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Oconee River Land Trust is made up of twenty board members. Their names are listed below. Click on their name to read their bios.
Officiers
| Chris Canalos-- Chris works as a geographic information systems specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and assists the Department in land conservation efforts. His graduate work includes entomology, forestry and geography. He is a former member of the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission and lives in northwest Clarke County with his wife, Rhonda Crumley, and their five dogs. |
Walter L. Cook, Jr.--is a Forester from Ohio, but he has been a Georgian since 1971. Walt is co-founder of Sandy Creek Nature Center. Walt is also a board member and section maintainer of Benton MacKaye Trail Association. He retired from UGA in 1996. Since then, he designs, builds, maintains, and hikes foot trails in Georgia and South Carolina. He and his wife, Carol, have been married for 51 years. They have five children and fifteen grandchildren. |
| John Steele Willis, Ph.D.-- was born and raised in southern California and developed an early interest in birding. At 15 and 16 he served as an assistant at the Audubon Camp of California near Donner Pass and at 18 was a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search for his study of birds of a chaparral community. He entered the University of California, Berkeley, as a junior, intending to study ecology, but was seduced by experimental biology. He earned his Ph.D. in Biology at Harvard on a study of cellular resistance to cold in deeply hibernating rodents and pursued related work as a postdoctoral fellow in Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and in Biochemistry at Oxford University in England. He served for 29 years on the faculty of Physiology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, continuing his research on cold sensitivity and resistance, eventually extending his studies to include adaptation to hunger in rodents and humans. He joined the University of Georgia faculty in Zoology (later Cellular Biology) and in Physiology/Pharmacology in 1991, where he extended his work to cellular regulation at elevated temperature. He retired in 2001 and, in addition to continuing interests in science, has devoted his time to the board of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society, several committees of the Broad River Watershed Association, and the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program. |
Daniel Hope III, Ed.D., CPRP--Dr. Hope has over 30 years of experience in the field of recreation, parks, and leisure services at the local, state, and national levels. He was a Senior Public Service Associate with the Institute of Community and Area Development, and with the Community and Regional Development Division of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, both Service Units of The University of Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Maryland, and both a Master of Education and a Doctor of Education degrees in Recreation and Leisure Studies from The University of Georgia. The Recreation and Leisure Studies Department at UGA recognize him as one of its Distinguished Alumni. Dr. Hope is licensed as an administrator in the field of professional recreation by the Georgia Board of Recreation Examiners, is registered as a professional by the South Carolina Recreation and Park Society, and is designated as a Certified Park and Recreation Professional by the National Recreation and Park Association. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Recreation and Park Association (GRPA), and in a variety of other offices within GRPA. He received the "Mr. Chairman" award for his committee work with the American Park and Recreation Society, of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). In 2004, Dr. Hope was recognized by GRPA as its "Distinguished Professional."
For over 23 years, Dr. Hope has worked with the Public Service and Outreach branch of the University of Georgia where his primary duties were as a parks, recreation, and leisure services management consultant, director of the annual Executive Development Program for Recreation and Park Professionals, and as a group decision conference facilitator. He was also an adjunct professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. He retired as a member of the faculty of the College of Environment & Design where he taught courses in community awareness and recreation design. Examples of his professional and community experience include:
University of Georgia-Program Director, Executive Development Program for Recreation and Park Professionals
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests Strategic Plan for Developing Relationships
Morgan County Recreation Strategic Plan
UGA member of the Oconee River Greenway Commission
Lyndon House Arts Center - Helped establish the center in 1973
Sandy Creek Nature Center - Proposed the idea of a nature center and was the founding president of Northeast Nature Centers, Inc. which became the Sandy Creek Nature Center, Inc. (1973-74)
Lyndon House Arts Foundation, Inc. - Founding President (1994 -1998)
Oconee Rivers Land Trust - Founding member - President (1999 - Present)
Director of Leisure Services, Charleston, S.C. (1976-1981)
