UpstreamPgh Spring 2023 Newsletter & 2022 Annual Report

Spring 2023 Newsletter & 2022 Annual Report

Image credit: Aaron Birdy Fern Hollow Creek, May 2022

Natural Connections The Drive Behind the Work

written by Mike Hiller, Executive Director

Instead of the normal Executive Director letter that leads our newsletters, we are trying out something different this time. As we continue to embark on a path of embodying regenerative principles as an organization, we are evolving our communications. An important piece of that will be sharing more stories about how our staff, board, and partners are personally impacted and motivated by the work that we do. One principle of regenerative organizations is to bring your whole self to everything that you do. So often in this world, we hold back or only present certain parts of ourselves. This new story section in our newsletter will allow us to get to know each other more wholly. As the leader of UpstreamPgh, it seemed only fair that I would be the first to share my story of why I do this work with you all.

While many of you know me in my role here at UpstreamPgh, you may not be as familiar with my history of what motivates me to do this work of uplifting individuals through environmental justice programming, and why I am so passionate about it. I live with a substance use disorder, which is something that has shaped who I am today. There was a moment in time that it dominated my life and was a larger struggle than I was individually able to overcome. When I was early in recovery, I built as many healthy tools as I could, and one of the most important parts of my healing process was being in nature. I found it restorative to surround myself with the sounds, smells, and sights that it provides. I was intentional to slow down and admire a beautiful mature tree and how the leaves glowed from the sunlight. I hiked as often as I could, and when I would arrive at the crest of a mountain, would genuinely pause to appreciate the different perspective it offered me on the world, and how small we humans actually are comparatively. All of these things fostered a sense of connection with natural systems and a feeling like I was interconnected to something much larger than myself or any one person.

If you follow our programming you would have noticed that one of the biggest changes from NMRWA to UpstreamPgh is a transition from being primarily about stormwater and watershed health to a more inclusive and holistic conversation centered around the well-being of people. This is best summed up by UpstreamPgh’s tagline: “Healthy Ecology, Healthy Community”. I believe this shift in our programming allows us to have a greater impact on watershed and Pittsburgh residents. I hold a firm belief that as humans we are intrinsically connected to nature, and no different than any other animal or plant, so when talking about regenerating the watershed we should absolutely put people first in that process. Based on my own personal experiences, I can speak to the healing and restorative abilities of nature for the human soul when we allow ourselves to feel that connection in the deepest sense.

Remembering Dr. Mary Kostalos

written by Lindsey-Rose Flowers, Environmental Education Manager

Mary Schlitt Kostalos

April 4, 1944 - June 23, 2022

The Nine Mile Run (NMR) Valley in Frick Park has seen a lot of changes over the last 50 years.  But, from the early 1970s until 2021, there was at least one constant presence, that of Mary Kostalos, a longtime member, and two-term President, of the UpstreamPgh Board of Directors. Mary’s passion for NMR started in the late 1960s. The stream was highly polluted by sewage and industrial waste and Mary wanted to study the stream and its tributaries to raise awareness of the issues and, hopefully, find a way to make it a better ecosystem for all. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on the macroinvertebrates of Falls Ravine Stream and earned her PhD in 1971 from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mary went on to teach in the Biology Department at Chatham University for many years. She inspired countless students along the way. She supported her students in their academic pursuits, encouraged them to become stewards of the world around them, and see the beauty and importance of all living things.  Mary advocated for women in the sciences not only locally through her teaching and her position as Chatham’s Dean of Students, but nationally through testifying before Congress. Before the restoration of Nine Mile Run began, Mary and her students completed research studies and ecological restoration projects.  Indeed, she was one of the first people to begin the fight for the larger restoration that would be completed by the US Army Corps in 2006. Mary felt deeply in tune with the consequences of living in the urban environment and worked to ensure that the natural world is cared for and appreciated.

