Sarah Strommen is newest addition to FMR Board
From the archives: January 2009
FMRs newest board member, Sarah Strommen, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our work. Currently the central region director for Minnesota Land Trust, Sarah has also worked for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
She has also served as a member of the Ramsey City Council, developed birding, natural history, and educational travel programs for small groups and families in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Minnesota, and served as K-12 Environmental Education Liaison for the Center for Environmental Education at Duke University.
Says Sarah: Ive long been an admirer of FMR, both for its focus on the Mississippi River and for the way its programs and projects create a comprehensive approach to conservation. For some time, Ive thought I would like to be more involved in FMRs activities, and retirement from the Ramsey City Council allows me to devote the time. I consider serving on the FMR board a true honor and also an opportunity to continue positive work relevant to my community.
As a board member, Sarah hopes to advance FMRs mission by providing strategic direction and securing adequate resources. She also hopes to be an ambassador for the organization. I hope to share my experience in conservation, nonprofits, and local government, she adds.
Sarah says one of her favorite Mississippi River spots is Otsego Park near Elk River. Our first house was in Otsego not far from the River, and my husband and I often rode our bikes to Otsego Park, she said. The Park, which offered riverside trails and prairie restoration area, was a rare treasure in that area. Having that access to the Mississippi made this St. Paul girl feel more at home in the burbs.
Sarah has a masters degree in environmental management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke. She was also a Fulbright scholar in the 1990s, investigating the role of agroforestry and ecotourism in the conservation of avian habitat in the Cerro de la Muerte region of Costa Rica. Sarah lives in Ramsey with her husband, Jon, and son William.