they can do to better their communities. Several youth have expressed interest in pursuing careers in conservation, marine biology and environmental justice, fighting the environmental inequality that communities of color often face.”Parker is currently a speaker with the Diverse Environmental Leaders Speakers Bureau and serves on the board of the Chesapeake Conservancy, the National Wildlife Refuge Association Board of Directors Advisory Council, Marstel-Day's Advisory Council, and Brown Advisory's Board of Directors on the Sustainable Investing Advisory Board. She also serves or has served on the boards of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Retirees Association, Student Conservation Association, The Virginia Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University School of the Environment Visitors Board, the Potomac Conservancy, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife. She was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Awards and honors Inducted into University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Hall of Fame Named the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Simon Haley Distinguished Lecturer The Council of Women World Leaders awarded her with an Aspen Institute Fellowship where she worked in the Kingdom of Lesotho and in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. Department of Interior’s Silver Award, presented by the Secretary of the USFWS Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. USFWS Advanced Leadership Development Program - Ira Gabrielson Leadership Award for outstanding leader of the year Presidential Rank Meritorious Service Award Appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries 1999: Appointed USFWS Northeast Regional Director 2002: Good Housekeeping Magazine Women in Government Leadership Award 2003: Appointed USFWS Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation 2005: Inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame 2015: Champion of the Chesapeake from Chesapeake Conservancy 2016: Emmeline Moore Prize from the American Fisheries Society for "exemplary service to the cause of equal opportunity of access to higher education in fisheries and/or professional development in any of the disciplines of fisheries science or management" 2018: William K. Reilly Environmental Leadership Award from American University School of Public Affairs’ Center for Environmental Policy 2020: Recipient of The 2020 John L. Morris Award by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies References External links Black and Brown Faces in America's Wild Places. Dudley Edmondson. 2006. United States: Adventure Publications. The Future of Fisheries: Perspectives for Emerging Professionals. 2014. William W. Taylor,