Defending and researching the Fern Hollow and Nine Mile Run valleys was Mary’s life’s work. She was more than an academic. She was a unique, caring person who shined a light on all around her.  She had deep faith in humanity and believed that people were fundamentally good and wanted to do the right thing. Sometimes they needed to be shown how to make a positive impact. Mary was giving of her knowledge, her time, her financial resources, and her compassion. She loved gardening, hiking in Frick Park with her dog, Medley, and volunteering with her church. She adored animals of all shapes and sizes, marveled in the natural world and was eternally curious.

I was incredibly sad to hear of Mary’s passing, but I was also incredibly blessed to have had the chance to work with her and be mentored by her. She was such a dedicated member of the UpstreamPgh family, and she will be greatly missed.

Special thanks to: Lisa Brown and Brenda Smith for contributing

Jump In & Join Us!

Spring/Summer 2023 Events

Register for these events and more at www.upstreampgh.org/get-involved/events

Water Talk: What’s the Deal with PFAS?

PFAS are everywhere these days, and we mean that quite literally. From our bodies to our newsfeeds we can’t seem to escape them, so let’s talk about them.

Join us, along with experts from 3 Rivers Waterkeeper and the U.S. Geological Survey, for our first Water Talk of 2023 to discuss just what these “forever chemicals” are and how they affect us, our waterways, and our plant and animal neighbors.

This event is free, registration is recommended.

Urban EcoStewards- Frick Park

Can’t get enough of beautification efforts around Nine Mile Run? Stream sweeps not enough for you anymore? Well, then Urban EcoStewards is for you!

Come along as we grab some gloves and trash bags and assist us in stewarding the NMR restoration area! Your help is essential in keeping the area as trash and invasive plant free as possible. New volunteers are always welcome!

This is a volunteer event and attendance is free.

Fern Hollow Community Visioning Walk

Are you ready for a reinvigorated Tranquil Trail? We know we are. As we spend this year dreaming up a plan to #RestoreFernHollow, we want to hear from you!

Throughout 2023, we are hosting walks in Frick Park to involve the community in shaping this renewed ecological and communal space. Help us make this a place where nature and neighbors can co-exist to the benefit of all!

This event is free, registration is recommended.

Tuesday

April 4th 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Wednesday

April 12th 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Sunday April 16th 10:00am to 11:30pm

Spring Stream Sweep

Each spring, melting winter snow and rain washes trash and debris from the upper watershed communities into Nine Mile Run. This Earth Day, we will be hosting our first stream sweep of 2023!

Give your thanks to the Earth and help us fulfill our duty of stewardship to our waterways by giving our beloved restoration area a good dose of tender loving care. See you in the stream!

This is a volunteer event and attendance is free.

Urban EcoStewards- Uppershed GSI

Are you a fan of gardening and urban green spaces? Do you find yourself habitually picking up random trash on the sidewalk? Well, then Urban EcoStewards is for you!

Come along as we grab some gloves and trash bags, assist us in stewarding our civic green stormwater infrastructure projects in the upper watershed! Your help is essential in keeping these area clean and functional.

This is a volunteer event and attendance is free.

Let’s Talk Herpetology!

Leaping lizards! If you’re just as fascinated by our coldblooded neighbors as we are, then you need to run (scamper/crawl/slither) over to our kid-friendly event at Wilkins School Community Center!

Come learn about all things reptile as we are joined by esteemed naturalist, April Claus, in an adventure that will have us searching for, and touching, live snakes, toads, turtles, and salamanders.

This event is free, registration is recommended.

Questions?

Email info@upstreampgh.org

Or visit us at: www.upstreampgh.org/events

Saturday April 22nd 9:30am to 12:00pm

Thursday April 27th 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Saturday May 13th 10:00am to 12:00pm

Upstream & Beyond Projects & Programming Highlights

The Fern Hollow Vision Project

written by Rose Flowers

The new Fern Hollow Bridge may now be open to traffic, but UpstreamPgh continues to be busy advocating for the ecosystem underneath. You could say while PennDOT’s work is nearly done, our work is just getting started.

