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Announcing Our Next Casco Baykeeper, Ivy Frignoca

We have hired the next Casco Baykeeper, who will begin working with us in January. We are very excited to introduce you to Ivy Frignoca.

Ivy has been living in the Casco Bay watershed for the past 25 years, and she will bring an impressive array of skills and local knowledge to the role of Casco Baykeeper.  In her most recent work with Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Ivy has been working on issues facing Maine’s marine waters, including ocean and coastal acidification.  She has been serving as CLF’s Oceans, Clean Water and Clean Air Advocate throughout New England.  Her professional experience also includes teaching marine biology and ecology, interpreting natural history, designing policies to protect and promote Vermont state parks and forests, and advocating for stronger environmental protections for Lake Champlain.

Executive Director Cathy Ramsdell, who has been serving as Casco Baykeeper Pro Tem over the past year, says, “I have seen firsthand that Ivy has a tremendous capacity to study a topic and comprehend the issues involved, find ways to broach the issues with a wide variety of stakeholders, listen and then bring people together to find common ground to address the challenges and move forward.  Her legal skills – which are notable – are very helpful in this regard; but we are not hiring Ivy because she is an attorney. We are hiring Ivy because she offers a diverse skill set as well as an engaging combination of warmth, accessibility, humor, and brilliance.

Casco Baykeeper Emeritus Joe Payne is delighted with Ivy’s appointment. “Ivy is a powerful package.  She’s an environmental attorney, a former marine biology teacher, and a skilled negotiator. I have high regard for her work ethic, her communication skills, and the energy she brings to her work.”

Like the two Casco Baykeepers before her, Ivy will use a work-with approach.  “I have long admired Friends of Casco Bay’s collaborative approach to advocating for the health of the Bay,” she said, “and I am honored that I am about to become the next Casco Baykeeper.”

Says Cathy, on closing the search, “In Ivy Frignoca, I believe we have chosen the right person to join our team. She has the personality, the past experience, and the passion to be our next Casco Baykeeper.”