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Board of Directors

Following is a list of NAS Directors, including city of residence and years in which terms expire. If you have questions about the NAS Board, please direct them to Sue Mackey, boardservice@audubon.org.

The NAS Board meets three times a year. Meetings are open to the public; view the schedule here.

The National Audubon Society's Board of Directors has nine Regional Directors -- members elected by chapters. If you have any questions about Audubon that cannot be answered by your local chapter or your state office, or if you do not have a local chapter or state office, please contact your regional Board member.

A. Peter Cannon, Jr.
Caroline C. Coe
Mary McDermott Cook
Alan R. Dolan
Victor Emanuel
Margot Ernst
David B. Ford
Ralf Graves
David B. Hartwell
S. Joyce King
Allen J. Model
Jane-Kerin Moffat
Peggy Montano
Jess Morton

Governor George Pataki
Kristi Patterson
Andrew Sansom
Lloyd Semple
Carol Schilling
Marina Skumanich
Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff
Michael Stolper
Virginia K. Stowe, M.S.N.
B. Holt Thrasher (Chair)
Victor D. Vidales, III
Alan Wilson
Roger Wolf
Alexander E. Zagoreos

Board member bios:

Class of 2011

Margot Ernst of New York, New York is Secretary of National Audubon, Chair of the Development Committee, and also serves on the Education, Chapters and Centers Committee. She is a retired Curator and Associate Director of the Japan Society Gallery. She writes and lectures on Japanese art and cuisine and has edited several books on Japanese culture. Ms. Ernst is Co-Chair of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, New York. She is an honorary trustee of the Adirondack Museum and serves on several environmental and cultural boards in the Adirondacks where she owns an inn with her husband and lives part-time. She is a member of the Audubon New York Advisory Board focusing on development issues.

Ralf R. Graves of Wallingford, Pennsylvania is the regional director for National Audubon Society’s Eastern Region. She is a Program Manager at the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research. She is the former President and a board member of Valley Forge Audubon Society, a member of the John James Audubon Center Stewardship Board, and a member of the Nether Providence Township Parks Commission.

Peggy Montaño of Denver, Colorado is a partner at Trout, Raley, Montaño, Witwer & Freeman, P.C. She served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado, a Special Assistant to the Attorney General for the State of New Mexico and as an advisor to the University of Colorado Natural Resource Law Center. Ms. Montaño is the former Chair of the Colorado State Parks Board and member of the Audubon Colorado Advisory Board.

Andrew Sansom of Austin, Texas is currently the Executive Director of the River Systems Institute, Research Professor of Geography at Texas State University, a member of the National Council of the Conservation Fund, an advisory trustee of Bat Conservation International and a member of the Audubon Texas Advisory Board. Mr. Sansom’s previous positions include Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, State Director of the Nature Conservancy of Texas and founder of Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas, Inc. He has authored four books, two of which are on the subject of Texas natural history.

S. Joyce King of Melrose, Florida is the regional director of National Audubon Society’s Southeast Region. She is the founding president of Santa Fe Audubon, and former president of St. Petersburg Audubon. She served as a board member of Florida Audubon and after that organization became the state office of National Audubon Society, she served as a board member of Audubon of Florida. As chair of the state Audubon Chapters Committee, she founded the annual Audubon Academy to train and mentor chapter leaders from throughout the state. In 2002, Joyce was named National Audubon’s Bushnell Conservationist of the Year, and in 2009, she received National Audubon’s Charles H. Callison Award for outstanding chapter volunteer. She is a retired teacher and school counselor.

Virginia K. Stowe, M.S.N. of New York, New York is a parent educator, family counselor, author and founder and director of the not-for-profit Parenting Development Resource, Inc. She co-chairs the Audubon New York’s annual Keesee Award Luncheon which funds state-wide programs in New York. She also co-chairs the Women in Conservation Luncheon Rachel Carson Awards which fund the Long Island Sound Campaign and serves on the Conservation Committees for the Audubon New York Advisory Board and the National Audubon Society Board, as well as the Development Committee for National Audubon. In addition, she has been a longtime volunteer teacher for Audubon’s urban education program “For the Birds” in New York City’s public schools, a program that introduces the importance of stewardship to children.

B. Holt Thrasher of Greenwich, Connecticut is Managing Director and founder of Mooreland Partners and Chair of the Board of National Audubon Society. Holt has 25 years of investment banking, operating management and consulting experience specializing in the Technology and Communications Industries. Holt previously served as Chair of the Audubon Connecticut Advisory Board since 2001 and is on the Board of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Jefferson Partners Capital, a Toronto-based technology venture capital firm.

