Introducing Douglas McRae
Hello! My name is Douglas McRae and I’m excited to introduce myself as the new Grassroots Engagement Coordinator for the Conservation Team at Nature Forward. I’ll be supporting the advocacy and outreach efforts of our DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia Advocates as well as working with the Conservation Outreach Manager to maintain our Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. Hopefully you’ll see me out and about, tabling at community events, supporting trainings and activities, and in general keeping in touch with the partners and community members across the region who motivate and inspire our work!
A little about me: I’ve lived in Washington, DC since 2012, when I arrived for graduate school. Nearly a decade later, I earned a PhD in Latin American History at Georgetown, where I researched the role of water in the historical transformation of São Paulo, Brazil into a modern megacity. For the past several years I have worked in higher education, primarily teaching Latin American and environmental history throughout the DC area. While environmental history can take you to some unusual places (ask me about the time I sifted through old documents in a decommissioned sewage treatment plant), I’ve always been seeking more ways to just get outside and explore urban nature around me in DC.
A few years ago, I started volunteering with the DC Water Quality Monitoring Project in Rock Creek Park. I wanted to learn more about urban water issues facing DC but also give back to a place where my family and I spend a great deal of time hiking, biking and exploring. Volunteering for this project and learning from the environmental organizations that manage it has taught me so much about the importance of protecting local waterways, making them accessible and safe for everyone to enjoy, and making sure elected officials share these goals! I look forward to working alongside partners throughout the DC metro region to prioritize nature for all.
Before coming to DC, I served as Community Health Educator with the Peace Corps in a small town in northern Peru. Living in Peru was formative for me in many ways. It was also my first real foray into community outreach: meeting people where they were to work towards common goals for their families and children. (Peru also led to many adventures: ask me about the time I nearly died on a day hike up to a glacial lake in the Andes!) I have spent a great deal of my adult life living, traveling and working throughout Latin America, and I hope to connect soon with Spanish-speaking volunteers and community advocates throughout DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
I look forward to meeting you soon and working with you to advance our shared goals and protect our green spaces, water ways and natural habitats. Or maybe I’ll just see you out on a bike trail or out in a park! In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me at: [email protected].