Well, I’m a current member of Oak Ridge City Council and I’m seeking re-election in November 2026.
I came onto Council as an outspoken environmentalist who opposed certain city initiatives. Nearly two decades later, I still wear the environmentalist label, but environment was never my sole interest, and as a veteran city official I have also become interested in — and knowledgeable about — the depth and breadth of city government and the unique situation of our city.
My post-secondary education was in geology, hydrology, and environmental science and policy, at Carleton College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After coming to Oak Ridge in 1981, I was privileged to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 36 years, supporting the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other federal agencies in technical/environmental analysis and review on diverse topics including disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, DOE and commercial facilities for nuclear applications and other energy technologies (including coal, hydropower, solar, and wind), and critical materials.
Here in Oak Ridge, I have been a homeowner, taxpayer, wife (married to Rich Norby for nearly 50 years; he’s a retired ORNL Corporate Fellow) and mother, and engaged in numerous civic organizations and activities. I am active in Altrusa, Breakfast Rotary, Friends of ORNL (recently concluded a term as president), TORCH (Anderson County’s homelessness agency; I have served as board secretary for several years), Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation (board member), Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association (board member) and Keep Anderson County Beautiful (board member), and I’m a member of the League of Women Voters and frequent participant in their meetings. Other organizations where I am a current or continuing member or donor (or both) include United Way, the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, NAACP, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, the YWCA, Girls Inc., and the Oak Ridge History Museum. Currently I’m engaged with campaigns to enhance and promote the local section of the Clinch River (Melton Lake) as the Pellissippi Blueway and assure the future of Clark Center Park, and I’m a financial supporter of the projects to create the Scarboro 85 monument and help TORCH build another duplex for temporary shelter of homeless families. These and other involvements help me stay connected with the community and be aware of local needs and concerns.
My first formal involvement in city government was as a member of the City Environmental Quality Advisory Board (EQAB), beginning in the early 1990s. I was on the board for over 15 years, serving most of that time as chair or vice-chair. EQAB’s interests then and now have included tree planting and tree care, better stewardship of city greenbelts, enhancing the city recycling program, and inducing the city to take action to reduce our impact on the climate. Because I was on EQAB in the early 1990s I got involved in the informal community effort to create greenways. I was a contributor to the 1993 greenways master plan, something I’m proud of, as our greenways system has grown to be larger and more successful than most of us imagined it could be,