The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Find out more about women who pioneered conservation in America. Not only did they shape today's environmental movement, but they serve as important role models for today's youth -- especially those following in their footsteps as part of The Nature Conservancy's Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future (LEAF) program, such as Samantha Hoffman.

1. Which best describes Wangari Maathai?

   Kenyan Environmentalist and Political Activist

   Kenyan Environmentalist and Political Activist | Incorrect

   Founder of the Green Belt Movement

   Founder of the Green Belt Movement | Incorrect

   First African American Woman to Win the Nobel Peace Prize

   First African American Woman to Win the Nobel Peace Prize | Incorrect

   All of the Above

   All of the Above | Correct

   In the 1970s, she founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation and women's rights. In 2004, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Maathai died in 2011 from complications of ovarian cancer.

2. In what year did Jane Goodall begin her 45 year study of wild chimpanzees?

   1960

   1960 | Correct

   The British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist and UN Messenger of Peace began her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues.

   1965

   1965 | Incorrect

   1970

   1970 | Incorrect

   1972

   1972 | Incorrect

3. True or False: Starting in the 1980s, policy makers and governments became more mindful of the connection between the environment and gender issues.

   True

   True | Correct

   Changes began to be made regarding natural resource and environmental management with the specific role of women in mind. According to the World Bank in 1991, "Women play an essential role in the management of natural resources, including soil, water, forests and energy...and often have a profound traditional and contemporary knowledge of the natural world around them.”

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

4. Who served as the first female chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?

   Michelle Obama

   Michelle Obama | Incorrect

   Nancy Reagan

   Nancy Reagan | Incorrect

   Peggy Shepard

   Peggy Shepard | Correct

   From 2001 to 2003, Shepard served as the first female chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and is co-chair of the Northeast Environmental Justice Network. She is the executive director and co-founder of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Founded in 1988, WE ACT was New York’s first environmental justice organization created to improve environmental health and quality of life in communities of color.

   | Incorrect

5. True or False: Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first woman governor.

   True

   True | Correct

   Wyoming elected her in 1925; a scant five years after women got the right to vote.

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

6. True or False: The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits any U. S. citizen to be denied the right to vote based on race.

   True

   True | Incorrect

   False

   False | Correct

   The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits any U.S. citizen to be denied the right to vote based on gender. It was passed in 1920 and was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, fought at both the state and national levels to achieve the vote. It effectively overruled Minor v. Happersett, in which a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not apply to women or give them a right to vote.

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

7. True or False: Sally Jewel was recently nominated by President Obama to lead the Department of Interior.

   True

   True | Correct

   She is currently the CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc (REI) and was nominated on February 6, 2013 by President Obama. If confirmed, President Obama expects her to balance the agency’s sometimes conflicting mandates to promote resource development and preserve the nation’s natural heritage.

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

8. Which best describes Dr. Dorothy I. Height?

   Civil Rights and Women's Rights Icon

   Civil Rights and Women's Rights Icon | Incorrect

   Counselor to World Leaders

   Counselor to World Leaders | Incorrect

   Someone who believed that environmental equality and justice are natural extensions of the civil rights movement.

   Someone who believed that environmental equality and justice are natural extensions of the civil rights movement. | Incorrect

   All of the Above

   All of the Above | Correct

   Dr. Height was a civil rights icon, a counselor to presidents and other world leaders, and a field marshal in the struggle for equality. Dr. Height believed environmental imperatives are tied to social justice and civil rights issues. For example, low-income and minority communities face disproportionate burdens with chronic illnesses. But this may also correlate to living in neighborhoods where the air and water are polluted.

9. True or False: In natural disasters, women suffer death, disease and hunger at higher rates than men.

   True

   True | Correct

   During the devastating 2004 tsunami in Asia, 70 to 80 percent of the dead were women. Gender discrimination, cultural bias and lack of awareness of women’s needs are part of the problem.

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

10. True or False: Climate change affects both genders equally.

    True

    True | Incorrect

    False

    False | Correct

    Women are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. With changes in climate, traditional sources become more unpredictable and scarce. Women produce 60 to 80 percent of the food for household consumption in developing countries.

    | Incorrect

    | Incorrect