Expo '74: 50 years of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest, Spokane River Panel
Date of Event
4-12-2024
Description
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Expo '74, the Gonzaga Climate Institute—in collaboration with the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington, the Washington State Attorney General, and the Gonzaga Law School Center for Law, Ethics, and Commerce—hosted a one day conference at Gonzaga looking retrospectively at the environmental justice work done over this half century and what work remains to be done in the coming decades.
Part 2, Spokane River Panel, is moderated by Vanessa R. Waldref and features speakers Brook Beeler, Marlene Feist, Margo Hill, and Jerry White.
Brook has served as Ecology’s Eastern Region Director since 2019 and has been with the agency since 2005. She began her career at Ecology working with communities encouraging environmental stewardship through education and outreach. Prior to her appointment as Regional Director, Brook supported the agency with strategic communications and media relations on complex regulatory topics. As a child, Brook spent lot of time exploring wetlands, creeks, and cow pastures south of Spokane, which sparked her interest in science and nature. She studied Biology at Whitworth University.
Marlene Feist is the Public Works Division Director for the City of Spokane. Marlene directs the City’s major utility operations, including water, wastewater, and solid waste, along with streets, engineering, fleet and capital programs. She leads a staff of about 760 employees and manages operating and capital construction budgets totaling more than $300 million a year. Marlene has worked for the City of Spokane for more than 25 years. Until taking the position of Public Works Director, she was the Director of Strategic Development for the Division. She moved to Public Works in 2013 after serving as the City’s Communications Director. She recently completed two terms as a Board Member for YWCA Spokane and co-chaired the YWCA’s successful 2017 and 2018 Women of Achievement Luncheons. She currently serves on the board for the Spokane Regional Transportation Management Center (SRTMC) and the Northeast Public Development Authority (NEPDA). She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of Montana, and she is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Spokane.
Margo Hill, JD, MURP, is a Spokane Tribal member and grew up on the Spokane Indian reservation. She serves as the Associate Director of Small, Urban, Rural, and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM). Dr. Hill served as the Spokane Tribal Attorney for 10 years and as a Coeur d’Alene Tribal Court Judge. Ms. Hill earned her Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga School of Law and her Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Political Science from University of Washington. Margo Hill is an Urban Planning professor at Eastern Washington University where she teaches American Indian Health and Community, Environmental Planning, Administrative Law, Planning Law and Legislation, Community Development, Tribal Planning classes and Federal Indian Law. In 2023 Margo Hill received the EWU Trustee' Medal Award which is EWU's highest form of recognition for teaching excellence, significant contributions to scholarship and research, and accomplishments of the development of academic programs and curriculums.
Jerry was born in Corvallis, Oregon near the Willamette River. His family moved to Cheney where he grew up exploring the lakes, rivers and forests of the area. From a young age he was raised by wolves, trout, and herons along the Spokane River where they taught him to fish and hunt. He traveled each spring to fish for native Chinook salmon with his grandfather on the Willamette. Jerry has a long history of working to protect rivers in the Inland Northwest. As a former staff member of Save our Wild Salmon, Jerry advocated for the restoration and protection of native Snake River salmon and steelhead. He has worked for native trout as conservation chair and continues to volunteer for the Spokane Falls Chapter of Trout Unlimited as an Advisory Board Member. He loves to spend time on the Spokane River fly fishing for trout, rowing his drift boat, shooting one of his longbows or backcountry skiing on the very snow that feeds our River. Jerry has two kids and currently lives with his wife within earshot of the Spokane River.
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Sponsored By
Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment; United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington; Washington State Attorney General's Office; and Gonzaga Law School's Center for Law, Ethics, and Commerce
Recommended Citation
Beeler, Brook; Feist, Marlene; Hill, Margo; and White, Jerry, "Expo '74: 50 years of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest, Spokane River Panel" (2024). Climate, Water, and the Environment Events. 33.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/climateevents/33
Copyright Information
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