Evergreen's Director of Sustainability Biography

John Pumilio

John has always been fascinated by the beauty and complexity of our natural world and this has led to a lifetime of study and work in the natural sciences.

In 1995, John received his bachelor's degree in environmental and forest biology from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University.

After graduation, John journeyed to the West Indies where he worked on a project comparing biodiversity between sun and shade coffee plantations.  From 1996 to 1998, John worked for the National Park Service on the Florida Panther Recovery Project in the Everglades.  This was a particularly critical period because there were only 30-50 panthers remaining.  Joining a small team of dedicated biologists, John helped with recovery efforts through an intensive period of aerial monitoring and tracking, a reintroduction program, and habitat restoration. During this time, John also worked with RAVEN - Interpretive Wildlife Programs on Marco Island, Florida. He provided community presentations on the "Ecology of the Everglades." 

During the summer months from 1993 - 1997, John served as an ornithology instructor for the National Audubon Society on Hog Island, Maine.

For the past 10-years, John was a director for Tauck World Discovery - an internationally renowned tour company. John brought environmental education and the outdoor experience to thousands of diverse clients throughout the Canadian Rockies, New England, and Quebec.  John also spent significant time working in Peru - developing and guiding a new program designed to introduce people to the Andean culture and the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. John was also instrumental in launching Tauck's highly successful, family-oriented Bridges program.  Through Tauck Bridges, John introduced hundreds of children to the wonders of nature in both Alaska and in the Galapagos Islands.  And in 2004 and 2007, John guided wildlife safaris in Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in East Africa.

John came to Evergreen in the fall of 2004 enrolled as a graduate student in the Master's of Environmental Studies program.  From September 2005 until June 2007, John was Evergreen's Sustainability Task Force coordinator. During this time, John completed the college's most comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory.  Since March 2008, John works hard trying to fulfill his role as Evergreen's first Director of Sustainability.

John is an avid birder, a baseball enthusiast, and enjoys mountaineering.  In 2005, after suffering a complete tear of his Achilles tendon, John rebounded with a successful ascent of Mt. Rainier.