Carole Cifrino

---

Inspired by childhood summers spent exploring the woods and waters of Cape Cod, Carole’s life work has focused on environmental education and sustainability.  After spending time leading teenagers on backpacking trips in the Great Smokies and restoring trails and bridges in Baxter State Park, she has dedicated the bulk of her career to public service at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.  Working as an advocate for Maine’s people, communities and environment, Carole focused the majority of her career to conceiving, implementing and managing several first-in-the-nation programs designed to minimize the environmental footprint from the manufacturing and use of products.

Carole holds an undergraduate degree in education from the University of Connecticut, and a M.S. in Adult Education from the University of Southern Maine.  She lives in Whitefield where she served on the School Committee and the recycling committee, and assisted with the planning to establish a municipal fire department and build a new fire station.  She and her husband, David Wright, have two grown children and have turned their attention to Midcoast Conservancy in retirement.

Chuck Dinsmore

---

Born and raised in Maine where he learned early on to love and value wild places, Chuck graduated from Bowdoin College (A.B., biology) and Brown University (Ph.D., biological sciences). He began his career as a college professor in Boston (1974-76), then accepted a position on the faculty of Rush University at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago.

Chuck returned to Maine in 2000 where he taught high school biology at Lincoln Academy for eight years and at the same time began volunteering on projects with the Pemaquid Watershed Association. Upon the founding of Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC) in 2009, he started participating on many of its projects and engaging in its further development, joining its Board in 2013 and becoming its president in 2015.

During that time Chuck also completed the Maine Master Naturalist Program and regularly shares his enthusiasm for the outdoors by leading educational tours on the trails and waters of HVNC. He and his wife, Megan, have two grown children and two grandchildren, and reside in Damariscotta.

Brent Douglass

---

Brent Douglass is graduate of Dartmouth, where he is on the Alumni Council.  He was chief facilities officer at 4 universities over a 40 year career (operations, maintenance, planning & construction) overseeing staff's ranging from 40-200 people.  Also was VP for Development and Facilities at Wintergreen Resort, where he oversaw putting in a historic conservation easement. They put a conservation easement on their VA farm and implemented a Chesapeake Bay Foundation grant to plant 1,000 trees along a tributary creek of the James River that passes through their farm.

Brent is an active volunteer with our Lake Council, Courtesy Boat Inspector, Invasive Plant Patrol and they have done a YCC erosion control project on the land on Damariscotta Lake where they own a house. Brent is also a docent for CMBG. Brent and his wife Carter live in Virginia for half the year and the other half on Damariscotta Lake.

Laurie Howarth

---

Laurie Howarth has lived and worked  in Waldoboro, Maine since 1986. She is semi-retired from a 43+ year career in veterinary medicine.

She is new to the workings of Land Trusts having been a board member of MVLT for the past 2 years and part of the merger committee. The natural world with its animals, land, plants, and waters has always been the undercurrent of her life ever since her childhood. Her concern for the environment began as a teenager. Her choice of attending veterinary college in Ames ,Iowa was based on not wanting to live in a city for four years.

She has raised a son in Maine who recently returned from California to live and work in Maine. Her husband, Bill Chapman, is a retired boat captain. They both enjoy spending time with their 4 dogs and staying at their Island camp. Laurie is an avid gardener during good weather and a weaver during inclement weather.

Chris Kenoyer

---

Surrounded by large tracts of forests and alluring waterways in Maine, Chris developed a strong love of the natural world at an early age. During his college years, he led weekend canoeing and hiking trips for the University of Maine and upon graduating with a BA in Natural Resource Management, worked for both private and public sectors as an interpretive naturalist and guide in New Mexico, the Everglades and New Zealand.

Returning to Maine, the purchase and restoration of his first home, an aging colonial in Machias, evolved into an appreciation and passion for old things and a decades long business re-acquisitioning American antiques from the Canadian maritimes. In 2004, Chris and his partner Bridget bought an old farmstead in Alna and embarked on a lifelong restoration of their fields and forests, primarily to benefit wildlife.

Chris has served as an active council member, steward and property monitor for Midcoast Conservancy in Sheepscot Valley for over 20 years and was a key member of the town committee to address the aging and beloved Head Tide Dam to ensure safe passage of anadromous fish and preserve the history and vested interests of the community. When not working in the garden or woods, Chris is often exploring the wilder areas of Maine & Canada, seeking out forgotten portage trails and tuck-away trout ponds.

Liz Petruska

---

Liz enjoys blending her love of the outdoors with her day job, where she currently serves as a National Program Specialist for the USDA Forest Service Forest Legacy Program. She has worked in the land conservation field for more than 20 years, with 12 years spent as staff for the Medomak Valley Land Trust, a Midcoast Conservancy legacy organization. In recent years Liz worked as Director of Planning and Acquisitions for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and as co-coordinator for the Maine Land Conservation Task Force. Working locally, statewide, and now nationally has given her a great appreciation of both the vast natural resources of the state and country and the importance of community-based projects. 

Liz received her B.A. in Government and Public Service from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Liz enjoys baking, hiking, boating, golfing, and time at home in Waldoboro with her husband and two cats.

Kathy Stevens

---

Kathy Stevens has over 20 years in the non-profit and education sectors. Since 2012, she has served as executive director of the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL), following career stops in higher education and an international nonprofit. Kathy is a fundraiser, lawyer, community organizer and trained mediator. As a consultant, Kathy has provided strategic planning facilitation and board development to local nonprofits since 2018. Kathy has served on several boards and led a Montgomery County (Maryland) collective impact initiative, Montgomery Moving Forward, and currently serves on the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming board in Silver Spring, MD.

A graduate of Swarthmore College, Kathy also holds a EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a J.D. from the University of Richmond. When not at work or a board meeting, Kathy loves a good hike with her black lab, Blair, finding live music, bringing people around a table, for a home cooked meal and conversation, being near water, especially Damariscotta Lake, and travel.