BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

Mark O'Donnell, Chair

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Georgia Chafee Nassikas, Vice Chair

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Stephanie Hunt, Secretary

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Tom Nichols, Treasurer

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José Roberto Marinho

 

Rita Mesquita
 

Scott D. Rivière

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Michelle Wyman
 

Eleanor Robinson in memoriam

Amazon Biodiversity Center

January 2022

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The Amazon Biodiversity Center regrets the passing of Eleanor Perkins Robinson, Board of Directors.  Eleanor died of cancer at her home in Old Lyme, CT, on January 2, 2022.

Eleanor had an accomplished career centered on conservation and the environment, working for the Smithsonian Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Massachusetts and Connecticut Audubon Societies.  In 2012, she founded the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in Southeast Connecticut.

 

Eleanor’s conservation career represented only part of her life's work. She raised three daughters with Reverend Mark Robinson, her husband of more than 35 years.  She was a lifelong musician, singing in choirs, leading singalongs, and writing and recording two albums of songs for families.  She was also an educator, founding a nursery school and a music school with her husband.

She first met Dr. Thomas Lovejoy while working on her bachelor's degree in botany and zoology at the University of Washington.  Dr. Lovejoy became a mentor to Eleanor, a relationship that did much to inspire and launch her career.  Eleanor often highlighted her time banding birds at Dr. Lovejoy's Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) outside of Manaus, Brazil, as being instrumental in fostering her connection with the Amazon rainforest and biological diversity.

 

Having had the experience of conducting research at the BDFFP, Eleanor brought to the Board a deep understanding of the value of Amazon Biodiversity Center’s work to train generations of scientists and conservation experts and to bring science to policy.  Her understanding of the issues was invaluable, and her enthusiasm and conviction inspiring.  We will greatly miss her presence on the Board.