About Us >

William A. Richkus, PhD, Chairman
Vice President and General Manager of Versar, an environmental consulting firm in Howard County. Nationally recognized expert in fisheries science and management. Presently manages a group of 50 scientists, working for local, state and federal agencies, primarily in ecological impact assessment, monitoring and resource management. Key writer of interstate management plans for coastal migratory fish species under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Ph.D., Oceanography from University of Rhode Island, M.S., Oceanography from University of California Scripps Institute of Oceanography, B.S., Zoology, University of Rhode Island. Affiliated with the American Fisheries Society, Potomac Chapter; American Institute of Biological Sciences; Chesapeake Bay Foundation and board member of Chesapeake Audubon Society and Pickering Creek Audubon Center. Author and co-author of numerous publications on the environment.

Jim Mazarakis, Vice Chairman
Chief Technology Officer, T. Rowe Price Group. Formally: Consulting Division of Arthur Anderson, VP at Goldman Sachs, Private Banking Division of JP Morgan, Business Information Officer at Capital One Financial. He received his BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Master’s Degree from Polytechnic University. Has a special interest in sprawl and growth issues.

Hugh Simmons, Secretary
President of Chesapeake Audubon Society. Administrative Director of the Department of Anesthesia, Washington Hospital Center. Former Investment Representative with Edward Jones. Former Administrator of the Department of Anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. BS in Biology, Roanoke; MBA Loyola College. Member of the DNR Captive Wildlife advisory committee. Founding member of NANPA. Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas participant.

Gwen Brewer, PhD
Vice President and Program Chair of the Southern Maryland Audubon Society. Former Associate Professor of Biology at Frostburg State University; current Adjunct Associate Professor at FSU and University of Maryland MEES graduate program. Ph.D. and M.S. in Ecology from University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University. Vice Chair of Northeast Partners in Flight; Maryland representative to the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Management Board and Appalachian Mountains Bird Conservation Region Steering Committee. Affiliated with a number of ornithological and conservation professional societies. Chair of Maryland Ornithological Society Research Committee and past president of the Allegany County Bird Club. Special interest in behavioral ecology and conservation of neotropical landbirds and waterbirds, endangered species, old growth forests, and grasslands.

Lynn Dolnick, PhD
Former Associate Director, Exhibits and Outreach, at the National Zoo and was the founder and director of New Opportunities in Animal Health Sciences, a program devoted to advanced biomedical research to benefit wildlife and educational outreach to improve science education. Former researcher in the field of molecular biology and post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, England. Has served on the Coordinating Committee of the Boston Women’s Fund and did volunteer curatorial work for the New England Aquarium in Boston. Past and current board member of the National Audubon Society Board.

Michael J. Kaspar, PhD
President of the Board of Directors, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. Currently, Wildlife/Fisheries Biologist with the District of Columbia’s Fisheries and Wildlife Division of the Environmental Health Administration and Adjunct Instructor at Maryland Community College. Member of the District’s Environmental Education Consortium (EEC) and of the Coordinating Committee for the Kingman and Heritage Islands. Former Training Coordinator for the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and the Council for Environmental Education (CEE). Program Manager for CEE’s national urban water education initiative, WET in the City, and former Director of two nature centers in Austin and Houston, Texas over 12 years. Professional background in science education, non-formal science education, and nature center management.

Robert C. Knott
With more than 15 years experience in marketing communications, Bob is an expert on organizational and CEO positioning, message development and media relations. He leads Edelman’s corporate communications group, which specializes in enhancing and protecting the reputations of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Clients include/have included: the American Wind Energy Association, Amnesty International USA, Booz Allen Hamilton, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Dartmouth College, De Beers, DuPont, FleetBoston Financial Corp, GE, Health South, The Nature Conservancy, Progress Energy, the United Way of America and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development. Bob served as the program manager for the global launch of ecomagination, a company-wide effort by GE to develop new technologies that enable its customers to meet pressing environmental challenges. He earned a BA in professional writing from Wheeling Jesuit University and a MA in business administration from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Bob lives in Baltimore with his wife Judi and their two children, Olivia and Aden.

