Staff and Board
Staff:
Rachel Filippini, Executive Director
Rachel Filippini has been a staff member at GASP since 2001. Prior to becoming Executive Director, she served as the Executive Assistant and Program Coordinator for the GASPer Air Monitor Program. She has a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Much of her past experience has centered around environmental education including being a lead poisoning prevention educator, nature camp instructor, and Site Director for an afterschool program. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 11 of the Summer 2007 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Fran Harkins, Community Outreach
Fran Harkins received a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Michigan. She worked as a middle school and high school library/media specialist in Massachusetts before returning to Pittsburgh. Fran was the Membership Chair of CHOC (Citizens Helping Our Community) which successfully worked against the return of coke to Hazelwood. More recently, she has been working against the prospect of a surface mining project in the Hays area of Pittsburgh. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 9 of the Winter 2006 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Michael Parker, Legal Director
Prior to joining the GASP staff in April 2006, Michael was a Staff Attorney with the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s Environmental Law Clinic, where he represented GASP in litigation. He received his J.D. from Pitt Law and also received a Certificate of Advanced Study in Environmental Law, Policy, and Science. Michael also holds a B.A. in History from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 11 of the Spring 2008 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Suzanne Seppi, Project Manager
Sue served as GASP’s Executive Director for six years before deciding to work for GASP in a part-time position. Sue has a Masters degree in Management with a concentration in Environmental Policy. Prior to becoming the Executive Director, she served as a long-time board member of GASP.
Lee Szymkiewicz, Education Coordinator/Administrative Assistant
Lee joined the GASP staff in July 2007. She received a BS in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science in Sustainable Systems degree from Slippery Rock University in 2006. She has worked with children in many capacities including as an after-school tutor for America Reads, as an Arts and Crafts Teacher at the Wilkinsburg Boys and Girls Club and a teacher’s aide in the emotional support classroom at North Hills Junior High. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 11 of the Winter 2008 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Board of Directors:
Maren Cooke, Ph.D.
Maren Cooke is a planetary scientist by training, having received her PhD from Cornell in 1991. After a postdoc at MIT, she continued working for NASA but also stepped up her activities in science education including teaching, informal outreach, and curriculum development and illustration. A lifelong environmentalist, Maren has been active on air quality, land use, and other sustainability issues since coming to Pittsburgh in 2000. She began working with GASP in 2003. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 7 of the Spring 2005 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
David Eibling, M.D.
David Eibling is a practicing Ear-Nose-Throat physician at the VA Pittsburgh and a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. His career has focused on treating patients with head and neck cancer and teaching, primarily to residents, medical students, physicians and nurses. Throughout his career he has maintained an active interest in one specific source of pollution–tobacco combustion–an interest now expanded to include other sources of pollution that affect all of us, even when outside our homes and businesses. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 10 of the Summer 2008 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Marla Ferrency
Marla Ferrency served previously as the Office Manager at GASP. Currently she is the newsletter editor and chair of the Public Awareness Committee of GASP. She has a BA in Environmental Studies from Gettysburg College. Marla also volunteers as a board member of the EnviroLink Network and is active in the Pittsburgh environmental community. She is currently taking a leave of absence from work while she cares for her children. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 10 of the Summer 2004 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Walter Goldburg, Ph.D.
Walter Goldburg, Ph.D., is a long-time board member of GASP, having served as President in the past. He has a doctorate in physics and recently retired from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a professor of physics. A long-time defender of clean air, Mr. Goldburg has specialized in coke oven emissions. He served on the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Oversight of the EPA, the PA Air and Water Quality Advisory Committee, and on the County’s Air Pollution Advisory Committee. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article in the Fall 2003 Hotline.
Karen Grzywinski
Karen Grzywinski has an undergraduate and Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a volunteer with GASP’s Smokereaders since the program began. She also volunteers at the school her son attends. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 11 of the Winter 2005 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Janis Johnson
Janis Johnson is the treasurer of GASP. She has a Masters Degree in Taxation from Robert Morris University and is a Certified Public Accountant. She recently retired from public accounting and is hoping to use her financial background to assist GASP in tax and financial reporting and planning. Always keenly interested in environmental issues, she is planning to become a more educated and active advocate. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article on page 11 of the Winter 2007 Hotline (Adobe Acrobat required).
Jonathan Nadle
Jonathan Nadle is the President of GASP. He served previously as 1st Vice President for three years and as Board Secretary for five years. He has a BA in Political Science from Penn State University, and now works as an energy efficiency expert. Jonathan is an active member of Pittsburgh’s environmental community. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article in the Winter 2004 Hotline.
Kate St. John
Kate St. John is Director of Information Technology at WQED Pittsburgh. She was an active member in CHOC (Citizens Helping our Community) which helped defeat the Sun Coke Plant proposed for the Hazelwood LTV site. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article in the Summer 2002 Hotline.
Marilyn Skolnick
Marilyn Skolnick has a Masters Degree in Anthropology. She is a community activist serving as past Chair of the Sierra Club, Allegheny Group. She has served on numerous federal, state, and local boards and committees focusing on transportation issues, including the Allegheny County Port Authority Transit. See our accompanying Spotlight on a Board Member article in the Winter 2002 Hotline.
Peri Unligil, M.D.
Peri Unligil is a physician with UPMC specializing in internal medicine and is a clinical assistant professor with University of Pittsburgh Medical School. She studied biochemistry and then medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is very interested in the influence of environmental exposures on human health, and in the health of our local and global environment. She has been a resident of Pittsburgh and member of the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club for the past 6 years.