Bios for the 2026 Alabama Excom
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Emily Northrop
Based on her volunteer work Emily is confident in her abilities to collaborate, lead, persevere and work creativity. She also remains hopeful. Her advocacy has focused on climate change. Active with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby since 2015 Emily lobbies both on Capitol Hill and virtually and commonly serves as lobby team lead. She is the CCL liaison to Congressional offices, makes public presentations, tables, and has published op-eds and letters to editors. Encouraged by this year’s Sierra Club sponsorship of the “Sun Day” campaign to promote solar energy, she envisioned and developed the “Sun Day Bham!” event. It included obtaining a Birmingham City Council resolution that declared September 21 be “Sun Day,” and the launch of an on-going initiative to urge the Public Service Commission to incentivize solar in Alabama. While protesting the hyperscale data center in Bessemer, she argued for legislation requiring all such data centers to match 100 percent of their electricity consumption with renewable energy and incentivizing them to conserve water. Emily is Climate Reality trained, a volunteer with GASP (Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution) and has lobbied in Montgomery with the Alabama Rivers Alliance. Over the years she backpacked in the West, including the Grand Canyon, and enjoyed two Austin Group outings in Colorado. This summer she tented in the White Mountains. Emily cherishes jogging around Birmingham’s East Lake, and is also drawn to tap classes, creating stained glass panels, books and Scrabble.
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Ginny Brown
While not holding a leadership role in Sierra Club, Ginny has held numerous leadership roles in environmental organizations—local and national—and engaged in civic and political advocacy around environmental and social justice issues. She participated with Conservation and Sustainability Study Groups to Kenya and Tanzania, Africa, and an Energy Study Group to Chernobyl, Kiev, Ukraine. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE), DC, engaged her with national organizations, universities, and indigenous peoples. Ginny sites Alabama’s low regulation and enforcement policy as the greatest threat to air, soil, water quality/quantity, which is compounded by the lack of strategies to adapt and develop resiliency to the impacts of climate change. Ginny believes this can best be addressed by science-based decision-making, awareness and advocacy and she states that climate change is the greatest crisis facing the world.
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Ida Gleaton
Ida joined the Sierra Club in 2009 and is currently on the Alabama Chapter ExCom, volunteering as Secretary and is chairing the Fund-Raising and Finance Committees. She is also an active member and treasurer of the West Alabama Group. Ida is a member and treasurer of the Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners and past treasurer of the Blanche Dean Chapter of the Alabama Wildflower Society. Ida is an enthusiastic environmentalist, camper, and hiker and has focused on issues including water quality, recently volunteering to participate in the Chapter sampling of local rivers and streams for PFAS. She is especially concerned about the lack of a water plan for the State of Alabama. She fears future impacts from climate change in Alabama, and the effects on all living beings, with loss of habitat for native plants and animals and wants to work to find ways in our state to make renewable energy the norm. Ida feels that there is much we need to do to help “explore, enjoy, and protect” our environment, but regrets that we have to ‘fight’ to preserve this good earth of ours for future generations. She feels that everyone should want this, but unfortunately, it is not so. Obtaining a bachelor in mathematics at the University of Montevallo, Ida is a retired bookkeeper and has been dedicated to accomplishing that which is essential to the functioning of the Chapter and welcomes the opportunity to continue as an elected member of the Sierra Club Alabama Chapter ExCom.
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Karen Allan-Thomas
Karen currently serves on the Alabama Chapter Executive Committee and is a member of the North Alabama Group. After Karen completed a master’s degree in Public Health from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in 2005, she worked in Atlanta for the Sierra Club to help build public interest and support for the Atlanta Beltline, utilizing her research on the built environment and health, specifically the health benefits of nature contact. The Beltline is now a leading transportation and economic development effort in the region that offers many public health and environmental benefits. In 2008, Karen moved home to Decatur, AL to join her family business and loves being back home in North Alabama. Her community/environmental service includes years as President of the Board of Tennessee Riverkeeper, member of the Historic Decatur Association and currently is serving with The Princess Theatre and HudsonAlpha Foundation. She is a second-year novice in the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis and enjoys activism through creation care. She will also complete the Metagem Institute’s Spiritual Director certification program in Feb 2026 and looks forward to using time in nature in her practice. Days spent on- trail with others are treasured—how nature will wash over a group is a gift. Karen enjoys meaningful conversations, cooking, collaboration, time with family and friends, reading, travel and hiking and would be honored to continue serving the Chapter membership, bringing her expertise and experience as an active, engaged member of the Chapter ExCom.
