By Lauren Myers, The Allegheny Front

Maren Cooke sits on her back porch on one of the rare cool mornings in Pittsburgh this summer. 

“I tend to be interested in everything and so I try to help wherever I can,” she says. 

Cooke, 62, organizes a monthly environmental education event she’s coined “Sustainability Salons.” In July, she celebrated her 150th.

A planetary scientist by training, Cooke is now a volunteer, educator, and activist. She serves on the board of Group Against Smog and Pollution, and steering committees of 350 Pittsburgh, Pittsburghers Against Single-Use Plastic, ReImagine Food Systems, Pittsburgh Green New Deal and the Climate Action Plan Justice Coalition. She also contributes to a number of other organizations. Cooke also volunteers as an Urban Ecosteward, a Tree Tender and a Master Gardener and is pursuing a Master Naturalist certification.

She’s pulled out a pair of cushions (they’re from a garage sale, she says) to rest against the porch’s bench constructed from locally milled black locust wood. Her dog, Peaches, climbs onto her lap, and she strokes the dog’s fur absentmindedly. 

Cooke has always been passionate about the environment.

For more, visit https://www.alleghenyfront.org/pittsburgh-environmental-activist-maren-cooke-sustainability-salons/