Oona is the Executive Director at the North Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council (Council). She first joined the Council in 2014 as a volunteer Water Conservationist to assist with community drought resiliency efforts and then joined the Council as their staff Water Conservationist in 2015, advancing to Assistant Executive Director in 2018, and appointed Executive Director January 1, 2019.  

Ms. Heacock holds a B.S. Degree in Geology and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Sonoma State University. She is an active board member of the National Association of RC&D Councils and a member of the 350 Sonoma Zero Waste Committee.  She has also been an active volunteer at Sun Ridge School in Sebastopol and was a founding member of the school’s Parent Education and Diversity Committees.   

As a conservationist by practice and geologist by trade she has felt fortunate to be involved in work throughout her career which combines her passion to address our most pressing conservation challenges while empowering youth and our communities to foster sustainable and regenerative practices for the future. She has worked with hundreds of youth and community volunteers over the past five years working at the Council and has planted thousands of square feet of new pollinator habitat along our local farms, built many rooftop rainwater collection and storage systems at schools and community gardens, implemented dozens of composting programs at local schools to reduce their food scrap garbage, and assisted with fire and community resiliency efforts since October 2017.

Ms. Heacock grew up along the beautiful foothills of the Mayacamas in Rincon Valley and now lives with her husband and two daughters at a small ranch just outside of Sebastopol.

The North Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council, in partnership with 180 Studios, is providing an opportunity for local youth in South West Santa Rosa to participate in learning about pollinator habitat needs by planting habitat forage “Bee Patch” to be drip irrigated by a rooftop rainwater collection and storage system and nourished with a vermicomposting system. This habitat will turn barren land at the front of the 180 Studios Community Makers Space into a diverse ecosystem.

On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, as well as Club Public Relations-Image Director Jack Strange, submit pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.

Thanks for all the great pictures Warren! Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!

with Michael K. McGovern

International PolioPlus Committee chair

1. There were more cases of wild poliovirus in 2018 than in 2017. Should we be discouraged? 

No, not at all. We’ve always expected the number of cases to fluctuate somewhat as we get closer to zero. We’ve gone four straight years with fewer than 100 cases per year. That’s an indicator of great progress. With dedication from governments and Rotarians in areas still affected by polio, we’ll get there.   

2. Why is it so difficult to eradicate a disease like polio?

Remember that even in the United States, where the polio vaccine was readily available, it still took 20 years to become polio-free. And the areas we are working in now don’t have health systems that are as well-developed as in the United States.

3. What challenges are you seeing now?

We have been working intensely in the endemic countries — Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan — for a number of years, and some of the citizens in those countries are getting concerned that we are spending money on polio eradication when they have so many other needs. There’s some resistance to keep on receiving immunizations for polio, and polio alone. Our challenge is to find ways to provide other services to the citizens and children so we still have the parental support we need — to provide the “plus” in PolioPlus. 

4. What role does armed conflict play in those areas?

It makes the logistics of immunization far more difficult. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative partnership is not only dealing with governments — we’re dealing with anti-government elements as well. While we’ve worked to gain everyone’s trust and support, we’ve had areas that were inaccessible to immunization teams for months and sometimes years at a time. 

5. Do immunization teams know when they miss children? Or are there children they don’t even know about?

I think we have a good handle now on knowing when and where we’re missing children. The challenge is to keep reducing the number we miss. In Nigeria, we have done a lot of work since we were surprised by the discovery of several polio cases in Borno state in 2016, two years after the country had last seen a polio case. We now know through GPS mapping where the children are, and we are working with authorities there to make sure all children receive the polio vaccine.

6. Where are we seeing successes?

We haven’t had any cases of wild poliovirus anywhere in the world in nearly five years except in the three endemic countries. And in Nigeria, it’s been almost three years since we had any wild poliovirus cases, and those occurred in a small area of the country.

7. What’s the most important thing Rotarians should know?

I’ve been extremely impressed with the dedication and persistence of Rotarians in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. They are working hard to make sure polio is eradicated. It’s pretty amazing what they do in those countries.

Rotarians should continue to be optimistic and to support eradication. We also need Rotarians to bring the need for continued funding to the attention of their government leaders. We can’t lose sight of the goal.

— Diana Schoberg

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