Jan Wilson

After growing up close to nature in rural Michigan, Jan Wilson earned a computer degree in Ann Arbor and took a defense industry job in San Diego. "It was such a different lifestyle: high prices and no work ethic, " says Wilson, who returned to Michigan after a year to seek a new career more in line with her values. "I started law school at Wayne State when my daughter Nora was two months old," she says. "I wanted to do environmental law." Since e-law in Michigan means pollution cleanup, Wilson moved to Eugene after graduation in '96, so that she could work to minimize future eco-damage. She started as a volunteer with the Oregon Natural Resources Council, lead plaintiff in many key forestry cases. "I've been on the board for eight years now," she says. "I love it. ONRC has a long history of effective advocacy." Wilson left her job at a law firm last year to become staff attorney for the Goal One Coalition (www.goal1.org). "Our role is to help citizens get involved in local land-use decisions," she says. "When they do, they see how it ties in to global issues."

happening people photograph and story by Paul Neevel Eugene Weekly / 12 October 2006