Russian Riverkeeper is pleased to announce Carol Shumate as Clean Team director, where she will continue to oversee clean camp outreach to the unsheltered and will coordinate regular cleanup events including the annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup on September 17.
“The Clean Team is starting 2022 strong with Carol at the helm! Over the last 6 years, she’s done a tremendous job tackling trash as a member of the team,” said Don McEnhill, executive director. “Since Chris Brotake retired, Carol has done an excellent job managing the program and staff and earned the promotion to director.”
Carol, affectionately called “trash barrel Carol,” jumped in as interim director for the last 6 months, ensuring that more than 355,000 pounds of trash were removed from the river ecosystem last year.
“I’m proud that we cleaned up as much trash as a blue whale last year, despite the pandemic making it harder for volunteers to safely get involved. We’re hopeful that the outlook is brighter for 2022 so we can get folks together to protect our river,” said Carol Shumate, Clean Team director.
Carol started cleaning up trash as a volunteer in 2015 before joining as the clean camp coordinator in 2018. She was born and raised in LA County, where she earned a marketing degree at Long Beach State. Working as a graphics manager made her miserable, so she switched to working landscaping projects where she could be outdoors. She moved to Monte Rio in 2003 after realizing she could live in a place surrounded by nature, rather than just vacationing in it. Outside of work, you might see her around town playing bass with her jazz and swing band. You can reach Carol at carol@russianriverkeeper.org.
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