Zora Lathan
Executive Director, Chesapeake Ecology Center
and
Highland Beach (MD) Town Manager and Environmental Consultant
Highland Beach, Maryland

How long have you been working in your current career?  What did you do before?
I’ve held both positions for approximately three years.  The following answers pertain to my work at the Chesapeake Ecology Center.  In 2001, I completed a three-year television, radio, and print PSA campaign for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, subsequent to working on television, radio, and print PSA campaigns for the National Audubon Society and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1995 to 1997. From 1985 to 1995, I worked as the Director of the Community Greening Program, subsequent to working as the Director of the Community Solid Waste Program (both new initiatives which I helped develop) for the National Audubon Society. 

My primary areas of focus are:  community greening/sustainable living, habitat restoration and protection/conservation landscaping, and multi-media PSA production and distribution. 

Why did you decide to pursue this career?
I have a great interest in humane issues, environmental issues, the natural sciences, and the fine and design arts.  I am a life-long naturalist.  I am especially interested in restoring and protecting the environment for all of the earth’s creatures.  This includes environmental and ethical issues, e.g., factory farming, and the resulting impacts of meat-based diets.

What traits would you say make your job “humane”?
My current work helps to protect and provide wildlife habitat, which in turn benefits human life.  Water, food, shelter (including nesting spots), and space to live out their lives in a fairly undisturbed way are the basic things all animals need.  The more of these elements we can provide in our suburban and urban landscapes, the better off wildlife will be.  If we provide a diversity of habitats which include native plants, and few if any pesticides, more of the locally-evolved species will be able to coexist with man. 

Often, people find concepts easier to understand and be motivated by, if you appeal to self-serving interests.  The following is from a conservation landscaping primer, written by myself and Thistle Cone (and now in the final proof stage):

A wide diversity of native plants and wildlife is absolutely essential, not only to our health, but to our survival.  One of the most vital reasons is that native plants provide food and places to reproduce for the valuable pollinators we need to help us produce food crops. 

The next time you bite into your lunch, think about this.  According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, experts calculate that "over 90 percent of all flowering plants and over 75 percent of food crops require fertilization by animal pollinators in order to produce fruit and seed.”  The domestic honeybee population is in decline, due to several factors, including pesticide use.  Therefore, we now need to depend, even more than at other times in history, on the benefits of native pollinator animals to help provide the foods we eat. 

What kind of education and training did you get before you started your first professional job?
I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography and Film Design from the University of Illinois.  Most of my professional training has been on the job; and I’ve continued to take graduate level design and environmental courses.  When I attended college in the 70s, environmental studies courses did not exist. 

How did you find your first job in your profession?
My tenure with the National Audubon Society, from 1985 to 1997, began by answering an ad in the Washington Post newspaper.

What are your duties in your current positions?
As the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Ecology Center (CEC), my duties are quite varied.  The CEC is an outdoor environmental education center, with 18 Native Plant Demonstration Gardens, located at Adams Academy (middle school) at Adams Park.  The Chesapeake Ecology Center “is dedicated to promoting and educating the public about community greening and conservation landscaping practices for the Chesapeake Bay watershed that result in a healthier and more beautiful environment benefiting residents and the region's biological diversity.”  I work with the public and elementary through college age students and strive to:  provide on-the-ground environmental education; and encourage and facilitate the implementation, fine-tuning, and maintenance of restoration projects. 

In addition to providing technical assistance to groups and individuals, and installing and maintaining a variety of conservation landscapes, I organize and manage volunteer sessions and contractual staff assistance.  On-going duties include:  grant writing, fund raising, photographing/documenting the CEC program, grant reports, website development, publicity, developing program material and publications, special programs, giving presentations and tours, accounting, taxes, other administrative matters, and attending meetings.  The CEC is three years old; and I work on strategic development with our Board of Directors.

What do you like most about your job?
My work makes a difference and helps to improve environmental health.  Aldo Leopold once said:  “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community.”  This is important to me and what I strive to do.  As well, working with students, teachers, and volunteers is sometimes challenging and often times very inspiring.  Generally, I enjoy my work and like working outside (weather permitting), although I am too often pressed for time.  

What do you like least about your job?
Generally, I have too much work and too little pay.  In many positions, there are least favorite duties; for me, these include accounting and administrative matters.

What’s a typical workday like for you?
My workdays are quite variable, however, they often involve answering lots of email messages and phone calls, work on grant writing and reports, handling administrative matters, and attending meetings.   My days often consist of working on-the-ground with students and volunteers to teach about and develop conservation landscaping projects such as rain gardens, xeriscapes, forest buffers, and living shorelines.

What types of training or experiences do you need to keep up-to-date in your field?
First-hand experience is the best teacher.  Additionally, I attend a variety of workshops, presentations, and seminars on conservation landscaping and other environmental topics.  I am also a member and attend regular meetings of groups such as the Lower Western Shore Tributary Team and the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council.  This involves time and work, however, it is very helpful in keeping up-to-date in my field.

What keeps you motivated to keep doing your work?
Primary motivators are a love and reverence for nature and the ability to make a difference.  Working outdoors, getting my hands dirty, I feel connected to life.  When I observe students, teachers, and volunteers taking an interest in and making the connections between their daily activities and environmental health, as well as actively participating in and enjoying habitat restoration activities, this is very heartening. 

What personal traits do you think someone needs to be successful in your field?
As in many fields of work, some helpful work traits are:  keen interest; perseverance; dedication; interpersonal, problem solving, communications, and computer skills.  It helps if you are self-directed, able to work as part of a team, and have an interest in life-long study and self-improvement.

What advice would you give to a college student or other young person considering entering your field?  What advice would you give to someone who’s changing fields and is interested in a career in your profession? 
If you are young and just entering the workforce, pace yourself.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you may have to take lesser positions than you would choose, in order to work your way into a more desirable position.  Also, it can be very helpful to have a mentor.

I believe it is important to have a passionate interest in the work one is pursuing.  It also helps if one has perseverance and flexibility.  It may take awhile to find a satisfactory and self-sustaining position.  As well, you may be able to create or tailor a professional position.  However, there are usually trade-offs.  In order to do the work I prefer to do as the Director of the Chesapeake Ecology Center, I have to work two jobs in order to pay bills. 

If you are fortunate enough to find or create a position that interests you, balance is key.  You will likely need to work very hard for sustained periods of time.  However, if you are inspired by the work you do, you can over-do it.  Pace yourself and try not to burn yourself out.

Anything else you’d like to add about your work or about careers helping animals?
One of my favorite thoughts is a quote by Albert Einstein: 

“A human being is part of the whole called by us a universe—a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and his feelings, as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
  
“This delusion is a kind of prison for us; it restricts us to our personal decisions and our affections to a few persons nearest to us.    Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 

June 2005