Santa Monica student Zoe Parcells has been selected to join the Roots & Shoots National Youth Leadership council for 2015.
Roots & Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute's global environmental and humanitarian youth program and Parcells was one of 36 individuals named to the leadership group.
She is a sophomore at Santa Monica High School, where she is a member of the club Team Marine. Team Marine works toward a greener planet through research, action and outreach. They're currently working on a study that identifies cigarette pollution hotspots in Santa Monica. Team Marine hopes to use this information to convince the city to better manage cigarette pollution. Parcells is also a Girl Scout, and through her Gold Award project is working to reduce single-use plastic straw pollution.
Throughout the year ahead, she and the members of the Council will participate in comprehensive skills trainings with Roots & Shoots staff and field experts and they will represent the Jane Goodall Institute as youth mentors and experts locally and abroad.
The new group of Council members joins dozens of other Roots & Shoots leaders who have been a part of the Council since its inception in 2003. For more than a decade, the Roots & Shoots youth leadership program has provided Council members with amazing opportunities that have paved their way toward incredible university academic experiences and success careers as change-makers and community leaders.
Founded in 1991 by Dr. Jane Goodall and a group of Tanzanian students, the Roots & Shoots program is about making positive change happen-for communities, for animals and for the environment. With tens of thousands of young people in more than 120 countries, the Roots & Shoots network connects youth of all ages who share a desire to create a better world. Young people identify problems in their communities and take action. Through service projects, youth-led campaigns and an interactive website.
For more information, visit www.rootsandshoots.org or www.janegoodall.org.