In the fall of 2022, UpstreamPgh was awarded a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority through the Greenways, Trails, and Recreation Program to undertake a multi-year visioning process for the Fern Hollow Valley. To this end, we are spending this year engaging park users, area residents, artists, partner organizations, technical experts, and officials from the City of Pittsburgh to create a list of key interventions to reinvigorate the enchanting ecosystem and public park space that lies within this space. We aim to develop a cohesive, equitable, and implementable vision for Fern Hollow.

Compared to Nine Mile Run, the valley has been relatively undisturbed but there are still a number of less-than-desirable existing conditions. There are ecological issues such as streambank erosion, invasive plants, and sediment build-up which have negatively impacted the stream and the surrounding habitat. The vision plan will include opportunities for ecological restoration projects, community engagement, trail improvements, art installations, and placemaking which will enhance the Fern Hollow experience and tie into the restoration work associated with the bridge replacement. It is an opportunity to shine a light on a previously underappreciated resource in the park and watershed.

The Fern Hollow Vision Plan process will take place throughout 2023, with a goal of completing the plan in the spring of 2024, and pursuing funding for implementation in subsequent years. Through the process we plan to engage neighboring communities and frequent park users, but also want to attract voices from underserved communities to help craft a vision for this valley that is accessible, welcoming, and engaging to people across the region.

One of the crucial pieces of this project is community feedback from as wide a swath of folks as possible. We will be holding community meetings and walks, facilitating educational workshops, and soliciting feedback through surveys. We need YOU and your communities to be part of that process.

To stay involved, we ask that you please visit our website, navigate to the “Restore Fern Hollow” page, and sign up for email notifications. You can also follow us on social media.

Dornbush GSI Project

written by Jan Raether

Pittsburgh is home to some of the world’s steepest streets. If you are a cyclist you may be familiar with some of them through the annual Dirty Dozen bike race, which includes Canton Avenue, a street often regarded as one of the five steepest streets in the world. Dornbush Street in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood is notably left out of the Dirty Dozen, but comes in as high as 13th steepest in the world on some lists.

We have all experienced how water moves across our hilly landscape, running along curbs, spilling over sidewalks, and ponding in low-lying areas. Dornbush is no exception to this process. If you take a walk down Dornbush Street (because who wants to walk up it), you will frequently see streaks of sediment, overflowing catch basins, leafy debris and other signs of significant water volume and velocity. Unfortunately, the bottom of Dornbush Street, where it intersects with Bricelyn Street, is usually akin to a full bathtub. Look in any direction from that intersection and you’ll see that you are sitting in a basin just waiting to fill with water and all the debris that comes with it.

While we frequently look at the pollution impacts of stormwater, we also need to consider volume, which can cause more immediate risks to life and health. Over the last three years we have studied Dornbush Street and developed plans that will hopefully remove some of the volume from the “bathtub”, decreasing the impact of rain events, large and small, for the surrounding community, and increasing their resiliency to large storms.

With funding from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Growing Greener Grant Program we will be able to construct Green Stormwater Infrastructure on two vacant lots at the intersection of Dornbush and Bricelyn Streets. Water will be captured in curbside catch basins up slope and diverted into a rain garden, with overflow capacity linked in by a small channel into subsurface storage. Working with community members, we’ve also been able to think of ways to make the lot more of a neighborhood asset, with plans to include a short path, a flat area for community amenities, and the potential for the addition of public artwork in the future. Our communal vision for the space is one that delivers on making the block more resilient to climate change and more purposeful for its residents.

Climate Justice & Healing Environmental Advocacy

Moving Forward, Together

written by Leslie Centola

When the Climate Justice Collaborative (CJC) launched in 2020, we had the barest idea of the direction that this seeding initiative would take what was then Nine Mile Run Watershed Association (NMRWA). The successes of the CJC in the first two years throughout Homewood, East Hills, and Wilkinsburg triggered our hunger to grow. After our rebrand to UpstreamPgh in 2021, it seemed our next steps were clear: to spark collective impact in the region by taking a collaborative, regenerative approach to the work that we had already begun as NMRWA. And this is just what we’ve been working on.