Created the Cultural Affairs Division and began programs like Piccolo Spoleto and the Black Arts Festival
Director of Parks, Charleston, S.C. (1975-1976)
Superintendent of Parks, Athens, GA (1973-1975) |
Larry Dendy --is assistant to the Vice President for Public Affairs at the University of Georgia. A 1965 graduate of UGA's journalism school, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in India and a newspaper reporter and editor in North Carolina and Georgia before joining UGA's public affairs office in 1972. Larry was on the ORLT board of directors from 1994 to 1997 and served as secretary. He rejoined the board in 1999 and is chair of the Membership Committee. Active in a number of local environmental organizations, he is a Board Member and past President of Sandy Creek Nature Center; a board member of Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful; a charter member of the Unified Government's Solid Waste Citizen's Advisory Committee; and a past member of the Board of Trustees of The Georgia Conservancy. He is a co-founder of the annual GreenFest celebration and serves on the GreenFest Committee. Larry is also co-founder and chair of the advisory board of the Alec Little Environmental Award and is co-founder and coordinator of the Eugene Odum Environmental Grants. |
Smith Wilson- is President of S & W Development, Inc. and has been building solar homes since 1978. When Reagan eliminated the majority of solar tax credits, WIlson began building custom homes and eventually moved into the preservation side of construction. Since the mid-eighties, more than half of Wilson’s business has come from historic preservation work. His company has worked on everything from moving a log home to Sandy Creek Nature Center, to moving an ante-bellum home to the country for retired rock stars. He also works on dozens of homes and structures in Athens and its surrounding areas. His latest project, the Bottleworks on Prince, was developed as a preservation and new urbanist project. Wilson serves on the board of Shields Ethridge Heritage Farm, is Secretary/Treasurer of the Georgia Old Time Plow Club, and is Chair of the Education SPLOST II Community Oversight Committee. Wilson was a board member of the Sandy Creek Nature Center for19 years and also served as its President. He is also past President of the Athens Clarke Heritage Foundation. Wilson is also the former chair of the Classic Center Authority, and a former member of the Commission for Preservation of State Capitol. |
Hans Neuhauser --is the Executive Director of the Georgia Land Trust Service Center, a non-profit organization based in Athens. The Service Center works to increase private land conservation by increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of land trusts in Georgia, as well as the southeast and nationally. Services include assistance to the land trust community as a whole (e.g., public policy formulation and advocacy) and to individual land trusts (e.g., strategic planning, preparation for accreditation). Hans serves as the treasurer of the Oconee River Land Trust and is a member of the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Forest Legacy committee. Neuhauser also served on the board of the Land Trust Alliance, where he chaired the board for two terms. Currently, he is a faculty member for the Land Trust Alliance’s Southeast Regional Office. Neuhauser chaired the Recovery Team that developed the first recovery plan for the Northern Right Whale. Currently, he serves as a member of the Southeast U.S. Right Whale Recovery Plan Implementation Team and he is the editor of Right Whale News, an international newsletter that promotes right whale recovery initiatives. Prior to his work with the Georgia Land Trust Service Center, Neuhauser was on the faculty of the Institute of Community and Area Development at The University of Georgia. He also directed the Coastal Office of The Georgia Conservancy for more than 20 years. His active participation in conservation extends over 30 years. In 1982, the Georgia Wildlife Federation gave him their “Conservationist of the Year” award. In 1991 and 1992, Georgia Trend magazine recognized him as one of the 100 most influential people in Georgia. He has received awards from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Georgia Environmental Council, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Garden Club of America, Coastal America and others. In 2006, Neuhauser was elected a member of Sigma Pi Kappa, an international historic preservation honor society. He lives in Athens, Georgia with his wife, Mary Lou. |
| Steve Humphreys--received an undegraduate degre from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Georgia, graduating summa cum laude. His emphasis is intellectual property law and environmental cases. Humprehys is also an international art dealer and photographer as well as a South American wine exporter-importer. He is a past board member of Friends of Georgia Museum of Art and Sandy Creek Nature Center. |
Al Ike-- has lived in Athens since 1960. One of his dreams is to see the Oconee run clear again. He was trained in forestry and soil science, but has had considerable work experience in community development and university administration. He understands budgets and how they work. He has had some experience in grant writing. He and Steffney wrote the grant that enabled Athens to acquire some of the first Greenway properties.
