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Mid-Atlantic Regional Office: Meet Our Staff
Who We Are | Field Reports | Regional Reports | Meet Our Staff | Parks | Events | Accomplishments
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Joy M. Oakes, Senior Director, Mid-Atlantic Region
Since 2001, Joy has overseen NPCA’s activities in the region’s five states and the District of Columbia, since 2005 including field offices in three states. Joy was a leader in the Healthy Air Campaign in Maryland, which in 2006 resulted in the nation’s strongest state legislation to reduce pollution including carbon dioxide from power plants. She helped establish NPCA's healthy air campaign, and has led successful campaigns to add historically important lands to parks in the region. Prior to joining NPCA, Joy worked for the Sierra Club, and in the 1990s led a campaign to stop a proposed new town on the Potomac River downstream of Washington, D.C. The campaign resulted in enactment of Maryland’s landmark Smart Growth program, and creation of the 2,200-acre Chapman Forest State Park and related natural area. In 1997 Joy was a founder of the Coalition for Smarter Growth in Washington, D.C. A native Virginian with deep roots in rural culture, Joy graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. degree in religion.
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Cinda M. Waldbuesser, Pennsylvania Senior Program Manager
Cinda opened NPCA’s Pennsylvania Field Office in Philadelphia in January 2006. A Philadelphia native, Cinda’s love of national parks and history stems from spending many hours as a child in the historical national parks throughout the Commonwealth. Cinda came to NPCA with a strong background in coalition building and public policy. Prior to joining NPCA, Cinda worked for the office of United States Senator Evan Bayh and for Blakey & Agnew, a small public affairs firm in Washington DC. During her time with Blakey & Agnew, Cinda helped build and manage a successful coalition centered around influencing the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Since opening the Pennsylvania Field Office, Cinda has led all of NPCA’s campaigns in the state of Pennsylvania. Cinda graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in American studies.
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Heather Lukacs, West Virginia Program Manager
Heather Lukacs joined NPCA in July 2010 as the Senior Clean Water Coordinator for the West Virginia field office. Heather works together with Erin St. John to facilitate the New River Clean Water Alliance, a diverse network that includes representatives of area tourism and resource conservation interests, as well as state and federal agencies. The Alliance’s goals are to improve water quality in the New River Region and support community efforts. Heather coordinates the Alliance’s production of a “State of the Watershed” report to relate why the New River Gorge National River is such a special place to so many people, detail and prioritize the water quality needs of the region, and make recommendations on how to clean up creeks that flow into the New. Heather is working with our partners to develop and implement these recommendations including a community-based water quality monitoring plan, advocacy for priority wastewater facility improvements, and support for land conservation. She is finishing her dissertation on how sense of place relates to participation in grassroots efforts to restore and protect rivers and streams in Appalachia.
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Nicholas Lund, Civil War Associate
A native of the state of Maine, Nick joined NPCA in September, 2011 as the Civil War Associate. Nick helps coordinate efforts among various NPCA departments to advocate for the increased protection of Civil War sites. He also works emphasize the ecological importance of Civil War sites, hoping to broaden interest in these parks to reach nature-watchers and outdoors enthusiasts. Nick received his B.A. in English from Hamilton College and graduated cum laude from the University of Maine School of Law, where is specialized in ocean & coastal environmental law. Before joining NPCA, Nick spent a year with the National Sea Grant Law Center in Oxford, Mississippi.
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Pamela E. Goddard, Chesapeake & Virginia Program Manager
Joining NPCA in February 2011, Pam helped head up two critical Mid-Atlantic Programs. The Chesapeake Watershed Initiative is part of our Landscape Conservation Campaign, with the goal of enhancing protection of national parks in the Chesapeake region. Pam will work with local, state and federal stakeholders to identify, restore, and conserve the 51 national parks, 5 national trails, and 4 national heritage areas of the Chesapeake watershed. Joining conservation partners, she will identify new potential park land that would enhance and connect the natural and cultural values of the Chesapeake. Special places like the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and the proposed park at Fort Monroe are two resources NPCA will advocate to expand and protect. In Virginia, Pam will continue NPCA’s advocacy for clean air throughout the state by holding power plants to stringent clean air standards. The top of her list is Old Dominion’s proposed coal-fired power plant at Cypress Creek. She will also spearhead NPCA’s fight against inappropriate development on historic battlefields like the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County. Before joining NPCA, Pam spent nine years at the Sierra Club’s Legislative Office in Washington, DC, working on clean water, property rights, and on the Club’s political action committee. For three years, she was the Campaign Manager of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, advocating for federal research dollars and spent five years as the Senior Grassroots Outreach Manager for the National Wildlife Federation. Throughout her career, Pam has brought thousands of citizens to Washington, DC to advocate for protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Florida Everglades, and other unique parts of America. Pam earned her B.A. in French at Grinnell College.
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Yves Corbiere, West Virginia Senior Program Coordinator
Yves joined NPCA for the first time in 2008 working on the New River Gorge Working Group, a coalition of concerned parties in the New, Gauley, and Bluestone areas, and the Virginians for Healthy Air coalition. She returned in 2011 to work with Heather Lukacs on clean water and park protection. As the owner of a yoga studio in one of the New River’s gateway towns, Yves has worked with the small business community to support local conservation initiatives and bring publicity to current park threats. She also has a background in technology, designing databases and websites for individuals and schools. A native of Connecticut, Yves grew up protecting and swimming in Long Island Sound. Yves has lived in various places around the US, Stockholm, Sweden and Tonsai, Thailand. A yoga teacher, musician and avid gardener, Yves graduated cum laude from Davidson College with a degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution.
