Mrs. Durst is an environmental activist. Born in Denmark, she spent part of her childhood on her grandparents’ self-sustaining farm. Her parents worked in landscapes and the flower industry. Mrs. Durst traveled all over Europe with her father studying plant growth, and earth conditions in the wild and in nurseries. At 21, she moved to New York City for a job at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital as a lab technician in cancer research program for melanomas. She married Douglas Durst in 1967, and they have three children. Along with her husband, Mrs. Durst founded one of New York’s largest certified organic farms – McEnroe Organic. The farm has been in
operation for more than 30 years, has a large teaching facility and focuses not only on sustainability and organic growing, but also the importance of the environment and the wildlife within it. She previously was a board member of the Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society. Mrs. Durst has been coming with her family and horses to Wellington, Florida, for the past 35 years. After her horses were retired, she moved to Palm Beach where she now is involved in the coalition for the protection of the wildlife in our unique inlet and lagoon communities.