Karen Meadow
Fund raising consultant. In the field of fund raising since 1975 working for a variety of organizations including the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Baltimore Zoo and as executive director of the Radio Reading Service. Active in the Maryland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals serving as Chapter President for three years and as a representative of the Chapter on the National governing body for five years.

Dr. Eva Smorzaniuk
Dr. Smorzaniuk is a Staff Radiologist at Memorial Hospital in Easton. She currently serves as Chairman for the Shore Health System’s Radiology Department. She is a former board member of the American Cancer Society, YMCA of Talbot County, Easton Academy of the Arts and Talbot County Hospice. Eva currently serves on the Pickering Creek Audubon Center Board. She has a special interest in environmental policy.

Lucy Spiegel
Lucy is the Vice President/Senior Executive Producer of Washington Public Affairs Programs at CNN Broadcasting. During her tenure, she helped develop Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, expanding the program to 3 hours and taking it on the road to cover breaking news stories and international stories from Moscow, China, Botswana and Germany. She is the Former Editorial Producer for Larry King Live. She has worked at all three broadcast networks, including 20 years with CBS News during which she served as bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon as well as producer for both the CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning. She is former board member of Pickering Creek Audubon Center where she directed a number of major fundraising events. She has a special interest in the Anacostia River.

Kim Manuelides
A member of Saul Ewing’s Litigation Department in its Baltimore office. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Maryland State Bar Association and the Howard County and Baltimore City Bar Associations. Kim focuses her practice in the litigation of commercial civil cases including commercial real estate litigation, construction, title litigation, franchise disputes, contract disputes and warranty issues. She serves on the Board of Directors of Commercial Real Estate Women. She is an active scuba diver and outdoors person. Kim holds a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a BS from the University of Maryland.

Mary Pfaffko
Wildlife biologist for the DC Department of the Environment. President, Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. Developed and conducts a survey to monitor reptile and amphibian populations and habitat. Ms. Pfaffko is the Primary author of the DC Wildlife Action Plan. Works with NE Partners in Flight, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, Bird Conservation Region 30,Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. She is a member of NE Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Wildlife Diversity Technical Committee and former Legislative Aide of AESOP Enterprises, to lobby for increased funding for agricultural and conservation research. Former Clean Air Associate, US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), where she lobbied on what became a successful campaign to win federal standards that would cut pollution from diesel buses and trucks. Former Secretary, Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, for two terms. Obtained a grant to run a campaign to ban plastic bags from DC. Mary has an M.A.in International Affairs from American University and a B.S. in Environmental Science from University of Florida.

Denise Ryan
Legislative Representative and Wyss Fellow at the National Wildlife Federation where she specializes in public land policy. Denise is the Treasurer of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. Denise is working on a campaign to create America*s newest conservation system, the National Landscape Conservation System from 20 million acres of conservation lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Denise previously worked for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) as Liaison to the Board of Directors. LCV is best known for holding Congress and the Administration accountable through annual scorecards. Prior to LCV, Denise held several positions in the Clinton Administration as a political appointee including Deputy Associate Director of Presidential Personnel at the White House and as Special Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. She is a three-time veteran of Presidential campaigns and previously served as Assistant Field Director for the Nevada Democratic Coordinated Campaign in Las Vegas. She volunteered for the Maryland/DC Breeding Bird Atlas, the 2007 National Geographic Bioblitz, and assisted the National Park Service with research on the breeding owls of Rock Creek Park. She also serves as President of Cheverly Police and Citizens Working Together, a community watch group in her town. Denise is a graduate of the University of the District of Columbia with a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration. Denise resides with her husband, Dan, in Cheverly, Maryland. She is thrilled to have just recently reached 500 North American life birds and is working toward a new goal of 600 North American life birds.