Roger C. Wolf of Tucson, Arizona is the regional director for National Audubon Society’s Southwest Region. He has over thirty years experience practicing immigration law in Tucson. He served as a legal aid lawyer on the Tohono O'odham Reservation and was a seasonal ranger at Yellowstone National Park. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia. He is past President of the Tucson Audubon Society and past Secretary of the Arizona Audubon Council, of which he remains a member.

Class of 2012

Caroline C. Coe of Richmond, Virginia is the regional candidate for National Audubon Society's Mid-Atlantic Region. She is the past President and Vice President of the Richmond Audubon Society and the Virginia Audubon Council, and is a member of the Steering and Oversight Committees of Audubon's Virginia IBA Program.

Alan R. Dolan of Massillon, Ohio is the regional candidate for National Audubon Society's Central Great Lakes Region. He is President, Membership Database Chair and Newsletter Editor of the Canton Audubon Society and former Treasurer of the Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters. Mr. Dolan is the former First Vice President and Secretary of the Canton Audubon Society and former President and Vice President of the Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters.

Victor Emanuel of Austin, Texas is the founder of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. He is on the Board of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy. He founded, and for 50 years compiled, the Freeport Christmas Bird Count and is former president of the Texas Ornithological Society. He received the Roger Tory Peterson Excellence in Birding Award from the Houston Audubon Society, the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

David Hartwell of Minneapolis, Minnesota has been President of Bellcomb Technologies since founding the company in 1989. The company designs and produces structural, lightweight panels and panel systems for non aerospace. He has served on many non-profit boards including Belwin Conservancy, Conservation Minnesota, Land Trust Alliance, Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota Audubon and the Mississippi River Fund. In 2001 he began to build a coalition of conservation groups that culminated in 2008 with the passage by the voters in Minnesota of a constitutional amendment that will raise an estimated $6 billion dollars for conservation in the next 25 years. He also serves on numerous for-profit and foundation boards. He and his wife enjoy travel to distant places and have 4 children and 4 grandchildren. He is an avid birdwatcher and gardener.

Allen J. Model of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is Treasurer of National Audubon Society and Chair of its Planning and Finance Committee. Mr. Model is the co-founder and Managing Director of Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd. He serves on the boards of the Wildlife Trust, Middlesex School, Jerusalem Foundation, Women's Way and Bach Festival of Philadelphia. Mr. Model is Chair of the Leo Model Foundation.

Carol Schilling of Scottsdale, Arizona is a member of National Audubon Society and a longtime community volunteer in Phoenix. She has been a member of various non-profit boards, including the Desert Botanical Garden, McDowell-Sonoran Land Trust, Ballet Arizona, Arizona Opera, Arizona School for the Arts, City of Phoenix Parks, Recreation and Library Board and the Arizona Outdoor Recreation Coordinating Council. She is a trustee of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, as well as a writer and editor.

Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff of New York, New York and Highland Falls, New York is Of Counsel at Lacher & Lovell-Taylor. He has served as Regional Administrator for Region II of the U.S. EPA during the first Bush Administration, and is the Chairman Emeritus of Phipps Houses and Chair of the Audubon New York Board. He was a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York for 15 years. Before that he was New York City Highways Commissioner and Transportation Administrator under Mayor Lindsay. He is Secretary and a Director of the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Inc. He is also a Commissioner of the Orange County, New York Planning Board and a Director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association's Environmental Law Section and serves on its Executive Committee and as Co-Chairman of its Standing Committee on International Environmental Law.

Marina Skumanich of Seattle, Washington is the regional director for National Audubon Society's Northwest Region. She has served as Interim Director, Conservation Chair, and President of the Board of Seattle Audubon Society, and has been active in the Audubon community for many years. She has also served on various other non-profit boards in both environmental and social justice arenas. She is a former senior research scientist specializing in pollution prevention at the Battelle Seattle Research Center, and is currently self-employed as an environmental policy consultant.

Alexander E. Zagoreos of New York, New York is a recently retired partner of Lazard LLC and a senior advisor to its asset management business. He is the Treasurer and a member of the Development Committee of Audubon New York, and a Trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge Conservancy. Mr. Zagoreos is a former President of Scenic Hudson, Inc, a former Trustee of Scenic Hudson Land Trust and a former Trustee of Hudson Riverkeeper, Inc.

Class of 2013

A. Peter Cannon, Jr. of Madison, Wisconsin is the regional director for National Audubon Society’s Central Region. Mr. Cannon is the Program Chair of the Madison Audubon Society and Acting Secretary of the Wisconsin Audubon Council. He is a retired legislative analyst with Wisconsin’s Legislative Reference Bureau and is Secretary of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Mary McDermott Cook of Dallas, Texas, is President of the Eugene McDermott Foundation. She is a Founding Member of the Trinity River Audubon Center, Chair of the Trinity Trust Board for the overall Trinity River Project (of which the Trinity River Audubon Center is the cornerstone), Vice Chair of the Dallas Museum of Art Board, and on the Executive Committee of the Dallas Zoological Society. She enjoys spending her time with her many dogs and at her ranch in North Texas.

