The Youth Climate Institute is a program of the Howard County Conservancy. YCI began in 2021 in response to students’ requests to stay engaged with environmental education and climate action during the pandemic. The positive response continued to grow, with so many interested students that growing new chapters was the only way to serve the burgeoning interest among students.

Our Team

Staff

Ann Strozyk

Director of Outreach

Gabby Rose

Development and Marketing Manager

Kirsten Barbera

YCI Program Manager

Vanessa Holloway

Climate and Environmental Educator

LEE DERBY

Howard County Conservancy Assistant Director

Climate change is such a pressing and even overwhelming problem that it becomes so easy to simply give up. For me, the Howard County Conservancy’s Youth Climate Institute is a reassurance that people all over the world and in my community are making an effort to stop climate change, as well as creating an avenue to actually participate in that effort. It means the world to me that our lives and our futures aren’t being overlooked or ignored.

Michael Richmond, Glenelg High School

The Youth Climate Institute has been an amazing experience. I enjoyed learning about climate change and directly having an impact on my community. Collaborating with mentors and making positive changes in my community showed me what I can do.

Serena Goyal, River Hill High School

Advisory Council

The YCI Advisory Council is group of professionals, field experts, youth activists, and YCI Alumni, whose experience and expertise helps support YCI programming and future growth.

Thank you to the 2026-2027 Advisory Council Members!

Sam m.

Wilde Lake High School, Climate Ambassador

Hannah R.

The Laurel School, Climate Ambassador

Joy Reeves

The Rachel Carson Council, Director of Policy and Strategic Planning

Misty Hertzig

Huntsville Botanical Garden, Learning Programs Manager

Scott Simmons

Climate Reality Project, Colorado Chapter Co-leader

Samantha L. Strachan

Alabama A&M University, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Secondary Education

Yuvan Adarsh Jagannathan

University of Maryland, YCI Alumni

Jeff Gavin

Gavin Training & Development, Consultant, Training & Development

Tiffany Berry

Howard University, YCI Alumni

Jaelyn Evans

Representative Sarah Elfreth Legislative Assistant

Andy Olek

Olek Law Benefit LLC, Lawyer

Bill Hazy

Kent Island High School Teacher and YCI Chapter Leader

The Youth Leadership Council

Students have the opportunity to participate in the Youth Leadership Council. The council empowers students to shape the direction of YCI and provide valuable feedback to enhance its impact and influence key program decisions in alignment with YCI’s goals.

The council also fosters collaboration, leadership, and networking skills among members from different chapters, allowing them to link different action projects, share resources, and work together on climate action.

Thank you to our 2025-2026 Youth Leadership Council members!

Shriya S. Marriott’s Ridge High School

Lina F. Urbana High School

Sam M. Wilde Lake High School

Jada R. Academy of Health Sciences

Langston S. Walter Johnson High School

Marcus Y. Marriott’s Ridge High School

Hannah R. Laurel School

Annabelle B. Gunston School

Program of the Howard County Conservancy

The Howard County Conservancy is a 501(c)3 organization that celebrated 30 years of mission-focused service to our community in 2020. Our mission is to educate children and adults about our natural world, preserve the land and its legacy for future generations and model responsible stewardship of our environment.

Through our education, stewardship and conservation programs we serve 41,000 people each year. Our 232-acre home base in Woodstock, MD, is open dawn to dusk daily for the community to enjoy our 5 miles of trails, community and pollinator gardens and historic farmstead buildings.  We also operate a nature preschool in Elkridge, MD.