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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
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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
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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.
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