Meet the Staff of the Vermont Chapter!

Montpelier Office Staff

Robert Klein, State Director
Joan Allen, Associate Director of Land Protection
Jon Binhammer, Director of Land Protection
Emily Boedecker, Director of Marketing and Philanthropy
Jessica Brown, Marketing and Philanthropy Manager
Caitlin Cusack, AmeriCorps Stewardship Assistant
Dan Farrell, Conservation Information Manager
Maggie Fox, Director of Operations
Phil Huffman, Director of Conservation Programs
Jennifer Kramer, Associate Director of Philanthropy
Lynn McNamara, Conservation Assistant
Joe Merrill, Finance Manager
Rose Paul, Director of Science and Stewardship
Sharon Plumb, Invasive Species Coordinator
Susi Richardson, Major Gifts Manager
Emily Seifert, Stewardship Manager
Kim Ward, Office Manager
Ron Wild, AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator

West Haven Office Staff

Cara Conroy, AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator / Field Assistant
Mary Droege, Director of Ecological Management and Restoration
Paul Marangelo, Conservation Ecologist
David McDevitt, Southern Vermont Steward
Murray McHugh, Land Steward and Nursery Manager

To contact a staff member, email us at vermont@tnc.org or call one of our Vermont offices.

Joan Allen, Associate Director of Land Protection

Joan Allen joined The Nature Conservancy in 1999, with responsibility for the chapter’s land conservation activities, including acquiring land and conservation easements.

Joan enjoys the opportunity to maintain close connections to the land and to work with woodlot owners, farmers, and other Vermonters who share her love for the state’s natural landscape.  She lives in Chelsea with her husband and enjoys dancing, choral singing, and long walks.

Jon Binhammer, Director of Land Protection

Jon is responsible for the land conservation program of the Vermont Chapter, including negotiating land purchases and conservation easements. He has been with the Vermont Chapter since 1991.
Prior to coming to the Conservancy in Vermont, Jon's endeavors included environmental education and prairie restoration and management throughout the Midwest. He has a BA in biology from Grinnell College and a MSEd from Northern Illinois University.

An avid amateur birder, botanist and naturalist, Jon developed an appreciation of the natural world from an early age and a strong desire to protect it that continues to this day. He lives in Brookfield with his wife and two children, and enjoys playing ultimate frisbee.

Emily Boedecker, Director of Marketing and Philanthropy
Emily is responsible for marketing and philanthropy at the Vermont chapter, which includes communications, public relations and donor relations, and she is current one of the conservation co-chairs for the Vermont Housing and Conservation coalition. Prior to joining the Conservancy Emily worked in the high-tech industry in France and California.

Growing up in a mining village in England, which is now at the center of national reforestation efforts, Emily’s childhood playground was a pond and wetland complex created by mining subsidence. This experience and working as a volunteer with the Sierra Club to prevent poorly planned development in California led her to change careers. Emily is delighted to be living in Vermont with her husband and dog, who all enjoy hiking, gardening and the abundance of local foods.


Jessica Brown, Marketing and Philanthropy Manager

After falling in love with the Green Mountains on a hiking vacation, Jessica moved to Vermont in 2005 to join the staff of The Nature Conservancy.

Prior to the move, she worked in New York City as the Senior Manager of Food Development for the hunger relief organization, City Harvest.  Now serving as the Conservancy’s Marketing and Philanthropy Manager in Vermont, Jessica considers herself the resident story teller- telling the story of our work to members, donors, and the general public.  She is responsible for producing the Vermont Chapter’s, newsletter, and website as well as writing proposals to foundations and corporations.

Jessica lives in Middlesex with her husband Dan and daughter, Maya and enjoys hiking, painting, and cooking scrumptious vegetarian meals.

