Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s second presentation of their 27th annual Winter Speaker Series, Endangered Species — Now More Than Ever! will feature Tara Thornton, Deputy Director of the Endangered Species Coalition at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8.

FOMB’s Winter Speaker Series presentations are again being held via Zoom and are accessible online at fomb.org, according to a news release from Ed Friedman with Friends, based out of Richmond.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act signed into law by President Richard Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973. The Act was meant to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development un-tempered by adequate concern and conservation.” Thornton will discuss the many successes of the Act, the threats species still face and what we hope to accomplish for the next 50 years and beyond.

Thornton has worked for ESC the past 17 years. She began as the northeast representative, then advanced to program director and now serves as deputy director. In this capacity, she supervises staff, develops ESC policy and program priorities, works with coalition partners to formulate joint strategies and tactics, and is an integral part of the ESC leadership team with a focus on organizational development.

Prior to joining ESC, she worked on environmental and social justice issues for 20 years. She was the executive director for the Military Toxics Project, a national nonprofit network of neighborhood, veterans’, Indigenous, peace, environmental, and other organizations representing people affected by military contamination and pollution. She  also helped 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). The International Coalition also seeks health monitoring and compensation for communities affected by the use of uranium weapons and the environmental remediation of such sites. She has also been a Canvass Director and worked on outreach programs for NGO’s and political campaigns in New York, Virginia, South Carolina and Texas. Thorton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication and Political Science from Ohio University.

Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public.

For more information, call 207-666-3372 or email edfomb@comcast.net.

 

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