About The Nature Generation

The Nature Generation (NatGen) is a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit that inspires and empowers youth to make a difference.

We reach our nation’s youth through innovative environmental stewardship programs in literature, science and the arts.

A Letter from our Board Chair and President

Dear Friends of The Nature Generation,


When it comes to protecting our planet for our children and for all future generations, we are living in a time of great urgency and tremendous hope. Global climate agreements and new policies and legislation here in the United States have given renewed energy to our efforts to combat climate change and create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future. Even with those important steps, our greatest reason for hope is the commitment, enthusiasm, creativity, and resolve of the next generation of environmental stewards. [...]

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   A bit of history ...

Budding History

In our first decade, we tested a variety of ideas and youth programs, from scholarships to poster and photo contests, to sponsorship of a touring play about the life of global environmental pioneer, scientist and writer, Rachael Carson. Our purpose and focus—engage young scientists, artists, and writers—took shape.

A New Leaf

NatGen determined to hone its anchor program, and with the generosity of its donors, expanded GEBA—the US’ only environmental stewardship book award honoring those who write and illustrate stories for children and young adults. Hundreds of books now compete for this prestigious national recognition annually.


NatGen leadership and donors asked us to turn the messages of GEBA books into catalysts for on-the-ground projects for youth. In 2018, we inaugurated STEM seed awards for youth groups, schools, libraries, and educational organizations to put environmental stewardship into action.

Goals for Growth

Well into our second decade, it is clear that the mission of fostering environmental stewardship is ever paramount. “There is no planet B” is a reality that resonates with all generations. Our mission is to be Read Green, Teach Green, and Act Green.

We will commit to our national book program and to hosting award events at SU’s Envirokids Literary Festival. GEBA will expand diversity in author participation and range of stories. With donor support, we will expand STEM Seed Grants so more organizations can receive funding to educate and inspire the next generation.

Every member of our board of directors is a thought leader who has made significant contributions to our society. 

Each one brings a unique set of skills and expertise to our organization. 

Ian Kline

Chair

Ian Kline serves as Cadmus’ president and CEO. Under his leadership, the firm has experienced significant market and capability diversification through organic growth and through acquisition. Ian has also led the firm’s geographic expansion from an east coast-based consultancy with offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., to a multi-national firm with offices serving [...]

Amy Marasco

Founder & President

Amy Marasco is the founder and president of The Nature Generation and is responsible for the strategic direction of the nonprofit organization. She is an executive management consultant with more than 30 years of experience providing business and organizational consulting services to government agencies, public and private sector companies, and nonprofit [...]

Cindy Shephard

Treasurer

Cindy Shephard currently serves on the Board of The Nature Generation; she served on the Advisory Board since NatGen’s inception. As the Chief Operating Officer at Cadmus she brings more than 25 years of experience in financial management, operations, and accounting. She has a passion for ensuring that Cadmus continuously improves the ways in which [...]

Debi McGhee

Secretary

Debi McGhee has extensive expertise in helping government entities ensure that their program missions are known and understood by their stakeholders. She has more than 25 years of experience, with recent years specializing in proposal development and consulting for communications activities, specifically conducted at the Environmental [...]

Darby Bade

Darby Chellis Bade is the GDIT Vice President for the EPA Business Area Lead and Executive Lead for GDIT’s Climate Change Initiatives. In this capacity she is responsible for the overall successful program and financial execution of nearly 20 programs.[...]

Ellen Claussen

Ellen Claussen has been a life-long educator across two different careers and various volunteer positions. Her first career was as an educator in math and sciences ranging from grammar and high schools through colleges as her family moved up and down the East Coast. [...]


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John Claussen

John Claussen is former Chief Environmental Counsel at GE, President of TRC Environmental and Vice President of CH2MHILL. Across his professional positions, John enjoyed managing multi-disciplinary staffs directed at finding the most effective solutions to environmental and energy challenges. [...]
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Cathrene Connery

Dr. M. Cathrene Connery Dr. M. Cathrene Connery is an Associate Professor of Bilingual Education at Heritage University on the Yakama Nation in Washington state. Over the past 30 years, she has contributed as a public school elementary teacher, instructional coach, consultant, professor, writer, editor, and researcher. [...]