Over the last 6 months, the CJC has been building partnerships with organizations and community leaders across Allegheny County, taking a grassroots approach to community investment by engaging the intersections of people and their environment. However, as we have started this work, we have had to acknowledge that we, as environmentalists and community activists, have unintentionally worked ourselves into silos, as if water, the Earth, and human society are not fundamentally connected. Over time collaboration has decreased as our society becomes more focused on individualism, not collectivism. Barriers to collaboration between organizations, such as competition among nonprofits for funding and audience, has left those entities, low-income communities, and individual people short on time and resources. “Profit over people” mentality is a disease entering the nonprofit sector, and it is harming vulnerable communities across Allegheny County.

It’s time we step back, examine what caused this to infiltrate our communities and begin to heal the damage.

On that note, over the next several months, the CJC will use the groundwork we have laid to solidify strong local partnerships between local organizations and communities they serve, with the goal of creating a resident-led coalition. This coalition will function to develop climate-justice-focused campaigns within the region, focusing on skill-building and leadership development within their communties. The coalition will also develop a regional climate crisis resource network that will serve as a pipeline to organizational services to ensure equitable access to climate resliency resources for all.

It is only as a committed whole, working as a community, thriving together that we actually create a better future for ourselves and our planet. We each bring our own strengths and weaknesses to the table, which is why we cannot, and never could, achieve this goal alone. We are one big village, and we cannot lose sight of that.

Learning from Nature Environmental Education

Exploring a Brand New World

written by Rose Flowers

One of my favorite things about my job at UpstreamPgh is watching people of all ages get excited about the natural world around them. Through seemingly simple tasks like reading a storybook, taking a guided nature hike, or using binoculars for the very first time, a whole new world is opened to them. It never ceases to amaze me how majestic even the tiniest details can be, how they can elicit so much emotion in both those who are initially discovering them and those who know them intimately.

While I am not always able to teach my lessons outdoors, I do always encourage those I am teaching to take a moment to be still, be silent, and think deeply about the natural world. That does sometimes prove a bit challenging - I’m looking at you, adorable Pre-K adventurers - but is always meaningful in its own way. It is through a multitude of these moments that we collectively foster a continued appreciation for the beauty of nature and this amazing planet we call home.

This year, we remain commited to hosting a variety of programming to get folks, young and old, excited about the world around them. Here’s a few things that we are already up to with the younger crowd:

We continue to partner with the Woodland Hills School District to bring their students hands-on learning experiences around nature. We cover a variety of topics, such as watersheds, water pollution, macroinvertebrates in streams and rivers, as well as the causes of urban flooding and green stormwater solutions. Each year, fifth graders join us for a field trip to Nine Mile Run, and it always proves to be a great time for all. We are also still working with Hope Academy (a program of Hosanna House) to bring environmental education to their Pre-K and Kindergarten students. Approximately once a month, we bring nature-themed stories, songs, crafts, and activities into their classrooms. Recent topics have included animals in winter, owls, bees, and spiders.

Falling in love with nature can happen at any age, and we don’t just have educational programming for the kids. This year will see the return of our Water Talk series, where we invite experts on various water topics to do mini-lectures and answer community questions.

I am honored to be a part of people’s environmental education journeys at any age, and am especially grateful to have the opportunity to help nurture the next generation of ecological guardians. It is as true with the natural world as it is with humans, that being open and curious is the gateway to radical love and support. So, let’s get out there and play!

Numbers and Figures 2022 in Review

Notes from the Chief Financial Officer

written by Kelsey Small

UpstreamPgh’s financial goals are closely aligned and in support of its strategic goals, as well as supporting ongoing organizational sustainability. Income for UpstreamPgh is generated in large part from the generous contributions of the local foundation community as well as a significant support from individuals and board members. Additionally, the Organization earns income from its Fee for Service suite of green stormwater infrastructure products and services, as well as reimbursements and consulting fees from partners.

