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• 1 media/IMG_2475.jpeg 2025-02-12T23:55:23+00:00 Appalachia: The Interviews 20 plain 2025-05-20T05:41:56+00:00

  Patricia DeMarco

  A lifelong advocate for environmental conservation and energy policy, Patricia DeMarco has been shaping the discourse on sustainability since 1975. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised across multiple countries due to her father’s Foreign Service career, she witnessed firsthand the impact of industrial pollution. Inspired by Pittsburgh’s severe air quality issues, she dedicated her career to environmental activism, policy analysis, and education. DeMarco serves as an elected official, senior scholar, and adjunct faculty at Chatham University, as well as vice president of the First Hillsborough Council. She has authored two books, with a third in progress, and maintains a monthly blog on environmental issues. While engaged in various sustainability initiatives, she notes that her involvement with Transition was limited due to its misalignment with Appalachia’s environmental challenges.

  
  Marcia Dinkins

  A dedicated advocate for social and environmental justice, Marcia Dinkins began her journey in law before turning to community organizing through churches. Originally from Michigan, she later moved to Ohio, where she founded Black Women Rising in 2018, sparking the creation of initiatives like the Black Appalachian Coalition. Committed to uplifting African American communities in Appalachia, she currently leads efforts with Ohioans for Sustainable Change, helping Black residents embrace their Appalachian identity. While unfamiliar with Transition Towns, she suggests its limited presence in the U.S. stems from a lack of inclusivity.
  
  

  
  Margo Duesterhaus

  With a background in earth sciences and environmental advocacy, Margo Duesterhaus began her career as a contractor at NASA near Washington, D.C. She was introduced to the Transition Movement in the early 2000s, aligning with her growing involvement in climate initiatives. A key contributor to the Climate Change Initiative of Howard County, she helped establish Transition Howard County in 2012. Duesterhaus is also actively engaged with the Community Ecology Institute, further advancing local sustainability efforts.
  
  

  
  Elisa Beth Haransky-Beck

  With a diverse background spanning ecology, optometry, and spiritual nutrition, Elisa Beth Haransky-Beck integrates science and sustainability in her work. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, she studied ecology at the University of Maryland while working for the USDA before earning her optometry degree in 1982. Inspired by Rob Hopkins, she became involved in the Transition Town Movement, founding Sustainable Monroeville and the Schwartz Living Market Project in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Currently, she researches the intersection of environmentalism and veganism and is writing Enlivening Consciousness: Deepening Your Journey Through Vision, Movement, Nutrition, Nature, and Spirit.
  
  

  
  Richard Olson

  A pioneer in sustainability education and environmental research, Richard Olson was born in Sydney, New York, and raised near Syracuse. He served as the first head of Berea College’s Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program and led the Western Conference Research Cooperative. His career also included work at an EPA laboratory in Oregon. In 2005, he helped establish Berea, Kentucky, as the 137th official Transition Initiative worldwide and the 13th in the U.S. While recently noting that the movement is heavily people-oriented, Olson remains dedicated to sustainable agriculture as the full-time director of Berea Urban Farm.
  
  

  
  Paul Carson

  With a career dedicated to sustainability and community resilience, Paul Carson was born in Youngstown, Ohio, to a machinist father and a stay-at-home mother. He spent 17 years working for Columbus, serving on the Mayor’s Green Team from 2005 until his retirement in 2016. His interest in the Sustainability Transition Research Network led him to the Transition Towns movement. Active in the Collaboration Design Council from 2020 to 2022, he now contributes to Simply Living and the Rural Resilient Hub. Additionally, Carson serves on the Mayor’s Green Spot, the board of Resurrecting Lives Foundation, and works with the City of Defiance to address algal blooms in the Great Lakes.
  
  

   

  Jessica Cohodes

  Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and raised in Iron Mountain and Milwaukee, Jessica Cohodes grew up with a background in business—her father an insurance agent and her mother in marketing. She was introduced to Paths to a Sustainable Future through her husband’s coworker, leading her to discover the Transition Towns movement. In Milwaukee, she played a key role in launching a local Transition chapter by helping establish the Victory Garden Initiative. Since 2018, Cohodes has also contributed to sustainability efforts as a volunteer with the Collaborative Design Council.
  
  

  
  John Duvall

  Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, John Duvall combined a career in media, academia, and sustainability. After earning an MFA in Cinema Production from the University of Southern California, he worked as a sound effects editor for over a decade before transitioning to academia as a Professor of Communications and Media Studies. In 2010, he completed a PhD at the California Institute of Integral Studies, focusing his research on peak oil and the Transition Movement, which he discovered through the Post-Carbon Network. Duvall remains an active member of Transition Towns and contributes to the Rural Resilient Hub.
  
  

   

  Bill Sharp

  A sociologist and specialist in community and economic development, Bill Sharp was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Arkansas. With a background in project management, he played a key role in shaping the U.S. Transition Movement, helping establish the Relocalization Network, later known as Transition U.S., as well as the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub. Currently, Sharp remains engaged in global sustainability efforts as a member of the International Environmental Forum.
  
  

  
  Anna Willow

  An environmental anthropologist, Anna Willow was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised across the Midwest. With a mother in education and a father in musicology, she initially pursued art school before shifting her focus to anthropology and environmental studies. Driven by concerns over toxic air pollution, she became actively involved in Sustainable Delaware, seeking to strengthen her connection with the environmental community.