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Michael William Mullen
Michael is founder of Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper, Inc. and has served as its Executive Director since 2004. He became involved with the Sierra Club while living in Huntsville through the club outings program and joined the Sierra Club in 1983 during the Reagan/Watt era. He later became a Life Member. While with the North Alabama Group, he served as both Group Conservation Chair and Group Chair. Michael led so many outings in the Sipsey Wilderness that some called him the “Sipsey Kid” and he was also involved in the Sipsey Wilderness Expansion effort. After moving to Troy in1986 and for years afterward, Michael was very active in the Sierra Club and attended meetings in Montgomery and also annual meetings. In the 1990’s, he and colleagues at Troy University formed the South East Alabama/Wiregrass Sierra Club Group, but that effort was not sustainable. Later, he served on the Chapter ExCom as Conservation Chair and was involved in fighting the Chemical Waste Management plan to incinerate chemical waste at sea and traveled to hearings in Mobile and in Maryland. He served for a time with Doris Cellarius and others on the Sierra Club national toxic and hazardous waste committees. Michael’s involvement in environmental issues includes water quality monitoring, monitor training and serving on the Alabama Water Watch Board. He is Chairman of the Environmental Defense Alliance Board. He has been active with the Alabama Scenic River Trail (ASRT) and is currently a member of the ASRT Board.
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Kyle G.Crider
Based in Birmingham, Kyle is a passionate, decades-long environmentalist. In early 2025, Kyle helped restart the Sierra Club Alabama Chapter Cahaba Group, having co-led Inner City Outings in the Birmingham area in past years. His professional experience spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors. His environmental leadership roles have been with such organizations as Alabama Environmental Council (formerly The Alabama Conservancy) and the Alabama Rivers Alliance. Kyle is currently the Policy Director with Alabama Interfaith Power & Light/The People's Justice Council (PJC), is in charge of such initiatives as From Resilience to Restoration (funded by the National Academies.) and created PJC's new "Minus AI" campaign. Kyle holds holds a bachelor's in environmental studies and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree with a double emphasis in urban planning & policy analysis. Professional accreditations include Microsoft Certified Professional Solution Developer (MCSD), GIS Technician II, Green Classroom Professional, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, Neighborhood Development (LEED AP ND), and Just Communities AP. As an energy and environmental justice expert, Kyle believes that the root cause of many environmental and social problems is unrestrained capitalism, corporate personhood and greed. As an educator, he believes a lack of critical thinking skills has created the current degeneration of democracy. An interfaith organizer, Kyle strives to learn, create, teach, and empower through art, science, stewardship, and justice and would be honored to bring his experience, his love for Alabama's biodiversity and his dedication/work ethic to the Alabama Chapter Executive Committee.
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Lucina Horner Cosby
Born in New York City of immigrant parents from Mexico and Canada, Lucina was raised in Harlem and has been a Sierra Club member since 2009. She currently resides in Birmingham and serves on the Chapter ExCom, having also served for two years over a decade ago. Until spring 2025, Lucina was the treasurer for ten years for the Cahaba Group, maintaining the checkbook, sending in yearly group reports and ensuring the group status during the COVID pandemic. Lucina has spent the last 35 summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she served as Outings Chair of the Teton Group and completed the Red Cross First Aid/CPR Instructor Training. She has trained at least 50 members to be Sierra Club Outings leaders and has continued to lead frequent outings while continuing to be a monthly donor to the Sierra Club. Lucina has been a full-time professional orchestral musician for 40 years, learning violin in the New York City Public Schools, attended The LaGuardia High School for Music and the Arts and The Juilliard School in Lincoln Center, receiving her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance. She has played with the Phoenix Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Alabama Symphony and the Grand Teton Music Festival. She chooses to spend much of her time when she is not performing, to involvement with the Chapter, learning more about environmental threats in Alabama as well as Wyoming. She values serving as a Chapter ExCom member, aspires to deepen her engagement and would appreciate your vote.