“Shades of Green” Environmental Talk Radio on KOOP 91.7 FM (National Plug-In Day & National Public Lands Day)

Please join the Shades of Green crew as we talk about national celebrations in promoting electric vehicles and protecting our public lands.

Our special guests will be:

Parc Smith, CEO of American Youthworks. Parc started with American YouthWorks in 1995 as a teacher and crew leader for the Environmental Corps and later filled roles as a program coordinator and most recently as Director of Environmental Corps and part of the Senior Management Team for the entire organization. With over 17 years experience in trail design and construction, parks, and conservation work,  Parc was awarded State Trail Worker of the Year in 2004 at the American Trails National Trails Symposium and Trail Designer and Project Director for 2009 National Recreation Trails Coalition award winning “Southwest Keys Trail” for Accessibility Enhancement Project of the Year. Parc leads workshops and speaks at national conferences on national service and youth conservation corps involvement in land management, trail building and project-based outdoor education as a model for transforming lives of at-risk youth to youth “at-promise.” He serves on the Department of Interior 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Advisory Committee, Texas Recreation Trails Grant Review Committee and several regional advisory boards. He grew up in Stephenville, Texas, graduated from Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas and has called Austin home since 1995.

Chris Sheffield, Director of Texas Conservation Corps: Texas Conservation Corps is an AmeriCorps service program of American YouthWorks, a nationally recognized, award winning nonprofit and charter high school headquartered in Austin, Texas.  Each year the program engages over 100 youth and college-aged young adults  in critical, hands-on conservation and disaster service projects, giving participants the skills and opportunities to solve real life community and environmental problems. Historic bridge building in Texas, habitat restoration in New Mexico, trail building in Oklahoma, hazard tree felling in Arkansas, or volunteer management in Louisiana- these are just a few of the projects we do each week. Texas Conservation Corps (TxCC) is not only recognized as a powerful regional environmental resource, but also for its young adults who leave the program educated and poised to become the next leaders in their communities.

Aaron Choate is a cofounder and the Managing Director of REVOLT Electric Vehicles (revoltev.com).  He has been involved in advocating for and building electric vehicles since the 1990s and is a co-founder of the Austin Area Electric Vehicle Association (AustinEV.org). AustinEV is devoted to supporting the local electric vehicle community and provides a forum where people can share information about building and maintaining electric vehicles.  Aaron also moderates the EVTradinPost (evtradinpost.com) which serves as a marketplace for people wanting to trade or sell electric vehicle related goods and services.

You can follow Shades of Green on Facebook and find podcasts of previous shows on our website.