Ellie Spray

Ellie Spray becomes latest HRI Trustee

By Jared Eudell

Like a fish through water, Ellie Spray of Englewood, NJ has streamlined her assimilation onto the Board of Trustees of Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. Her wealth of scientific knowledge, her management expertise and her incomparable pleasant disposition make her a welcome addition to the HRI family.

Among other abilities, Ellie brings a scientific background to the repertoire of the Board. Her early academic interests took her into the microscopic world of single-celled marine ciliates called tintinnids, which are a major component of plankton in almost every sea of the world. She completed her undergraduate requirements in Biology and Marine Biology at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ.

After college, Ellie performed extensive field work on tintinnid populations at the Osborn Laboratories of Marine Sciences at the New York Aquarium and at the esteemed Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She completed her masters in Biology from New York University with a concentration in aquatic biology.

This tintinnid shell casing is less than 30 mm (thinner than human hair)
www.acnatsci.org/research/anserc/microzooplankton.html and www.liv.ac.uk/ciliate/glossary.htm

Through her work in microscopy and as a result of a reduction in research funding to the marine sciences, Ellie entered the field of medical research. However, the birth of her daughter, Amanda, now 17 years old, and her distaste for the toxic substances used in her profession encouraged her to undergo a career shift. She opened a gourmet catering business in Englewood, which continued for nine years until 2000. That year, Ellie signed on with Whole Foods Markets, the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods where her task was to develop a catering department in the Edgewater store. Ellie did so, successfully.

Occasionally a Whole Foods store sponsors a Five Percent Day where 5% of the store’s profits for the day are donated to a charity. (In 2001, HRI was the recipient of a 5% Day when the Ridgewood store opened.) At such a day in 2000, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, was speaking to school children about the Hudson River, Ellie met Beth Ravit, a fellow businesswoman-scientist and long time associate of Captain Bill and Hackensack Riverkeeper. Ellie, who already possessed a strong interest and keen awareness of water pollution control, soon joined the HRI Fundraising Committee and provided her catering service at each of the HRI annual Friends of the Hackensack River events.

At the end of 2002, Ellie was officially asked to join the Board of Trustees. “Ellie has remarkable talents,” says Captain Bill. “Her retail management experience fills a void in the organization and helps to diversify the Board.”

Ellie retains her interest in the aquatic realm. She enjoys boating and going to the beach, and visits with her family on St. Simon’s Island, GA which provides time to explore the intertidal and oceanic eco-systems which “are great places loaded with marine life and waterbirds.”

From research of single-celled organisms, to organically grown food, Ellie has never lost sight of the necessity for conservation. “I’m honored to join a Board of such dedicated, hard-working people,” she says. “HRI is a grass-roots organization that really makes a difference by creating ecological awareness and sustainability in northern NJ.” We look forward to working with Ellie toward the protection of our watershed and all of its living resources.