Mary Anne Hitt is the executive director of Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit organization that brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. The organization works with communities across Appalachia to tackle two major causes of climate change: mountaintop removal coal mining and the construction of new coal-fired power plants. Their online campaign iLoveMountains.org uses Google Earth to lift the cloak of secrecy that has allowed coal companies to flatten almost 1 million acres, destroy 474 mountains, and bury over 1,000 miles of streams, devastating local communities in one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Mary Anne is currently a fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Her previous experience includes working as executive director of both The Ecology Center and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. She was a recipient of the Len and Sandy Sargent Environmental Advocacy Award at the University of Montana, where she received her Master's of Science in environmental studies, and was a Whittle Scholar at the University of Tennessee and founder of the campus organization Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville. She grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee, just outside Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Topics covered

• Climate Change
• Mountain Top Removal and Coal-fired Fuel Plants in the Appalachian Mountains