Wildlife Biologist Jennifer Valiulis to Keynote 2025 Great Lakes Islands Summit on Beaver Island
The 2025 Great Lakes Islands Summit will take place September 21–24 on Beaver Island, Michigan, and this year’s keynote speaker brings global perspective to local island challenges. The Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA) has announced that Jennifer Valiulis, wildlife biologist and island leader from St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, will headline the event.
GLIA is a collaborative network of year-round island communities across the Great Lakes region, focused on addressing shared issues like housing, transportation, economic resilience, and sustainability. The Alliance fosters cross-island relationships among U.S. and Canadian islanders to learn from one another and work together toward long-term solutions.
Valiulis currently serves as Executive Director of the St. Croix Environmental Association, where she leads conservation, education, and advocacy efforts. Her background includes ecological work across multiple countries, managing endangered species projects like the St. Croix Ground Lizard reintroduction, and advising on sustainable development.
She is also co-Chair of the Climate Strong Islands Network (CSIN), a national coalition focused on amplifying island voices in climate action. Her keynote will highlight shared struggles faced by island communities—from tourism and environmental protection to limited infrastructure and climate threats—and how cross-island collaboration can spark solutions.
“Islands are islands,” said GLIA Coordinator Matt Preisser. “Despite differences in size and location, we’ve found that all islands have things in common… bringing someone like Jennifer to the table broadens our perspective in meaningful ways.”
Now in its sixth year, the GLIA Islands Summit gathers island leaders, residents, researchers, and partners from across the Great Lakes and beyond for a four-day exchange of ideas. The 2025 theme is “Collaboration,” with programming on topics including housing, environmental stewardship, education, arts & culture, economic development, healthcare, and emergency planning.
Registration is open now at glialliance.org, and participants from the United States, Canada, Tribal Nations, and First Nations are welcome.