Statistics and Data

NMR Restoration Area Report Card

written by Aaron Birdy

Overall Stream Health

Data shows that the Nine Mile Run (NMR) Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration led to improved water quality. However, NMR is still affected by the surrounding urban environment; high nitrogen, bacteria, and metal levels still reflect poor overall stream health. Fifteen years after the restoration, the stream is not yet safe for recreational activities like fishing and swimming.

Human Health Risk

Bacterial contamination is caused by failing sewer infrastructure along the stream, as well as pet and wildlife waste. Exposure to bacteria can cause illness or infection. Toxic metals, the result of stormwater runoff, pose potential threats —including anemia and neuropathy—to humans and wildlife.

Aquatic Habitat Support

Water quality determines the health of a stream; it can be degraded by sewage contamination, stormwater runoff, industrial waste, and pet/wildlife waste. It’s important to note that parameters vary seasonally and are greatly impacted by rain events. Due to climate change, Pittsburgh is seeing increasing amounts of rainfall, often above the average of 38 inches annually.

Wildlife Presence

The presence and diversity of aquatic wildlife are key indicators of ecological health, as these species depend on the entire stream ecosystem for their survival. Diversifying fish populations indicate a recovering stream habitat, although it is still too polluted for most macro-invertibrates.

Want to dive directly into the data?

Scan to experience our new State of the Stream interactive dashboard!

Thank You

To All of Our Supporters in 2022

DONORS

Tamara Abell

AKRF

Kathryn Albers & Brian Davis

American Society of Civil Engineers- Pittsburgh Section

Jay Aronson

Harry Back

Karen & John Baillie

Daniel Bain & Emily Elliott

Faith & Douglas Baker

Donna Barley

David Bartholomae

Tom Batroney

Beth & Keith Battaline in memory of Diane Scheuermann

Allen Baum & Liz Witzke-Baum

Anthony Berardi

Stacey Berg & Mary Brandt

Jane Bernstein & Jeff Cohn

Nancy Bernstein & Robert

Schoen

John Berry

Valerie Birdy in honor of Aaron Birdy

Maureen Blair

Sally & Mike Bogie

Zb Bornemann

Kara & Laura Branby

Norma Bronder

Kitty Brunkhorst

Randal, Kip, Robert & Janice

Bryant

Linda Burke

Anne & James Burnham

Jeffrey Campbell

Caroline Carlson

Alice & Lee Carnes

Robert Carpenter

Janet & Paul Carr

Jean & Stephen Carr

Vicki Cherney

Joseph & Jeanne Cirilano

Joan & Robert Cody

Daniel Cody

Lynn Coghill

Erin Copeland & Barton Kirk

Daniel & Clare Cornell

Joe Crossett & Beth Roman

Danielle Crumrine & Eric

Hulsey

Mark Daniels

Claudia Davidson & Mark

Rubenstein

Lucyna de Barbaro

Nancy DelPresto

Alexander Denmarsh & Stephanie Helsel

Lisa Dennis & Joan Maser

Marion Divers

Heather Dodson & Jacob Golding

Jody & Henry Doherty

Jeanne & Robert Drennan

Beth Dutton

Marion & Sam Edelmann

Elizabeth Elias

Eleanor Emmons-Apt

Susan Fineman

Scott Fingal

Elinor Fisher

Tom & Eleanor Fisher

Michael Flanagan & Sheileen McLaughlin

James Fleming

Cheryl & Tom Fogarty

Cyril & Jane Fox

Erika Freiberger & Matthew Siegler

Rohan Ganguli

Garden Club of Forest Hills

Kevin Gieder

Peter Gilmore

Mark Goodman

Google, Inc.