David B. Ford of New York, New York is currently the President of DBF Associates, a private investment firm, and Senior Advisor to Gatemore Capital Management, LLC, a private wealth and institutional investment management firm. David was previously with Goldman Sachs Group, where he was a Managing Director and co-head of Global Asset Management. Prior to that David was a General Partner and head of Fixed Income Sales for Goldman Sachs & Co. He devotes significant time to a number of philanthropies. He serves as a Trustee of the Florida State University and the Florida State University Foundation. He is on the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School, and a Trustee of the New School University. David is a member of the Board and Director of The Global Heritage Fund, The Redwood Library, The Preservation Society of Newport County and The American Place Theatre.

Jane-Kerin Moffat of Greenwich, Connecticut is the regional director for National Audubon Society's Northeast Region. She is a member of the Audubon Connecticut Advisory Board, Chair of its Chapters and Members' Services Committee, and a lifetime honorary member of Audubon Greenwich Advisory Board. Previously she served as grassroots coordinator of Audubon's "Listen to the Sound" (Long Island Sound) campaign and the Sound-wide coalition of environmental groups to which it gave rise. For many years, she also served as a leader of the former Audubon Council of Connecticut and of the former Greenwich Audubon Society. She is a retired school teacher.

Jess Morton of San Pedro, California is the regional director for National Audubon Society's Western Region. He is Treasurer, past Newsletter Editor, and founding President of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society and founder of the Audubon YES! (Youth Environmental Services) Program. Jess is a natural history writer and photographer, poet, tax preparer, board member of several environmental and cultural organizations, and a recipient of National Audubon Society's 1996 Charles H. Callison Award.

Governor George Pataki of New York, New York currently practices at Chadbourne & Parke LLP. He focuses on energy, environmental and corporate matters. He served three terms as the 53rd governor of New York State, from 1995 through 2006. First elected in 1994, he won re-election in 1998 and 2002. He was a partner in the New York law firm of Plunkett & Jaffe until 1987. He was elected mayor of Peekskill, New York in 1981, and served in the New York State Legislature as an assemblyman and then a senator from 1985 to 1994. During his tenure as New York’s chief executive, Governor Pataki advanced award-winning, cutting-edge policies in the renewable energy and environmental fields. His initiatives included the protection of over one million acres of open space, the adoption of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the implementation of the nation’s first green building tax credit, landmark brownfield legislation and programs to enhance the production and use of alternative energy like biodiesel, ethanol, fuel cells and clean coal.

Kristi Patterson of Portola Valley, California is a member of the Audubon California Advisory Board and serves as its Marketing Committee Chair. Previously she managed the Western region product implementation group of Kana Communications, a software startup company. She also created and led the education and training division for Kana’s training of employees, customers, and partners since 1998. Prior to Kana, Ms. Patterson worked at Bain Consulting and then Netscape Communications. She enjoys exploring Northern California, Western Colorado and Montana with her husband, Tom, and their two children.

Lloyd Semple of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan is Vice Chair of National Audubon Society’s Board and Chair of the Audit and Ethics Committees. Mr. Semple is Dean at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and Chairman Emeritus of Dykema Gossett PLLC, a Detroit-based law firm. He is an officer and director of the Detroit Zoological Society and is Chairman of the Michigan chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Michael Stolper of Berwyn, Pennsylvania is a general partner of Veritable, LP, a privately-held registered investment advisor. He was the co-managing director of Hawthorn, a PNC Company, and was President of Stolper & Co. He has over 30 years experience as an investment advisor and financial consultant.

Victor D. Vidales, III of Phoenix, Arizona, is Chair of Audubon Arizona's Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center Stewardship and Education Committee. Mr. Vidales is Owner and Founder of RE/MAX New Heights Realty and South Downtown Properties, a Phoenix-based real estate and development company. He is currently serving as a board member for Arizona State University's College of Public Programs. Mr. Vidales is the former Executive Director of the National Football League's Youth Education Town, a K-12 charter school, and President and CEO of Arizona Quest For Kids, a college preparation program for low-income youth.

Alan Wilson of Manchester, Massachusetts is a Vice Chair of National Audubon Society and Chair of its Conservation and Outreach Committee. Mr. Wilson is an environmental lawyer and retired Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation. Mr. Wilson serves on the board of the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation and the Montserrat College of Art, and was formerly Chair of Massachusetts Audubon Society. He is the elected Town Moderator in Manchester.