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Patricia Burke

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Volunteer
Puerto Rico Chapter

When the Sierra Club Board of Directors meets in Puerto Rico this February, Club members there like Patricia Burke hope that their bid to become the newest chapter will be ratified. A passionate environmentalist, Burke has been a major force behind the nascent chapter’s growth. A resident of San Juan, she also teaches English to German students.

“Patricia’s just amazing,” says Sierra Club staffer Camilla Feibelman, who has worked with Burke to coordinate chapter efforts and a partnerships program. “She’s been a major force in building membership, and it’s incredibly hard to grow an organization from nothing. She stuck to her vision all the way.”

“I’ve always been involved in environmental issues,” Burke admits. “I’ve had the opportunity to live in California and Germany, and in those places you can really see what’s possible. It’s not the same for Puerto Rico yet.”

One local issue that’s close to Burke’s heart centers on the Northeastern Ecological Corridor, which is under threat of serious development. “It’s a rare and ecologically important place,” Burke says, “and it would be an irreplaceable, devastating loss.”

Burke finds ways to bring people together over such causes. She’s manned booths, mailed letters, gone door-to-door, and most recently she helped draw the largest crowd ever at one of their monthly Club meetings.

“Forty people came,” Burke recalls with amazement. “Students, adults, Boy Scouts. One woman drove three hours one-way!”

Such are the tangible results of Burke’s energy and mission. “Everyone is an environmentalist at heart,” she says. “That’s something I first learned from the Sierra Club.”

Published: November 5, 2007