Anne Jane Gray & Dave Carr

Maurine & Mickey Greenwald

Alen Gusa

Mark Haibach & Patricia Boyd

Donna Hallen & Joe Bryan in memory of Mary Bryan

Jason Hansen

Barbara & Lothar Hanusa

Matilda & Phillip Harris

Ann Harris

James Hathaway & Laura

Quinn

Paul Heckbert

Gunther Heilbrunn in memory of Klara Heilbrunn

Gail & Rich Heller

Charles Herrold

Thomas Hoffman

R Donald, Jane & Thomas Hoffman

Susan Holmes

Allen Humphrey & Jean-Anne Matter

Alan & Mary Hunninen

IBM Employee Giving

Dolores Innamorato & Colleen Akanowicz

Yvonne James

Michael Jehn

Linda Jeub & Hal Grinberg

Joel Tarr

Robert Johnson

Kenneth Joseph

Daniel Kambic & Diane Charles

Leslie & Peter Kaplan

Andrea, Alana & Aaron Karsh

Marie Kelly

Ann Kelton & Jeffrey Hritz

Ralph Kemp & Donna Hansen

Brian & Michele Kerr

Craig Keto in honor of Mike Hiller

Adam G. Kidane

Chloe King in memory of Mary Kostalos

Lynnie Koontz

Mary Kostalos

Rick & Ann Landesberg

Nancy Levine

Peter Lewis

Irv & Lois Liberman

Sara Lickey

Elsa Limbach

Virginia & Bob Linn

Adam Linstedt

Emily Lippert

Eric Lipsky

Brad & Leanne Lisien

Barbara Litt & James Mueller

Roseann Litzinger

Charlotte & Randy Lott

Steven Lowry

Sean Lukacs

Karen Lukas

Heather Lyle

Rudolph Maceyko

Ellen Marcus

Chandra & Joe Marriott

Deanna & H. Scott Matthews

Nancy & Patricia McElligott

Mary McFadden

Gale McGloin

Carolyn Menard & David Dzombak

Caroline Mendis

Jason Miller

Mary & Gilbert Miller

Amy Milo

Carin Mincemoyer

Barbara Minges

Bill & Mary Anne Mistick

Tony Mologne

Betsy & Richard Monheim

John Moyer & Teresa Rader

Michael & Nancy Murphy

Janice Myers-Newbury

Kemal Niksic

Josh Olivieri

Stuart Olmsted & Sharon Achilles

Irving Oppenheim in memory of Stan States

Ellen Ormond

Eugene & Sandy O’Sullivan

Christopher & Kathleen Peplin

Will Pickering

Pittsburgh Mennonite Church

Katherine Plotnicov in memory of Leonard Plotnicov

James Pollock

Anne & Earl Price

Ian Price

Joni Rabinowitz & John Haer

Kirsten & Jan Raether

Jack Rearick

Nicholas & Dorothy Rescher in memory of Meta Rescher

Carolyn Reuter

Lou Reynolds

Martha Riecks & Christopher Tracey

Steven & Marcie Ritter

Andrea Rockovich

Keith Roeper

Linda & Michael Rosenbaum

Peter & Sabina Rosenfeld

Robin Ryan

Kirk Rys

Kristen Sabol

Christine Saitz & Joshua Bellin

Claudia Saladin

Courtney Santos

Kirk Savage & Elizabeth Thomas in honor of Tim Collins & Reiko Goto

Michael Saylor

Richard Scaglion

Francis & Maria Scapellato

Carol Scheftic

Christina & Ellis Schmidlapp in honor of Brenda Smith

Martin & Jean Schmidt in memory of Mary Kostalos

Pat & Bill Schuetz

Rose Scilla

Zinna Scott

Duane & Christine Seppi

Rosalyn Sherman

Rita Shoemaker

Gregory & Kathy Short

Amy & Ari Silbermann

Kelsey Small

Aaron Smith & Carolyn Danckaert

Brenda Smith & Rosemary Welsch

in memory of Mary Kostalos

Jack & Sue Solomon

Rayden Sorock & Zoe Mizuho

Gary Sorock & Eleanor Shimkin-Sorock

Ryan Sprake

Michael & Carol Stasik

Fred Steinberg & Jo De Bolt

Mary Ann Steiner

Charles Stewart

Edwin & Mona Strassburger

Kurt Summersgill

Gretchen Swecker

Ben Swensen

Michael & Gloria Takacs

John Tantalo

Therese Tardio

Christopher & Cheryl Telmer

The Gates Foundation

Hanna Thiele

Addakin, Mark &

Penny Thomas

Carol Thomas

Thomas L. Nied Funeral Home

Michael Trick

Janis & Brian Tucker-Hill

Stephanie Ulmer

Francine VandenBerg & Dirk VandenBerg Jr.

