Writer, researcher, environmental activist and author of the book Green Washed: Why We Can't Buy Our Way to a Green Planet (Ig Publishing, 2012), Kendra Pierre-Louis, was born and raised in Queens, New York. Queens is not only New York City's (and the country's) most ethnically diverse though often least appreciated borough, it also teems with biological diversity. In fact, she credits her environmentalism - at least in part - to the cicadas she heard outside her bedroom window as a child and whose molted shell remains were the stuff that haunted her nightmares. Kendra firmly believes that everyone should be fortunate enough to be both awed and terrified by nature on a semi-regular basis.Kendra received her B.A. in Economics from Cornell University and her M. A. in Sustainable Development from the SIT Graduate Institute. She has worked for the United Nations Environment Programme's Convention on Biological Diversity, the consulting and strategic planning firm Terrapin Bright Green, the New York Botanical Gardens, and the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. She has served as a Sustainable Development editor for the social media platform Justmeans.com, and her idea "Restoring Brownfields through Phytoremediation" was a semi-finalist in the Ideas for Impact Challenge. Kendra's proudest, however, of the Master Composter Certificate she earned through the Queens Botanical Garden. She will happily swing by your home to show you how composting is done.