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DURHAM, N.C. — Conservationist Mamie Parker, the first African-American to head a regional agency at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), will address 2018 graduates of 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû’s Nicholas School of the Environment at the school’s Recognition Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 12.

Parker, a member of the Nicholas School Board of Visitors, will speak to Master of Environmental Management (MEM), Master of Forestry and doctoral 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû candidates and their families in a private ceremony at the Chemistry Lot on Duke’s West Campus.

Parker served as assistant director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation at USFWS from 2003 to 2007. She also served as ecosystem coordinator in the agency’s Great Lakes and Big Rivers Region and worked in many of its other programs, including those on national fish hatcheries, national wetlands and coastal mapping, contaminants, invasive species, marine mammals, and wetland restoration and protection.

Parker is also a member of the board of directors for the Chesapeake Conservancy, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Defenders of Wildlife and the Chesapeake Conservation Partnership Steering Committee.

She owns a public speaking and executive coaching business, MA Parker & Associates, in the Washington, D.C., area.

Alumni speaker Aleksandra Dobkowski-Joy will join Parker on the podium at this year’s Recognition Ceremony.

Dobkowski-Joy earned an MEM in Coastal Environmental Management in 1998 before going on to become a leading practitioner in sustainability strategy and communications. The Nicholas School Alumni Council member currently serves as principal and partner at Framework LLC in Stamford, Conn.

For more information about the annual Recognition Ceremony as it becomes available, visit our .

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