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Patricia Dean

Patricia Dean, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Seidel School of Education at Salisbury University. Her many academic interests include children’s literature, cultural diversity, emergent writing and literacy, and elementary reading and language arts methods. She is an animal lover, an avid reader and passionate about protecting our planet. Her work with the Green Earth [...]

Lydia Kline

Lydia Kline is a Science Policy Analyst at the National Institute of Health’s Fogarty International Center (FIC). As a member of FIC’s Division of International Science Policy, Planning and Evaluation (DISPPE) she develops and researches concepts for FIC’s new Center for Global Health Studies, helps provide strategic information to the Fogarty Director on program planning and [...]

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Linda Manning

Linda Manning has an interdisciplinary background in natural resources policy and analysis, community problem-solving, facilitation, conflict-management, communications and social science and policy research. Her work has focused on improving communication of environmental issues and problems in order that individual citizens, land and water managers, [...]

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Ed Miller

Ed Miller is a Senior Vice President at the Cadmus Group LLC (Cadmus) where he leads proposal development and corporate communications. In addition, Mr. Miller serves on Cadmus’ Executive Committee and participates in a variety of corporate planning and strategic initiatives. He joined Cadmus in 1992 and spent several years building a practice focused on providing [...]

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Holly Roth

 Holly Roth is a Shareholder at Polsinelli, PC, an AmLaw 100 law firm with 900 attorneys in 21 offices throughout the United States. Ms. Roth's practice focuses on all aspects of federal, state and local contracts and grants. She is a strategic counsellor and litigator who has represented clients in multi-million dollar federal government contract bid protests before [...]

Amy Norgren Salfi

Amy Norgren Salfi  is the Chief Strategy Officer at Excel Technologies, a Woman Owned Small business providing cybersecurity services, resilience strategy and planning, organizational change management, and technology innovation to civilian agencies. {...}

Ed Saltzberg

Edward R. Saltzberg, Ph.D. has been a director and senior officer of environmental and management consulting firms for over 20 years. He is founder and president of ERS Advisors, an independent consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Dr. Saltzberg’s environmental expertise is in water quality and hazardous waste programs. He has been instrumental in […]

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith is a Vice President at the Cadmus Group LLC. He leads Cadmus’ Strategic Ventures Group, which advises clients on climate change, sustainable transportation, alternative finance, public health, and international environmental project development. Nathan leads accounts for the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, [...]

Rebecca Tirrell

 Rebecca Tirrell is a Senior Manager at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), bringing expertise to advance critical client-focused missions.  Ms. Tirrell began her career as a biochemist developing new  procedures in academic  laboratories for the University of Virginia in the areas of Pathology, Internal Medicine and Microbial Ecology.  [...]

Evan Thomas

Evan Thomas is a 1997 graduate of Shippensburg University, with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. He is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. This accreditation is issued by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). [...]


Theresa Thomas

Theresa Thomas is the Senior Director of Proposal Management for Appian, a global leader in multiple enterprise technology markets. She started her career as an environmental consultant beginning a path of professional and personal development. She has supported proposals with a cumulative value of nearly $2 billion dollars. Ms. Thomas holds a B.A. in Biology from [...]
Roger Vance
Roger Vance is a historian and journalist who served as Editor-in-Chief of the world’s largest publisher of history magazines for more than two decades. He has been elected to eight consecutive terms as Mayor of the Town of Hillsboro, Virginia, and is the appointed Loudoun County Planning Commissioner from the Blue Ridge District. [...]
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Meet Our Partners


The Cadmus Group is a strategic and technical consultancy compelled to help solve the world’s most challenging problems. As our valued sustainable partner, Cadmus makes environmental stewardship and education accessible through multi-year sponsorship of our Children's Fiction Book Award and providing in-kind and financial support to NatGen.

