Cara Lee Oral History
Item
interviewee
Lee, Cara
Summary
Cara Lee – Part 1 – Early Life (25:27)
Cara Lee recalls her childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and annual summer trips to Maine. She recalls her education at a Quaker High School and Kirkland College, as well as her studies the University of Pennsylvania. She discusses her time as an educator at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, as a teacher in Botswana, and as an Education Director of a NYC-based non-profit focused on urban forestry. She recalls experiences during her Master’s Degree at the Yale Forestry School and her move to the Hudson Valley in 1984 to work for Scenic Hudson.
Cara Lee – Part 2 – Career (1:17:02)
Cara Lee discusses her 17-year career at Scenic Hudson, including leading the fight to get General Electric to clean up PCBs in the upper Hudson River. She shares details of her work at The Nature Conservancy from 2001 to 2017, including establishing and directing the Shawangunk Ridge Program, supporting the ban on hydrofracking in New York, and working on the issue of siting renewable energy plants in New York State. She also discusses her post-retirement initiatives, including supporting the implementation of the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, which enables a community to delegate tax revenue to land protection and historic preservation, in the Town of New Paltz.
Cara Lee recalls her childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and annual summer trips to Maine. She recalls her education at a Quaker High School and Kirkland College, as well as her studies the University of Pennsylvania. She discusses her time as an educator at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, as a teacher in Botswana, and as an Education Director of a NYC-based non-profit focused on urban forestry. She recalls experiences during her Master’s Degree at the Yale Forestry School and her move to the Hudson Valley in 1984 to work for Scenic Hudson.
Cara Lee – Part 2 – Career (1:17:02)
Cara Lee discusses her 17-year career at Scenic Hudson, including leading the fight to get General Electric to clean up PCBs in the upper Hudson River. She shares details of her work at The Nature Conservancy from 2001 to 2017, including establishing and directing the Shawangunk Ridge Program, supporting the ban on hydrofracking in New York, and working on the issue of siting renewable energy plants in New York State. She also discusses her post-retirement initiatives, including supporting the implementation of the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, which enables a community to delegate tax revenue to land protection and historic preservation, in the Town of New Paltz.
Format
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