Mary Droege, Director of Ecological Management and Restoration

Mary graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in botany in 1984 and from UMass Amherst with a MS in Forest Ecology in 1996.  She first joined The Nature Conservancy with the Maine Chapter in 1984 as a Stewardship Intern.  In 1987 she was hired as a Preserve Steward for the Maryland Chapter and worked her way up to Director of Science and Stewardship during her six year tenure.  Mary then returned to graduate school (after a summer during which she and her husband drove to Alaska and back!).  In July 1996 she became the first staff hired for the Southern Lake Champlain Valley Program in Vermont and is now the Director of Ecological Management and Restoration.  Current projects include: clayplain forest restoration implementation, clayplain forest planning, and restoration monitoring, and working with federal partners to secure funding; rattlesnake conservation issues; representing The Nature Conservancy on the sea lamprey control alternatives committee; and education and outreach.

In fall 2008 Mary started teaching botany part-time at Castleton State College. She lives in Castleton, VT with her husband Dean and their two children, Emma and Ben.  In addition to her busy family and professional life she loves to garden and is an avid photographer.

Dan Farrell, Conservation Information Manager

Dan Farrell grew up in New York City. As a young person he belonged to a small theater company there and painted landscapes. After getting a diploma in sound engineering, he moved out west and fell in love with nature while wandering through the California mountains. Returning to New York to study Environmental Science at Columbia University, he became interested in plants during biodiversity field work. He continued his plant studies after moving to Vermont 12 years ago, then went on to study relationships between plant diversity and landscape diversity at the University of Vermont. After receiving his MS in Botany, he worked at the Vermont Nongame and Natural Heritage Program, managing natural community data.

Lately, Dan’s interests include wild edible plants and primitive skills. He was drawn to The Nature Conservancy by a great respect for its overall mission and for the people within the organization and by its scientific approach to conservation. Among other things, the Conservation Information Manager position allows him to indulge his love for making maps.

Robert Klein, Executive Director

Bob Klein is the Executive Director of the Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy - as well as a Conservancy Vice President - and has been with the Vermont Chapter since it first hired staff in 1979.  He has overall responsibility for the Conservancy's Vermont program.  Bob has at one time or another handled all of the jobs currently being done by the Vermont staff, and he has extensive contacts with landowners, government agency directors, donors, and conservationists in Vermont and the region.  He is directly involved with planning, budgeting, personnel management and training, real estate negotiations, government relations, fund raising and public relations, and serves as the liason with the Vermont Chapter Board of Trustees, the Eastern North America Division office and The Nature Conservancy's World Office.

In his free time, Bob pursues photography, skydiving, hiking, motorcycling, and other outdoor interests.  He is married to Jean Vissering, a landscape architect, and they have two children.

Jennifer Kramer, Associate Director of Philanthropy
Ever since she was a teen – in the seventies when the environmental movement was gaining traction -  conservation has been Jennifer’s abiding personal passion.  But Jennifer says, “when I was nearing that certain mid point in my life, I took stock and decided that protecting this planet had to be my profession.”  She returned to school to get a Masters in Environmental Science from Antioch University New England where she spent two years studying all the things that she cares most deeply about.  Jennifer emerged to be hired by the Vermont Chapter as a major gifts fundraiser.  Now she travels around Vermont, visiting our wonderful members and taking them to see the work they support. “Those are the days when it’s hard to believe that this is actually work” she says.

Paul Marangelo, Conservation Ecologist

Paul has been with the Vermont chapter since 2004.  His responsibilities include administering the volunteer water chestnut management program, managing upland invasive species, and providing aquatic ecology expertise to projects statewide.  Paul also coordinates landscape modeling assessment and strategy implementation to protect the ability of wide-ranging mammals to move between Vermont and neighboring states and countries. 

Paul’s career has taken him from Michigan to Vermont in a variety of roles as an aquatic ecologist, aquatic biologist, wetland restoration specialist and a consulting freshwater mussel expert. His expertise also includes aquatic invasive species, and fluvial ecology and geomorphology.  Paul holds a MS (1997) in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment and a BA (1986) from Rutgers College. 

Paul's interest in conservation science grew from a love of hiking and backpacking, and first took form researching invasive and native freshwater mussels and rivers. Fortunately for conservation, Paul quickly abandoned his first “career” as a rock musician and turned to science.