On Point Transportation PR is a DBE-SWaM certified public relations and marketing agency specializing in public involvement and communications for infrastructure, transit, and transportation projects. On Point develops and manages results-driven public relations strategies focused on community outreach, virtual and direct stakeholder engagement. On Point assists NatGen by providing graphic design and communications support pro bono.

The Excalibur Group is a Washington D.C. based company dedicated to and focused on adding value to local, state, and federal programs with staff augmentation, training, and program management in the Defense, IT, Workforce, Environmental, and Legal industries. Excalibur has served in advisory capacity to The Nature Generation for a decade.


The Lewes Public Library in Lewes, Delaware provides access for a variety of educational, informational and recreational materials to all members of the Lewes community through traditional resources and emerging technologies. The Lewes Public Library is an independent public library member of the Delaware Library Catalog. The library assists NatGen in facilitating our annual Green Earth Book Award Celebration and in communication and outreach activities related to our GEBA program.

The Department of Early and Elementary Education at Salisbury University's Seidel School of Education is a leading education university and has been our partner in literacy since 2005. Salisbury works with NatGen to administer the Green Earth Book Award process. The Seidel School operates the Ernie Bond Curriculum Resource Center which maintains an extensive collection of children’s literature including GEBA books.

Meet the NatGen Staff

Amy Marasco

Founder & President


Amy Marasco, founder and president of The Nature Generation, oversees the long-term strategic direction of the nonprofit organization and is actively involved in its management and operations. Her passion is fostering dialogue with and among the next generation of environmental stewards. She has been frequently tapped to teach classes and engage in a variety of educational activities from tree walks to habitat restorations. She led the effort to secure the conservation easement to establish the Chapman DeMary Trail, which serves as an outdoor classroom and small park for students and visitors. She collaborates with NatGen donors and partners to enhance and expand our programs, and is personally committed to ensuring the national Green Earth Book Award continues as a signature program and educational resource.


Romany Hall Sieferman

Executive Director


Romany Hall Sieferman has been involved with The Nature Generation since its inception. She has been a volunteer, the staff communications specialist, program director, and now executive director. She oversees the annual Green Earth Book Award, process which includes engaging with authors, publishers, and reviewers to ascertain the best in environmental literature for children and young adults. She also manages NatGen’s STEM Seed Grants, which offer small-scale grants to schools and other entities to conduct hands-on projects using GEBA books. She loves producing the NatGen newsletter and promoting NatGen on social media. After a long career in government consulting and freelance writing, working for NatGen gives her the opportunity to put her management skills to work for a truly wonderful cause: Inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards through literature and action. 

Olivia Walton

Teaching Fellow


Olivia Walton is The Nature Generation's resident Teaching Fellow, she is an environmental educator/ marine ecologist with 10+ years of formal and informal science education and outreach experience, a certified National Geographic Educator, and an NAAEE 30 under 30 honoree. She works directly with teachers developing resource guides and tools to provide educators with new ideas and lesson plans to augment their curriculum. Olivia brings a dedication to equity and diversity to the team with her mission as an educator "to foster a passion for celebrating and protecting the natural world through interdisciplinary, exploratory, and inspirational opportunities for kids of all ages and backgrounds; particularly the most underrepresented and at-risk members of our global community.” 

Sarah McConville

Intern


Sarah McConville is a Virginia native who has spent the past ten years in the public and nonprofit sectors. As a grassroots liaison for a Member of Congress, she helped communities navigate the impacts of natural disasters and connected local government to federal funding opportunities. Later transitioning to the nonprofit sector, she led volunteers on dynamic and impactful projects throughout the coastal region in Georgia, to include numerous cleanup and beautification efforts. Sarah first volunteered for NatGen in high school with the “EnGauge It” project, which informed car owners about the impact of tire pressure on emissions. Sarah earned a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is currently working toward her MA in Public Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sarah is a military spouse with three states under her belt and three beautiful young children that will become the next generation of environmental stewards. She and her family enjoy any opportunity to hike and spend time in all the spectacular natural spaces North Carolina has to offer.

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