Margaret Carreiro, PhD

Margaret Carreiro earned her PhD in Botany from Univ. of Rhode Island.  She taught in UofL’s Biology Dept. from 2001 until retiring in 2018.  Her research focused on plants and decomposer organisms, including their responses to fossil-fuels combustion and invasive species.  Her Ecology courses included climate change, its causes, impacts and solutions.  Dr. Carreiro wrote the Urban Forestry section of the Louisville's Climate Change Action Task Force's 2008 report to the mayor, and the Louisville Tree Board's guidelines for the first local tree-canopy assessment and its urban forest-management program.  Several LCAN videos feature her, inspiring others to turn their yards into native species gardens.  She administers LCAN's Facebook page.

Clara Sickmeier,
Student Intern

Clara Sickmeier is a senior at UofL. She is studying sustainability with a track in sustainable societal and urban systems, and minoring in German language. She enjoys traveling, reading and playing music.  While studying abroad in Germany, she loved experiencing all the benefits of public transportation and truly walkable cities.  She is focusing on encouraging LCAN members and others to take the TARC 2025 survey, assisting with caring for the LCAN pollinator gardens and other projects.

Agastya Mishra,
Student Intern

Agastya Mishra is an 9th grader at Manual High School.  After reading about climate change and realizing his generation's future is at stake, he decided to make a positive difference.  Luckily, his research led him to LCAN.  He helps to stock the virtual shelves of our Kids' Books and Videos web page.  Last school year, he led his Meyzeek classmates in creating an ecology-themed quick-recall package; they beta-tested it and now are refining it for use by other schools.  He also enjoys computers, sports, music, hanging out with his friends and "building stuff."

Phyllis Fitzgerald,  Conservation Educator

Phyllis has used her Bachelor and Master of Education degrees from UK and UofL, respectively, to teach energy conservation for decades.  She has presented conservation programs on WAVE3 TV and WCHQ radio, and while working for the nonprofit Environmental Alternatives, Inc., LG&E and Metro Air Pollution Control District.  Besides teaching weekly workshops at Dismas Charities St. Ann Center in West Louisville, Phyllis leads LCAN’s conservation workshops for renters,  showing them no-to-low-cost techniques and lifestyle changes ways to cut their utility bills—and cool the planet.

Rachel Mudd,
Student Intern

Rachel Mudd recently earned her bachelors degree in Sustainability with a minor in Communications with a focus on social justice from the University of Louisville.  Indeed, she's now job hunting, if you have any good leads!  She enjoys spending quality time in nature, swimming and bike riding. She remembers learning about climate change and global warming in middle school, and became especially interested after choosing her major at UofL.  Rachel continues to volunteer with LCAN, managing our Instagram, and tabling at events.

Roger Ohlman,
Energy Analyst

After 43 years in the banking industry, Roger felt called to focus on climate and anti-racism initiatives.  He recently received a Kilowatt Crackdown award for his work with the Louisville Nature Center (LNC), where he first found ways to lower its utility bills, then assisted with installing solar panels, resulting in LNC achieving net-zero status!  With a small team of church members, he now helps First Unitarian Church in similar ways.  For LCAN, Roger analyzes clients’ energy usage to find ways to improve efficiency and lower costs.

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Leah Niemann,
Student Intern

Leah Niemann is a senior at Manual High School, and a renaissance woman in the making:  She enjoys scientific research, does tie-dye and is a baton twirler and plays lacrosse.  Since middle school, she's been concerned about the environment, especially the impact of fast fashion; indeed, Leah researched and wrote the fast fashion page of the LCAN web site.  Leah helps LCAN after school and on weekends in any way she can, from tabling to filing to data entry --- basically whatever is needed.