Sierra Club
Chester County Committee
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Sierra Club |
| Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet |
The Chester County Sierra Club Committee Co-Chairs. Click each name for their BIO Kelly Fielden John Post Mary Ciarrocchi Richard Whiteford
Co-Chair Committee BIOs
She loves children and wants to give them a better world, and she believes in changing the world by positively influencing one child at a time. This process can be achieved by teaching children how to respect one another and to love learning and find what they are passionate about. She is a spiritual person who is Buddhist and who attends a local Unitarian Universalist Church. She is a vegetarian who loves nature. She has 2 pets, her dog Rajah and her cat Bruce. Her philosophy: "Freedom is the essence of love. It is within that your bliss is found. There is nothing that you need in order to be perfectly happy. Your deepest, most perfect happiness will be found within, and, once you find it, nothing exterior to your self can match it, nor can anything destroy it. Go within. To find what is within, go within. If you do not go within, you go without." Active in the outdoors since childhood, John remains keenly interested in the environment. Like more and more Americans, he is alarmed as evidence mounts that man is irreparably harming our earth. John’s outdoor life (hiking, camping, backpacking, gardening) is important to him and he wants to do what he can to insure that our children and grandchildren inherit a healthy planet. He is particularly interested in the issue of global warming and in finding ways to both conserve energy and find new renewable, non-fossil fuel alternatives. He believes these are urgent matters requiring swift action by everyone.
John graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he earned a degree in zoology. His professional background includes 33 years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as the President and CEO of a local biotech firm. Previously, he was Area President for Europe/Canada for Pfizer’s Animal Health division. He is currently the owner of a healthcare consulting company.
John has been married for 32 years and is the father of 2 grown children. In addition to serving as Co-Chair for the Chester County Sierra Club (a member since college), he is a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, the National Audubon Society, and is a Board member of Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection, a non-profit environmental organization. Most recently, John has joined the Chester County Greenhouse Gas Task force, an organization whose mission is to provide guidance to the Commissioners’ on ways to reduce the County’s carbon footprint.
My working life has ranged from being a small business owner to retail manager, to working in an old inn and I am presently employed by a global insurance company.
Other activities include volunteering for a computer training program for women with the Chester County YWCA , membership and volunteering at Tyler Arboretum and acting as president of the West Chester local chapter of Business and Professional Women’s Club, a national organization that advocates for issues affecting working women. Cooking with locally grown foods is a special plus to living here as is the chance to explore the beauty of our countryside.
Mr. Whiteford has written well over 500 articles for newspapers, magazines, and other publications. His scientific and economic based articles educate the public and influence political decisions on environmental legislation. He wrote a three year series about endangered species that appeared on the cover of the Sunday comics in the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2006 his book, “Wild Pennsylvania”, ISBN# 0-76032638-X. was published on Voyageur Press. As an activist, Mr. Whiteford initiated the preservation of 3,000 acres of natural land. He helps initiate changes in township, state, and federal laws for stronger environmental protection. He lobbies Congress and works on legislative committees on issues like Off Road Vehicle destruction on public and private land, the Endangered Species Act, National Energy Policy, protecting Roadless Areas in National Forests, preventing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, stopping Mountain Top Removal coal mining methods, preventing residential development in Valley Forge National Park, and many other issues. Due to Mr. Whiteford’s fifteen year activism and journalism activities, he is in demand as a teacher and speaker. He teaches environmental and writing subjects as a consultant at many universities and high schools. He’s a keynote speaker at many conferences, Earth Day events, and churches. In 1997 he was an honored guest at the United Nations for the Earth Day International celebration. The US Postal Service hired him to make media appearances to promote the Endangered Species collectible postage stamp series. In 2000 Honda America gave Mr. Whiteford the new electric hybrid Honda Insight for a week to use for promotional events in the Philadelphia market for the Earth Day millennia celebration. He has appeared on BBC and Korean television, NPR’s radio show, Justice Talking, the Art Fennell Reports show on Cn8 TV, WFMZ TV, a national TV broadcast, AccuWeather’s, Headline: Earth™ about environmental issues, and an interview on Northern Deutch Radio, NDR, Hamburg, Germany. In 1998 Mr. Whiteford won the Sierra Club Award for Environmental Activism. He was a consultant to Pennsylvania’s 21st Century Environmental Commission and went on to become a founding member and board member of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership. From 1999 – 2001, he worked for the National Sierra Club as the Northeast Region Conservation Organizer. He served as the Outreach Coordinator for the Highlands Coalition, working to preserve 2 million acres of watershed area in the Highlands. He was also the Mid-Atlantic Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society working on conservation appropriations legislation in Congress. In 2005, Mr. Whiteford worked as the Director of the Important Mammal Areas Project, a science based conservation project but lost this position when the grant funding was cut. He is currently the Outreach Representative for Pennsylvania and New Jersey for Defenders of Wildlife. Mr. Whiteford organized the Chester County Sierra Club Committee and received the National Sierra Club, 2006 Environmental Hero Award. Mr. Whiteford completed Al Gore’s training and is a certified presenter for An Inconvenient Truth.
