A Passion for the Natural World: Meet our new Board Members

The board of directors of North Cascades Institute plays a pivotal role in our success by providing governance, oversight and strategic direction. Our board is composed of exceptional individuals with diverse experience and expertise. Their collective leadership, accountability and commitment to the organization add immense value. We are so grateful for the leadership and support each member provides to help us achieve our mission of inspiring environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature! We’d like to introduce three new board members who joined us in 2024…

Yingzhao (Ying) Liu is grateful everyday to be growing roots in the Pacific Northwest. She is an integral facilitator, a mother to a 6-year-old, and a painter and printmaker. She also founded Original Mind creative residency in the Cascade foothills, lectured at Stanford University on Designing for Well-being, and was previously design director for international markets at LinkedIn. She began her fascination with group magic with Where There Be Dragons, forming and leading their experiential programs for American students in southwest China. Ying is native to mainland China and came to the U.S. at age 18, and now lives in Seattle.

Meredith Lohr fell in love with the North Cascades on a backpacking trip when she was a teenager. She grew up in Baltimore, but the mountains called her west. Meredith brings decades of experience as a nonprofit leader and environmental educator to her board service. She is the founding Executive Director of EarthGen, a nonprofit that serves youth and communities across Washington to become changemakers for a healthy environment. Today, Meredith coaches and consults with individuals and organizations to support their growth and performance. She holds certificates in leadership coaching and nonprofit executive leadership from Northwestern University and UW, respectively, an MS in Geology from UC Santa Cruz, and a BS in Environmental Science from Evergreen. Meredith lives in Seattle with her husband and two college-age children. She loves to hike, ski, and travel and do what she can to make the world a better place.

Burr Neely has worked in the Cultural Resources Management industry for over 20 years and now serves as VP of Business Development for SRI, a global heritage management consultancy. He specializes in managing large and complex cultural resource inventory projects, with specific experience leading projects in the North Cascades. He holds an M.A. from University of Alaska Fairbanks focusing on cultural resources and environmental history. Burr has achieved national recognition for his business leadership and historic preservation advocacy work, where he has been past Vice President and is current chair of Government Relations Committee for the CRM industry’s national trade group, the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA). Burr also stays active at the local-level and contributes time as a board and committee member of local organizations in Washington and Whatcom County where he offers his experience in nonprofit governance, organizational resiliency, land management issues, and grassroots advocacy initiatives. Burr lives in Deming with his three kids and wife and has logged hundreds of miles hiking and backpacking in the North Cascades.

Let’s get to know the Institute’s new board members!

Why did you join North Cascades Institute’s board of directors?

Ying: I grew up in China and came to the U.S. when I was 18. I never felt at home until I visited the Pacific Northwest and felt an instinctive connection to the Cascades–the lush, dripping moss and ferns on granite. I feel lucky to be a steward of this place and to call it home. Serving on NCI’s board is a way for me and my young daughter to send deeper roots down, to give to this land and to connect with all who are in it.

Meredith: I joined the board because the North Cascades are my favorite place on Earth! I am excited about bringing my experience with nonprofits and environmental education to help others connect with and learn in this special place.

Burr: I completed contract work for the North Cascades National Park from 2021-2023 surveying remote historic structures throughout NOCA and became attached to the space and place surrounding the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. Coincidentally, my daughter plays soccer with another NCI board member and when we met on the sidelines, we shared an immediate affinity towards wilderness, education, and non-profit governance. Through that conversation and shared interests, I was recruited to the Institute’s board. I’m dedicated to the mission and intrigued by the talent and “people mix” of staff and fellow board members.

What particular skills do you bring to the work of the board?

Ying: My professional journey as a designer and an experiential educator led me to being an impact network facilitator. The network approach to collaboration is a form of biomimicry — organizing as nature does, as a web rather than a hierarchy. I believe it is the future of how we work, and hope to bring some of this skillset to the complexity that environmental education institutions face today.

Meredith: My career included more than two decades in environmental education, most recently as the executive director and co-founder of EarthGen, a statewide climate education organization. Today I am a leadership coach and consultant for people and organizations working to make the world a better place. I bring to the board the skills and perspectives I’ve developed through helping lots of organizations navigate change.

Burr: I have a long background working with and understanding non-profit organizations, particular in governance, structure, and developing organizational resilience that hopefully offers a valuable perspective to the Institute’s board of directors. I have been engageing with organizations local to Whatcom County as well as national-level trade organizations, emphasizing fundraising and political advocacy. I have direct professional experience working on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) projects and offer some insights into the current FERC relicensing project and how the Institute fits into that process. I also have professional experience related to cultural resource management and can inform the Institute on opportunities and partnerships related to integrating natural and cultural resource conservation. Lastly, I’ve been on the ground covering hundreds of miles of North Cascades backcountry trails, and champion enduring enthusiasm for wilderness and how we convey the critical importance of environmental stewardship.

Have you served on other boards before? Why?

Ying: I’ve always deeply cared about the environment as what and who we’re really accountable to, so more than 20 years ago I served on the board of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility. About ten years ago I lived at and was on the board of Jikoji Zen Center in California, which holds contemplative retreats. A deep connection to nature and to spiritual traditions for me are one and the same.

Meredith: This is the fourth board of have served on, and I’ve both enjoyed and learned a lot from board service. It is very rewarding to collaborate with community leaders to support and advance organizations we care about!

Burr: I served locally on the Historic Fairhaven Association board of directors, and currently serve on the Whatcom County Conservation Easement Program committee. I chair the Government Relations committee and recently served as the VP of Government Relations for the American Cultural Resources Association, the national trade organization of cultural resource professionals. Prior to moving to Washington, I served as Chair of the Historic Preservation Committee and also participated as a board member of the regional Chamber of Commerce in Fairbanks, Alaska. I grew up with parents active in founding and directing preservation non-profits in Colorado – service, fundraising, and non-profit governance is in my blood. My values and interests related to historic preservation, economic growth, political and social advocacy, and land conservation run though each of these organizations and in many ways culminate in the mission and vision of the Institute.

North Cascades Institute’s mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Why are you passionate about this work?

Ying: I believe that realizing our innate connection to nature is the most important work now, and not just for some of the people, not just for some of the time. This mindset shift needs to happen, especially for kids. When we feel connected to the land, from which we’re not separate, stewarding the environment and each other is as natural as taking care of our own body. So much needs to and will transform.

Meredith: When I was a teenager, a backcountry learning experience in the North Cascades transformed my life and helped me become the environmentalist I am today. If we are going to succeed in protecting the planet, we need to understand our interdependence with the natural world. I love that NCI gives both young people and adults the chance to experience and connect with wild places.

Burr: I’ve benefited in my life directly from transformative experiences in wilderness and outdoor settings. We live in a world that appears increasingly divisive and fast-paced and misplaced (if not even destructive) in terms of our relationship with the environment and our collective sense of place. These trends challenge our connection to land, place, and each other. They undermine our capacity to be resilient and respectful citizens and can be harmful to our environment. I feel getting outside and learning the intimate details of the natural and cultural landscapes we inhabit—i.e., actively engaging in our surrounding environment—is a crucial in the long-term conservation of our planet and mental health.