Mary Rose Walko &

Laird Cooper

David Walton

Linda Whitney

Richard & Erika Wilford

Allan Willinger

Helen Wilson

Tess Wilson

Lois Winslow

Patricia Wood

Dorothy Wriedt

Robin Ziegler

Judith Zimmerman

Foundations & Corporate Sponsors

3 Rivers Outdoor Company

3 Rivers Wet Weather, Inc.

American Eagle Outfitters Foundation

Andrew Fisher Memorial Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

Anonymous Funds of The Pittsburgh Foundation

Bank of America Foundation

Center for Civic Arts

Center for Philanthropy Initiatives of The Pittsburgh Foundation

CivicMapper

Colcom Foundation

Dancing Gnome

Courtney Babcock Borntraeger Foundation

Dylan Todd Simonds Foundation

Earth Volunteer Fund

Ethos Collaborative

Eurofins TestAmerica

Falco DeBenedetti Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

Field Environmental Instruments, Inc.

Gamma Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

The Gammarus Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

The Gertrude Hetherington Fund in Memory of David & Laura Oliver of the Pittsburgh Foundation

The Grable Foundation

Henry John Simonds Foundation

The Heinz Endowments

The Jack Buncher Foundation

Laurel Foundation

Lee & Myrna Silverman Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority Greenways, Trails, & Recreation Program

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener Plus Patagonia - Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Foundation

Pittsburgh United: Our Water Campaign

Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh

Richard King Mellon Foundation

The Rita McGinley Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

Thomas J. & Anna M. Balestrieri Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation

The Thompson Foundation through the PNC Charitable Trusts Grant Review Committee

Wade Trim

Our Staff & Board Spring 2023

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Claudia Saladin

Board President

Senior Project Manager evolve environment::architecture

Yvonne James

Board Vice President Owner James Floral

Ana Bennett, EIT Board Secretary

Associate Project Manager Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority

Robin Ryan, CPA Board Treasurer

Senior Manager, Assurance Services Grossman Yanak and Ford

Louis Ammon

Laboratory & Compliance Manager Wilkinsburg Penn Joint Water Authority

Douglas Baker Attorney Reed Smith, LLC

Alex Ball Retired Engineer Westinghouse East Hills Stakeholder

Tom Batroney, PE Senior Engineer HDR

Dan Cody

Director of Leadership & Legacy Giving Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh

Marion Divers, PhD, PG Community Planner

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Scott Fingal

Co-Owner & Principal Cool Hand Carpentry

Behar-Fingal Graphic Design

Neoshe Jenkins

Community Outreach & Intervention Specialist Center for Victims

Adam Kidane, GISP GIS Asset Management Specialist, ALCOSAN

Divya Rao Heffley, PhD Associate Director Office for Public Art

Zinna Scott Board Member Operation Better Block

Rayden Sorock Director of Community Projects Grow Pittsburgh

Janis Tucker Senior Vice President, Enterprise Data Management, Program Management Office PNC Financial Services

NaTisha Washington Environmental Justice Organizer 412 Justice

UPSTREAMPGH STAFF

Mike Hiller

Executive Director

Kelsey Small Chief Financial Officer

Aaron Birdy Watershed Programs Coordinator

Leslie Centola

Advocacy Manager

Lindsey-Rose Flowers Environmental Education Manager

Amy Milo Development Manager Keith Moore Ecosystems Program Assistant

Jan Raether Plan/Build Manager

Taylor Wilkerson

Communications & Operations Manager

CONSULTANTS

Shannon Bennett Controller

Clover Bennett Consulting