Contact:
FRED FEINER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
PHONE: 908-234-1225, EXT. 104
FRED@NJCONSERVATION.ORG
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Clinton Volunteer Philippa Reist Brings Passion for the Outdoors
CLINTON, NJ, January 3, 2007 – Growing up on a sheep farm in Bedminster just a short distance from the New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s (NJCF) Far Hills office and taking childhood safaris a world away in Africa, Clinton resident Philippa Reist has had years of preparation for her current role as a volunteer.
“I was delivering lambs with my bare hands when I was nine,” the 31-year-old volunteer said. “I’ve had an appreciation for the natural world from a very early age. Development has brought a lot of changes to the area. When I was a kid, I would wait for the school bus every morning at the bottom of the driveway on Lamington Road and literally not a car would go by before the bus came. Now, Lamington Road is a little highway! Sprawl has changed this part of New Jersey in a very short time. To me, the area where I grew up just doesn’t exist anymore – and it’s not as though I’m very old.”
After attending Tufts University, Philippa worked as a web developer in New York for six years, running her own business. Philippa worked in real estate in New York for over a year, before coming back to New Jersey, in part to be closer to family.
“I thought about continuing to work in real estate in New Jersey,” Reist said. “But, in New Jersey, I’d be selling mostly new homes that use land in ways that are, well, offensive to me. I’d like to continue learning at NJCF about the process of acquiring land for conservation. I’m thinking about how one might create a business that links urban redevelopment and rural conservation in a direct way. I don’t see that out there yet.”
Philippa volunteers three mornings a week and has worked on a variety of projects including research on creating tax incentives for farmers and on liability issues related to brownfields. NJCF has tapped into her experience as a web developer and designer to make upgrades to the Foundation’s website, create an email version of the NJCF newsletter and support the creation of an NJCF signage program.
“Philippa has really been an outstanding addition to the NJCF team,” said Greg Romano, NJCF Assistant Director and Statewide Director of Land Acquisition. “Her wide range of skills, interests and experience has made a very positive contribution to NJCF.”
Since 1960, NJCF has preserved over 100,000 acres of land from the New Jersey Highlands to the Delaware Bayshore, permanently protecting forests, farmland and natural resources, all vital to New Jersey’s future. For more information on volunteer opportunities or saving New Jersey’s precious natural areas and natural resources, contact the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at 1-888-LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728).
