Meet the 2025 Fellows
Ellie Hughes
Chebeague Climate Action Fellow (Town of Chebeague Island)
Ellie is a Kansas City native who spent the last several years at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she received a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy and cultivated a deep interest in all things climate justice. She wrote her thesis on the two-way interactions between American national security logic and climate change, with a focus on militarized responses to climate migration taking shape at the southern border. Most recently, her work beyond the classroom has included policy research on topics ranging from a just green transition in Argentina to the intersection of climate change and U.S. defense spending. Ellie is thrilled to take on her new role as a Resilience Corps Fellow because, in the face of overlapping global crises, she finds the greatest hope in community-level action. She is excited to learn the ins and outs of local government, community engagement, and climate policy implementation in order to support resilience and just transition efforts. In her free time, Ellie enjoys hiking, sailing, skiing, and knitting, and she looks forward to exploring all that Maine has to offer.
Brenda Kirlin
Portland Resilience Fellow (City of Portland)
Brenda is from San Antonio, Texas. Her passions for resiliency, verdancy, justice, and support for communities led her to major in Environmental Studies and Spanish and minor in Public Health and Urban Poverty Studies at Saint Louis University. Following graduation, she worked as a COVID-19 contact tracer for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, then in ecological restoration in the Salish Sea area. Then, she returned to Texas and worked in environmental compliance for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Most recently, she built and maintained trails with the New Hampshire Conservation Corps. She is excited to contribute to mitigating climate change, as well as learn more about urban planning and the wide variety of sustainable endeavors the City of Portland partners with communities to undertake. Brenda hopes to work in sustainable energy, ecological restoration, or in increasing organization-wide sustainability. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, exploring new cities, and baking.
Robyn Landes
South Portland Resilience Fellow (City of South Portland)
Robyn is from New York City and recently graduated from Colgate University with a major in Chinese and minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. As an intern in the Colgate Office of Sustainability, Robyn became passionate about community engagement and climate resilience, especially through her involvement at the Colgate Community Garden. While at Colgate, Robyn fostered an interest in sustainability in local government through a community-based research project about the New York State Climate Smart Communities Program, where she learned about municipal climate action planning and policy. In her free time, Robyn enjoys climbing, gardening, fermenting kombucha, running, and reading. As a Resilience Corps Fellow, she is excited to be involved with the City of South Portland’s sustainability projects, build connections in Maine, and contribute to creating a more equitable and resilient community!
Kali Loughlin
Clean Energy Fellow (GPCOG)
Kali is from Syracuse, NY and has a degree in Wildlife Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her love for conservation has led her to many places including Shenandoah National Park monitoring Peregrine falcons, and the White Mountains researching Swainson’s thrush for UMass Amherst. This fieldwork inspired her to further study GIS for climate action and spatial analysis and grow even more passionate about environmental and urban planning. As a Resilience Fellow, Kali is excited to blend her interests in conservation and planning to support clean transportation, coastal resilience, and climate action planning for the Greater Portland area.
Owen Miller
Energy Navigator Fellow (Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission)
Owen grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Every summer he and his family travelled to Maine to visit Acadia National Park, one of his favorite places on Earth. He attended college at the University of New Hampshire where he got involved with the university’s Sustainability Institute. While at UNH, he conducted research into LMI solar programming as a Summer Sustainability Fellow at the New Hampshire Department of Energy. After his time as a Fellow, he learned carbon accounting with UNH's software SIMAP. In 2024, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics: Sustainability and Public Policy and a BA in Philosophy. Owen loves spending time outdoors and has been a hiker since he could walk. Some of his other hobbies include cooking, reading, and music. As a Resilience Fellow, Owen is excited to learn more about environmental and sustainable policy while having new experiences assisting the community of Southern Maine.
Mary-Kate Murphy
Resilience and Education Fellow (GPCOG & Gateway Community Services Maine)
Mary-Kate is from Covington, Louisiana. She graduated from Washington and Lee in May 2023 with a major in Sociology and minor in Poverty and Human Capability. Through her studies, she deepened her understanding of how communities are shaped by historic, social, cultural, and environmental contexts, and developed a passion for promoting community resilience and environmental justice. Wanting to explore each corner of the country while devoting herself to environmental stewardship, Mary-Kate has worked as an Outdoor Education Program Instructor in California, Recreation Ranger in Colorado, and organic farm hand in New York. She is elated to join the Resilience Corps to learn more about community-led approaches to environmental planning and advocacy, all while exploring Maine. In her free time, she enjoys doing any outdoor activity, listening to comedy podcasts, reading, cooking, and exploring new places.
