Shameika Hanson ‘20 (New England, MS in Environmental Studies, Sustainable Development and Climate Change) has been elected to the American Society of Adaptation Professionals’ (ASAP) Board of Directors. Hanson, a native of Huntington Station, is currently a Community Protection Specialist at the Nature Conservancy in New York. She began her board term in fall 2021, continuing to advance the work of ASAP’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) committee, which Hanson chaired and helped to establish shortly after joining the professional organization in 2018.
“By taking on this role, I hope to scale the work that the JEDI committee has accomplished so far,” Hanson said. “Across the adaptation profession, there is need to diversify audiences. Bringing new, long underrepresented voices to the table is essential if we are to reduce the conscious and unconscious barriers to entry currently affecting those who are most vulnerable, and in urgent need of these resources.”
As a Community Protection Specialist for the Nature Conservancy, Hanson works closely with residents and decision-makers across Long Island communities, such as Mastic Beach, to ensure that their voices are heard in planning processes, in particular as they relate to climate adaptation. Hanson presently serves as an Executive Board Member of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, and as an Advisory Board member for Mycelium Youth Network, an organization that prepares youth in the California Bay area to become leaders of the environmental movement using a STEAM curriculum based on ancestral environmental traditions. Hanson also serves on the Coindre Hall Advisory Board as established by the Suffolk County Legislature. In 2020, she was selected as a 30 Under 30 Young Professional by the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce and awarded for her “significant contributions to their business and community.”
Hanson also earned a professional certification in climate resilience from AUNE and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Stony Brook University. She is a senior fellow of the national Environmental Leadership Program.
