scholarship at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee. She graduated with dual degrees in Mass Media and Business, continuing on to complete an M.S. in Advertising and Communications from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an M.S. in Community Development and Public Affairs from Rutgers University-Camden. Gabby lives in Chicago with her two three-legged pit bulls, Arlo and Mabel, with whom she enjoys going on hikes and watching horror movies.

John Rosapepe, Endangered Species Coalition Pacific Northwest Field Director, combines forty years’ experience as a field biologist and grassroots organizer for conservation organizations. He worked on fisheries and marine mammal research projects in the Bering Sea, the Northern Pacific Ocean and Alaska. He completed a masters in natural resource management from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources, he completed a one year Congressional Sea Grant Fellowship. A change in career path followed leading to a path in community organizing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, salmon and trout restoration, and wilderness designation.

Ryan is a passionate advocate that has spent the last decade in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. During this time there he gained a profound appreciation for the important role of wolves and bison in North American ecosystems. This appreciation was deepened through his Master’s work on on the political and social dimensions of bison expansion outside of Yellowstone National Park. Along with the expertise gained from his J.D., and M.A. in Environment and Natural Resources, he brings the lived experience of day-to-day life with these animals. Ryan has also worked on federal judicial nominations, union organizing within Yellowstone for government employees, a responsible mining campaign, the Equal Rights Amendment, and has experience working on election campaigns. Ryan also enjoys spending time hiking, skiing, skateboarding, and making art.

Tara Thornton, Deputy Director for the Endangered Species Coalition, has worked for ESC for the last fourteen years. She began as the Northeast Representative, then advanced to Program Director and now serves as Deputy Director. In this capacity, Tara supervises staff, develops our policy and program priorities, works with our coalition partners to formulate joint strategies and tactics, and is an integral part of our leadership team with a focus on organizational development. Prior to joining ESC, Tara worked on environmental and social justice issues for twenty years. She was the Executive Director for the Military Toxics Project, a national non-profit network of neighborhood, veterans’, Indigenous, peace, environmental, and other organizations representing people affected by military contamination and pollution. Tara also help found the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), a global coalition that campaigns for a ban on the use, transport, manufacture, sale and export of all conventional weapon systems containing uranium (usually called depleted uranium weapons). It also seeks health monitoring and compensation for communities affected by the use of uranium weapons and the environmental remediation of such sites. Before that, Tara was a Canvass Director and worked on outreach programs for NGO’s and politcal campaigns in New York, Virginia, South Carolina and Texas. Tara earned a B.S. in Communication and Political Science from Ohio University.

Jewel Tomasula, PhD, is the Policy Advisor for the Endangered Species Coalition and started in February 2024. Jewel came to ESC from the office of Representative Don Beyer (VA-08), where she completed a John A. Knauss Sea Grant Policy Fellowship and worked closely with the Congressional Endangered Species Act Caucus. Jewel has a PhD in Biology from Georgetown University and researched human-driven impacts on biodiversity in coastal wetlands. During her time at Georgetown, she led organizing campaigns and built coalitions, serving as the founding president of her graduate labor union, Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees, and as liaison to Higher Ed Labor United. She also has work experience at the Environmental Protection Agency and Audubon Texas. Jewel received her BS in environmental science from Southern Methodist University and has her roots in central and south Texas.