My Sierra Club connection really began in the summer of 1980 when I visited Yosemite National Park. I was captivated by the majestic beauty of the place. It was here that John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, became an activist, helping to save for future generations the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas from development. As a journalist here in Chester County, I have reported on farms and woodlands replaced by Wal-Mart stores, housing subdivisions and strip malls; the battles between townships and developers and the citizens caught in the middle. There is much beauty left here in the place where George Washington and the Continental Army encamped in woods and fields along the Brandywine. It is my hope that the Chester County group of the Sierra Club can follow in Muir’s footsteps by taking an active role in protecting and preserving this beautiful place we call home. She is a Chester County resident of 7 years, and lives on 13 acres of protected woodland in a rustic log house with her two rescued shepherd mixes, Kacy and Duke.
She has been with the Sierra Club in Chester County since it's inception, and especially interested in open space preservation, responsible utilization of natural resources, global warming, sustainability, and educating consumers around 'thinking globally, acting locally." She has been a Sierra Club member for over 20 years. In the late 80's she was a leader with Inner City Outings for several years, and went on her first Service Trip to do fence removal in October, 2007. A life long nature enthusiast, she hikes with Appalachian Mountain Club regularly and hikes, bicycles, and likes music and the arts.
A social worker by profession, she has a BA in Psychology and a Master's in Social Work and has worked many years in various health care settings as a clinical social worker and quality improvement specialist. She currently is employed by United Behavioral Health.
Mr. Lillard is a former executive with extensive background in organizational leadership and the management. Most recently, Matthew was a Senior Vice President for Bank of America, the world’s largest credit card company and largest deposit bank in the United States. Like many of you Mr. Lillard has felt a growing sense of concern over Global Warming, the visible changes occurring in the world and the risks that these changes bring. He is also concerned about the United States' dependence on foreign sources of energy and the conflict that can result. These are among the factors that led Mr. Lillard to seek to educate himself on sustainability and which actions he could take to have the biggest positive impact. Mr. Lillard formed Green Savers LLC a company developed to help people learn, prioritize, and provide convenient assistance to make progress toward your priorities saving money, reducing your environmental impact, and living a more healthy and productive life. Visit them at www.yourgreensavers.com. An avid nature enthusiast, Liz visited many of the wilderness regions in the United States and Canada before deciding to call Chester County home. Holding dual Masters in Chemical Engineering and Business Administration and a quality process professional with the American Society for Quality, she works with organizations to ensure their operations meet compliance and marketplace demands.
Deeply concerned by the lack of attention and action from many individuals, organizations and governments to data regarding the changes in the ecosystem, she joined the Sierra Club to raise awareness on the issues that are impacting the existence of all living entities. ‘As an engineer, I’m keenly aware that in systems all inputs and outputs must balance. It is this balance that our current society tends to ignore. Unbalanced systems are inherently unstable and result in catastrophes.’
A passionate gardener since childhood, Liz grows all her own organic produce, teaches others about backyard vegetables, berry and herb gardening and is an supporter of local, sustainable agriculture. On her National Wildlife Habitat certified property, one can find many native plants and wild animals. Volunteering with the Cornell Ornithology Lab, she participates in Project Feeder Watch, is an Ambassador for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count and teaches birding skills and leads birding tours in the Tristate region. Through her botanical artwork and nature photography, she strives to heighten the awareness of the beauty in nature. Her home is shared with Java – a lab-Border Collie mix, Ginger – an orange Tabby and a large thankful of assorted South American fish.
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I am a ten-year resident of Chester County, presently living in West Goshen township and have been a member of the Sierra Club for about five years. The birth of the Chester County Sierra Club group two years ago provided the opportunity for me to find an outlet for my growing concern over the many threats to our beautiful area . I like to think of myself as being a realistic idealist, and my optimism is in no small part fueled by the energy, selflessness and determination manifested in the people involved in the environmental movement. The possibilities for our business, agriculture, tourism and land preservation future can be optimistic ones with the involvement of Chester County’s residents, and it is my hope that the Chester County Sierra Club group will be a vital component in these efforts.
Richard Whiteford is an environmental activist and writer. Alarm over the massive loss of Earth’s variety of plants, creatures, and ecosystems, and over-pollution’s dangers to public health, compelled Mr. Whiteford to devote his life to fighting for environmental protection. 
For over three decades I worked as a journalist covering the Philadelphia suburbs for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers, including 15 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2007 I started my own media consulting and professional writing services company, 
Matthew Lillard lives in New Garden Township near Avondale. Matt is a