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Evan Paris
Community Science Fellow (Gulf of Maine Research Institute)
Evan is a first-generation Dominican who grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. At the start of his career, Evan aimed to transform his eco-anxiety into action through science, graduating from Vassar College with a degree in biochemistry, then working as a post-baccalaureate researcher in a plant microbiology lab at Stanford University. While passionate about science, Evan found that lab work lacked the direct community impact he sought, leading him to pursue a career in conservation. With experience teaching science lessons at museums and spearheading sustainability projects with the National Parks of Boston, he now aims to integrate art, science, and education to empower communities in mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis, and is thrilled to be doing so this year with the Resilience Corps. Outside of work, you can find Evan climbing trees, hugging trees, making art, or obsessing over the TV show Survivor.
Audrey Pyper
Municipal Resilience Fellow (GPCOG & Town of Gray)
Audrey grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She recently graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Environmental Studies & History. She has worked a variety of jobs in the agricultural and environmental field. From living and working at a small organic farm in Michigan to interning for various land trusts across Maine, Audrey has cultivated a deep interest in sustainability and environmental protection. Most recently, Audrey lived in Bar Harbor working as a seasonal land steward. As a Resilience Corps Fellow, Audrey looks forward to dedicating her energy toward work that prioritizes environmental policy solutions. In her free time, you might find her ice skating, going on contemplative walks throughout the city, or reading a good book.
Zoe Sreden
Data and Planning Fellow (GPCOG & Midcoast COG)
Zoe grew up in Bath, Maine. They recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s in geography and minors in global studies, community and international development, and green building and community design. While in school Zoe served as the president of the timbersports team and team lead for the Vermont Zoning Atlas project. It was through their internships with the Vermont Zoning Atlas and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission that they found their interest in planning, focusing specifically on issues such as sustainable transportation, walkable community design, and affordable housing. Their work with the Vermont Zoning Atlas also sparked an interest in open research and data communities with the goal in increasing accessibility to these resources. Post graduation Zoe worked at the Bath Area Food Bank and is hoping to use that experience to inform how structural support through planning can increase the availability and accessibility of needs-based resources to communities in coastal Maine. In their free time Zoe enjoys woodworking, sailing, fishing, and sea glass hunting.
Lily Sternberg
Energy and Outreach Fellow (WindowDressers)
Lily grew up in Crystal Lake, a town outside of Chicago, IL. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied Earth Sustainability and Political Science. While in college, she interned for a local conservation district and learned about natural areas restoration, and she served as a paddleboard instructor at a nearby lake. These experiences illuminated Lily's passion for the environment, ecosystem conservation, and the importance of sustainable outdoor recreation. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, playing rugby, and crocheting. Lily is very excited to learn more about the role of volunteers and community engagement in her new position as a Resilience Corps Fellow.
Sydney Ranalletti
Yarmouth Climate Action Fellow (Town of Yarmouth)
Sydney Ranalletti is originally from Freeport, Maine, and earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Salve Regina University. After graduating, she returned to Maine to contribute to sustainable initiatives in her home state. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Sustainability and Planning at the University of Southern Maine. Sydney’s passion for nature and biodiversity began at a young age and has only deepened over time. She is thrilled about the opportunities with Resilience Corps to help Maine become more sustainable while connecting with like-minded individuals who share her enthusiasm for environmental stewardship. In her free time, Sydney enjoys skiing, going to the beach, and exploring new places.
Bryan Wilcenski
Long Island Resilience Fellow (Town of Long Island)
Bryan grew up just south of the Adirondack Park in upstate New York and his interest in natural resource conservation developed as he volunteered and recreated throughout New York’s northern forests. He received a BS from Cornell University with a concentration on Natural Resource Management and Policy. Water resources—as an avenue to ecological and economic resilience—were a throughline across his undergraduate positions in ESG consulting and regenerative agriculture. After graduation, he worked with an environmental advocacy organization conducting research on best management practices for water quality in forestry. Bryan is excited to support the Town of Long Island in his role as a Resilience Corps Fellow and continue its groundwater sustainability study, watershed mapping project, database management efforts, and waterfront infrastructure improvements. Bryan is an avid fisherman, canoe camper, and backpacker, and looks forward to exploring Maine’s unique outdoor spaces.