Is it true that women are especially attracted to environmental advocacy, or is that a stereotype? To find out, we interviewed three young female environmentalists: Missy Luyk, a former Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council (Mid-MEAC) employee, and Jacquie Styrna and Becky Vogt, who served student internships at MEC last year.

Missy, 23, earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Michigan State University (MSU) in 2001. Her college experience included studying remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems in The Netherlands. She was administrative supervisor at Mid-MEAC before moving north earlier this year to work at TART Trails (short for Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails) in Traverse City. She walks or rides her bike less than a mile to Grand Traverse Bay, her office, the grocery store, the theatre and restaurants. Active in "Future Farmers of America" while growing up, Missy recycles, eats meat and doesn't compost. She loves the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and she doesn't think gender has anything to do with the development of environmentalists, although she acknowledges some people think women are more in touch with nature than men.

Jacquie, 24, just graduated from Western Michigan University and is teaching yoga at a renovated synagogue in downtown Kalamazoo. A vegetarian for 10 years, she shops at the local food co-op, recycles, composts and buys most of her clothing from second-hand stores. Like Missy, Jacquie walks and cycles more than she drives. When asked to reveal her favorite spot in Michigan, she selected Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising and Saugatuck Dunes State Park, an hour northwest of Kalamazoo. Jacquie thinks environmental advocacy "is one of the few professions in which women have the advantage. Most women are instinctively intuitive and compassionate, skills which aid in conversing with and educating the public."

Becky, 22, a Wixom resident, is an environmental technician at Hydro-Logic Associates in Brighton where she performs water and soil testing, among other duties. A recent MSU grad, Becky studied in Ireland, Scotland and England and worked for Clean Water Action while in school. She recycles, buys organic produce, eats meat and doesn't compost. Her favorite spot is South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan near Leland. Becky's family and friends are "pretty supportive" of her career choice. "There seem to be more women attracted to advocacy," she explained, "but many of those who need to hear the messages of activists are men."

So are women more inclined to care about the environment? Yes and no. But even the youngest women know what's important. When asked last Earth Day what they wished for the planet, the 9- and 10-year-old girls from Girl Scout Troop 84 in Okemos offered the following:

I wish that people would stop polluting.
I want people to stop littering.
I wish people would pick up their trash.
I wish that the earth could stay clean.
I hope the earth gets to be a peaceful world.
I wish the earth would be clean and everything would rest in peace.