He has experience in the management of non-profits. He was a founding member of the Sandy Creek Nature Center, the Oconee River Greenway Commission, the Oconee River Land Trust, The Federation of Community Associations, and has served at least one term as Chairman of each of these organizations. He has served on the board of directors of the Little Cumberland Island Association and has served as Chairman of that organization twice (about nine years). He was a Scoutmaster for five years, is comfortable in a canoe, and knows his way around the woods. He served as a member of the Governor's Advisory Council for Coastal Zone Management in the late eighties. He served as managing editor of the Journal of Public Service and Outreach. |
| Davin Welter-- was born in Augusta, Georgia and was practically raised on the Ogeechee River. He obtained a degree in Political Science at Furman University and worked for the United States Supreme Court and United States Senator Sam Nunn. Currently, he works out of his house in Athens, Georgia as a Senior Development Officer for Furman University working with Furman alumni and parents located in Georgia. He is Past President of the Foundation for Excellence in Public Education in Clarke County; a former board member of Georgia Options in Community Living, Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Athens, a member of the 2000 class of Leadership Athens, a member of the 2006 class of Leadership Georgia, and a member of Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. He enjoys being outside as much as possible in his Kayak or fishing with his dad. |
| Kenneth H. Jarrett--Dr. Ken Jarrett holds a doctorate in higher education from The University of Georgia as well as baccalaureate and master’s degrees in English. During his 30 years of service at Athens Technical College, a multi-campus state technical college in Northeast Georgia, he served most recently as Vice President for Academic Affairs and, prior to that, as the College’s director of curriculum and program improvement, dean of the business division, director of continuing education, and English instructor. Recognized as a leader and innovator in the technical college system in Georgia and the Southeast, Dr. Jarrett has extensive experience with implementation of new programs, strategic planning and budgeting, program and institutional accreditation, seamless transfer of credit from high school through university level, technology, and online education and training. He has published numerous articles and made workshop and conference presentations on outcomes assessment, paralegal and technical education, and web-based training to state, regional, national, and international organizations. He has served as an evaluator for the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, developed contracts and grants in excess of $13.4 million to develop and deliver online training, served as President of the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges, and was named Georgia’s representative to the National Council for Occupational Education. A graduate of Leadership Athens and the Leadership Institute for Academic Administrators, Dr. Jarrett is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi and an honorary member of Phi Theta Kappa, whose Georgia region named him College Administrator of the Year in 1994-95. Dr. Jarrett retired from Athens Technical College in January 2003, but continues to serve as consultant for development and delivery of online education and training. Gardening, sailing, restoring an old home, and restoring old automobiles are among his hobbies. |
Bob Carson-is President of Carson Advisory, Inc., an S.E.C. Registered Investment Advisor. Carson is Branch manager for Raymond James Financial Services , Inc. (S.I.P.C.) and is Treasurer of Family Ccounseling, Inc., a local 501C3. Carson is also an incoming board member to the The Georgia Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (GACCRRA). Carson is a Vanderbilt graduate and longtime Athenian. |
| Clint Moore--works as a research biologist for Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a science facility of the U.S. Geological Survey. His area of research concerns finding ways to best manage animal and plant populations, especially those that are rare or overabundant. Moore attended UGA for his undergraduate and doctoral degrees, and lives in Watkinsville with his wife, Mary, and two sons, Scott and Tim. Moore is an avid bike commuter, riding as often as he can to his office in Athens, and is a former board member of BikeAthens, an advocacy group for alternative transportation options in the Athens area. Moore also enjoys hiking and being in the outdoors generally, although curiously, his job doesn't allow him to do that as often as he would like! |
| Jane Cassady--For over 15 years, Cassady has worked in historic preservation assisting local governments and/or property owners with preservation issues. Her experience ranges from preservation planner for 13 Georgia counties, Kentucky CLG coordinator and rural preservation planner, administrator of Kentucky’s Survey and National Register programs, Southern Regional Director for Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Senior Director of Preservation for the Georgia Trust. She chaired the Athens Historic Preservation Commission twice and consulted with Winter & Co. in the recent Athens Downtown designation and Design guidelines. Cassady manages the Management and Information Unit of the Historic Preservation Division (SHP0) of the Department of Natural Resources. |
Martha Barton -- Information requested. |
| Madeline VanDyck -- Information requested. |
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