Biography of Anna Cummins
Anna Cummins has over 10 years of experience in environmental non-profit work, education, writing, and campaign development. She has worked in marine conservation, coastal watershed management, sustainabilty education, and high school ecology instruction. Anna received her undergraduate in History from Stanford University, and her Masters in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute for International Studies.
In 2001, Anna received a fellowship from the Sustainable Communities Leadership Program, to work with Santa Cruz based non-profit Save Our Shores, coordinating bilingual outreach education and community relations. At Save Our Shores, Anna came across The Algalita Marine Research Institute's work on plastic marine debris. She later joined the Algalita's 2004 research voyage to Guadalupe Island, to collect evidence of plastic ingestion by Laysan Albatross. In 2005, Anna returned to Los Angeles, to teach ecology and organic cooking at New Roads School, coordinate Green Living Workshops for Sustainable Works, and found the Bring Your Own campaign. In 2007 she joined the Algalita Marine Research Institute as education adviser, conducting school outreach and giving public presentations on the plastics issue. With Algalita, Anna completed a month long, 4,000 mile research expedition studying plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre.
Anna has published a number of articles and chapters on environmental themes, including a regular columns for the Santa Monica Mirror and Worldchanging Los Angeles, 2 chapters in "Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education" (Red Hen Press), a feature article in WEND magazine on plastic marine debris, and numerous sustainability-themed blogs. She is currently continuing her work on plastics education with Algalita and Bring Your Own, and preparing for a 2,000 mile cycling journey from Vancouver to Mexico (www.junkraft.com) , to give dozens of presentations on plastic pollution in the marine environment .
