Joan Parker
Joan Parker is a trained horticulturist and a certified master gardener through the Massachusetts Master
Gardeners Association. She sits on the Medford Community Garden Commission and is also a member
of the Medford Tree Advocacy Group. Joan has worked hard to establish raised bed gardens at the
Community Cupboard Food Pantry (located at the Medford Unitarian Universalist Church), at the Grace
Episcopal Church, and also at the Winthrop Street Community Garden. While there are a number of
volunteers who support this effort and deserve credit, Joan has been a driving force and leader who
volunteers countless hours to this important effort to provide fresh organic produce to the citizens of
Medford.
Ken Krause
Ken Krause is dedicated to a healthier Mystic River ecosystem through efforts with the Friends of the
Mystic River, a Medford-based community group, as well as the Mystic River Watershed Association.
Beyond the river, Ken is also highly involved with the local MBTA Green Line extension advocacy group,
Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance, is a bicycle advocate and serves on the Communications
Committee of Walk Boston. In 2015 and 2016, Ken chaired Mayor Burke’s Cultural Affairs and
Recreation subcommittee, which identified ways in which the city administration can highlight
Medford’s diversity, growing cultural and arts community and opportunities for year-round recreational
activities. In summary, Ken represents the gold standard for community involvement in areas of
environmental advocacy.
Nick Dorian
Earlier this year, Nick Dorian, a gardener at the Tufts Park Community Garden and Biology PhD student
at Tufts University, researched, planned, and coordinated construction of a pollinator habitat garden at
the Tufts Park Community Garden. This pollinator garden project added approximately 130 square feet
of native floral resources specially chosen to have something in bloom throughout the flight season of
bees. This new habitat will feed and house many bee species, including the endangered rusty-patched
bumble bee and over 100 species of butterflies that exist in the Northeast. Once established, this
garden, which is the first on Medford city property, will also be self-sustaining as the native plant
materials used are well adapted to the local climate. This project is innovative, educational, and a
cooperative effort with other garden plot holders.
Sarah Cummer
Sarah Cummer is the head of the Medford Garden Club. Under Sarah’s leadership, the Garden Club
hosts monthly meetings with interesting expert speakers and also produces a monthly newsletter.
Under Sarah’s leadership, the Garden Club has purchased gardening books and subscriptions for the
Medford library and has made contributions in support of Medford’s community gardens as well as
gardening projects at the Columbus and the Brooks schools and at the Medford Historical Society. Since
2003, Sarah has been a volunteer at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, as Treasurer
of the Iris Society of Massachusetts, as Secretary of Region 1 of the American Iris Society, and as a
national garden/exhibition judge of the American Iris Society.
Warren Senders
As noted in an April 20, 2018 article in the “Wicked Local Medford” news, in ”rain or snow, subzero
temperatures or blistering heat, Warren Senders stands along Roosevelt Circle in North Medford every
weekday morning holding signs.” His brave goal is to remind people that climate change is taking place
and impacting us and the planet right now. Warren is a professional Indian classical singer and teacher,
and sees his professional work as a musician as intimately connected to his environmental activism.
Simply put, if people do not survive climate change, then music won’t survive, either. The “Wicked Local
Medford” article noted that some drivers hurl comments or insults at Warren almost every day, but
most of the responses he gets are positive. In addition to holding signs at Roosevelt Circle, Warren
organizes benefit concerts twice a year to raise money for climate organizations.
Wegmans
In less than 1 year after opening its store in Medford, Wegmans has demonstrated a commitment to
environmental responsibility and support to the city. Wegmans is unique as a business in Medford that
helps to draw attention to and improve access to and enjoyment of the Mystic River. Even before
opening, Wegmans contributed $23,000 to the Clippership Connector trail project. Wegmans also
engaged the Mystic River Watershed Association and other community partners such as the Bicycle
Commission to create and distribute the “Hit the Trail Passport” book, which is a guide to 15 trails in the
Mystic River watershed. Wegmans has also supported watershed cleanup activities, the Medford High
School Environmental Club, this festival, and the Medford Community Gardens. In other environmental
activities, Wegmans composted nearly 200 tons of food scraps and recycled 6 tons of plastic bags during
the first 6 months of this year.
Lauren Laskey
Lauren Laskey is an Environmental Scientist who works for the Massachusetts Port Authority. She has a
Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from UMass Boston and a Bachelor of Science
degree from the University of New Hampshire in biology. Her research work has involved stress
physiology of critically endangered sea turtles at the New England Aquarium and coastal processes and
human response to shoreline change, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Lauren
was appointed by Mayor Burke as a member of Medford’s Energy and Environment Committee in March
2017 and has been an active member of the committee before departing due to a change in residence
outside Medford.