PopUP Forests create immersive, nature-based experiences that amplify grassroots efforts for biodiversity conservation. In 2020, we are activating 10,000 people in 20 cities around the world, including Birmingham UK, Cape Town SA, Chicago USA, Dublin IRE, Jakarta IND, New York USA, and Nairobi KEY.

Won’t you join us?

Mariellé Anzelone is an urban ecologist focusing on people's connections to nature and how design, education, and government can nurture this relationship.

After her tenure as Plant Ecologist for NYC Parks, she continued to engage urbanites with the wildness of the Big Apple by founding NYC Wildflower Week in 2007 and contributing to The New York Times and WNYC.

Marielle received an M.S. in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University. She has lived among the plants of the New Jersey-New York metro area nearly all of her life.

Jennie Vercouteren is a green entrepreneur who founded Green Spaces in NYC and Denver, CO in 2008. For ten years, she ran Green Spaces, successfully leading a expansion that doubled the size of the space from 125 active members to 250 members and also doubled the revenue and profitability of the company in 2015. She led the company through the successful sale in 2018 to strategic partners.

Prior to Green Spaces, Jennie worked at Merrill Lynch in NYC as a Senior Investment Specialist. She received her MBA in entrepreneurship from The University of St. Thomas and her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jennie also took graduate coursework at Harvard University focused on Environmental Studies.

Abigail Smith is a Copywriter and Marketing/SEO Specialist having previously worked with BMW, Dozeology, and several independent automotive businesses. She utilized her role with BMW to engage with local communities to create awareness and partnerships between different local organizations. 

Outside of her work life, Abigail has spent much of her free time working with organizations to clean up local parks and beaches. She is thrilled to be bringing her marketing skills and passion for the environment to PopUp Forest. 

Tsz Lok Leung is an environmental graphic designer dedicated to elevating graphic standards for nonprofit organizations. 

She designed The Oceanic Standard, a set of industry specific guides for adopting sustainable operating practices. Oceanic’s guide has been distributed in 30 major cities around the world and provided more than 300 businesses with the tools to implement responsible consumption. 

Before her current profession as a graphic designer, Tsz worked with the Water Resources Program at Rutgers NJAES to design and build rain gardens for communities in New Jersey.