Lynn McNamara, Conservation Assistant

Lynn joined the Vermont Chapter in May of 2008 and assists with a variety of conservation-related tasks including stewardship start-up for newly acquired lands or easements, data management, and helps out wherever needed.

Prior to joining the Conservancy, she worked at a variety of positions, from studying the effects of climate change on fish populations in the Alaskan arctic, to environmental education in NH, to assisting at a local animal hospital.  She earned a Master's degree from Antioch University New England in 2006, focusing on the ecology of invasive plants, specifically wild chervil in VT.

Lynn grew up along the south coast of MA, spending as much time as possible by the ocean.  She moved to VT in 1999 and lives with her husband in Randolph.  She enjoys gardening, kayaking, hiking and quilting in her spare time.

J. Murray McHugh, Land Steward and Native Plant Restoration Nursery Manager
Murray McHugh is the Land Steward for the preserves surrounding the West Haven office of the Vermont Chapter and also manages the Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery, where native tress and shrubs are grown from locally-collected seed for local restoration projects. 

Murray joined the Conservancy in 2002 from the nursery industry where he grew a wide range of plants from garden variety selections to wild saltmarsh grasses for large-scale restoration.  He received a BS in Biophysical Resource Management from the University of Michigan, a MS in Ecology from Rutgers University and spent a year studying Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. 
Murray spent his younger years in Michigan and now lives with his wife and two children in the Southern Lake Champlain Valley, where he especially enjoys spending time with his son looking for critters.

Sharon Plumb, Invasive Plant Program Coordinator

Sharon Plumb joined The Nature Conservancy in the summer of 2008 as the Wise on Weeds! program coordinator. She has gotten her hands dirty working on farms and as a trail crew leader for the Student Conservation Association and VYCC. She has shared her love for nature with others as an educator and program manager for several organizations, including Shelburne Farms and the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. She holds a M.S. in Natural Resources Planning from UVM.

A native Vermonter, Sharon discovered her love for adventure and nature through hiking and skiing in the Northeast and beyond. She is thrilled to have a small home with a big garden that she shares with her partner Mark in Berlin.

Susi Richardson, Major Gifts Manager

Susi Richardson has been with the Vermont chapter since 1994.  When she first began with The Nature Conservancy she assisted the administrative team, and now her focus is working with the philanthropy team, processing gifts and pledges that come to the Vermont chapter, and working on a database to enter and update information.  She assists with planning events and coordinating mailings that come from the Vermont office.

Susi was born and raised in Vermont and some of her fondest memories of childhood are the times she played outside.  Her love of animals steered her to college to be a Veterinary Technician, which is where she worked prior to coming to TNC. 

She lives in Duxbury with her husband, and looks forward to summer camping trips with her family, especially spending time with her grandchildren enjoying the outdoors.

Emily Seifert, Stewardship Manager

Emily is responsible for the stewardship of more than 30 of the Chapter's natural areas throughout Vermont. Managing for ecological values includes invasive plant control, boundary marking, and trail maintenance.  She also coordinates the annual monitoring visits to properties under conservation easements, leads volunteer workdays, and recruits, trains and supervises seasonal staff.  

Emily has a BS in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont.  She's been attending the Conservancy's annual gatherings in Vermont with her parents and grandparents since she was a child, and has worked for the Conservancy as an AmeriCorps member and volunteer coordinator before joining the Vermont chapter in 2007.   

In her free time, Emily enjoys field botany, gardening, cooking and hiking.  She grew up in Fletcher, VT and now lives in Montpelier with her husband, Paul.

Kim Ward, Office Manager
Kim Ward is Office Manager with the Vermont Chapter. Kim’s work includes accounts payables, meetings registration & logistics, and generally being the face of the office. She greets guests and meeting participants alike, answers general inquiries, and assists the staff in getting their work done by keeping the office in shape and the resources present.

Prior to joining the Conservancy, Kim worked for eight years in proofreading and offset preparations, two at Capital City Press in Barre and six at the Lane Press, Inc. in South Burlington. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont and her BFA in Creative Writing from Johnson State College. In 2003, she founded The Vermont Playwrights Circle, a group dedicated to the networking, support, and promotion of plays written by Vermonters.