ACLT Staff & Board of Directors
Greg Bowen, Executive Director
gbowen@acltweb.org
Greg Bowen is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has over 30 years experience in land preservation and public policy. Prior to joining the staff, he volunteered on three land trusts and was on the ACLT Board for over 3 years. He is a member of the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission and is chair of its Rural Economies Workgroup. Greg is a lifetime resident of Calvert County, growing up on a tobacco farm near the Patuxent River. His passion is preserving Calvert’s working landscapes and its ecological and culture assets.
Autumn Phillips-Lewis, Land Manager
landmanager@acltweb.org
Autumn joined ACLT in May of 2014. She has a BS in Environmental Science from Elizabethtown College and a MS in Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology from Frostburg State University. For her Masters research, Autumn spent two summers at Soberañia National Park in Panama where she investigated the influence of tree-fall gaps on directional seed dispersal by small mammals in Neotropical forests. Prior to this, she did research on carbon sequestration at Elizabethtown College and worked at the Penn State Cooperative Extension Horticulture and Pollinator education and research programs. Autumn is also a Level 1 Certified Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional and serves as the chair of the Calvert County Forestry Board. Autumn loves working with ACLT’s amazing volunteers to provide healthy habitat for a diversity of wildlife and ensure sustainable public access to the Parkers Creek and Governor’s Run watersheds.
Miriam Gholl, Community Relations Manager
miriam@acltweb.org
Miriam joined ACLT in June 2019. Prior to that time, she had been retired from the local Planning & Zoning Office, where she worked with Greg for over 30 years. Since retiring in 2011, Miriam had been a part-time social media marketer and webmaster for her husband’s business and spent a good part of the remainder of her time donating similar services to several local non-profits on a volunteer basis. Miriam provides staff support to the Outreach & Membership Committee and coordinates volunteers for events, hikes, etc..
Janel Young, Office Coordinator
info@acltweb.org
Janel joined ACLT in December 2014 as the Office Coordinator. She is in the office part-time, mainly handling accounts receivable and payable, but also assisting with various other projects as needed. Janel has a background in public relations and marketing and holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Towson University. When Janel is not at ACLT she keeps busy with her husband and three young kids – you might spot them at various community events.
Alyssa Matanin, Southern Maryland Conservation Alliance Coordinator
alyssa@acltweb.org
Alyssa joined ACLT in 2020 as one of our Chesapeake Conservation Corp interns. In addition to managing Double Oak Farm, Alyssa was very involved in the formation of SMCA and continues to support and coordinate among the 34 member organizations from throughout Southern Maryland. Alyssa also works closely with the three watershed “friends groups” currently active in Calvert County. Alyssa grew up in Ellicott City, MD and moved to Philadelphia for college, graduating from Saint Joseph’s University with a degree in Environmental Science.
2021-2022 Chesapeake Conservation Corp Interns
Clara works closely with Autumn on Land Management projects. Read more about her in our Winter 2022 Newsletter.
Mary spends part of her time as Manager of Double Oak Farm and the remainder assisting Greg on special projects. Read more about her in our Winter 2022 Newsletter.
Volunteer Staff
Virginia ‘Ginny’ Murphy, Membership Coordinator
ACLT has relied on Ginny Murphy to coordinate the ACLT membership program since soon after its inception. Ginny knows many of our members personally and is in an excellent position to keep our database up to date and accurate. She is now a seasoned veteran, working on the third iteration of ACLT’s computerized database. Ginny says, “As for my work with ACLT, I believe deeply in its mission of preservation and I have had a special love for this area since my parents built our cabin at Scientists Cliffs in 1948. As Membership Coordinator, I feel I can at least help in some small way in getting people involved to help with our endeavors.”
ACLT Board of Directors
The ACLT is a nonprofit corporation governed by a Board of Directors that meets bi-monthly. The corporation has an Annual Meeting of the membership each year to report on the business of the corporation and to elect new board members. The Board is served by five standing committees that oversee Land Preservation, Land Management, Outreach & Membership, Administration & Fundraising, and Budget & Finance.
David Farr, President
Department of Agriculture, Biologist, Retired
Dawn Balinski, Vice President
Elected Member of the Calvert County Board of Education
Cheryl Place, CPA, Treasurer
Director of Internal Audit, The Nature Conservancy, Retired
Elizabeth (BL) Johnston, Corporate Secretary
GAO Congressional Affairs Liaison to the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Senate Committee on Government Affairs and Homeland Security, Retired
Richard Aldrich, CCE/A
Lead Cost Analyst, Naval Solutions Incorporated
Walter Boynton, Ph.D
Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES)
Denise Breitburg, Ph.D
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Senior Scientist, Retired
Stephen Cloak Jr.,
Senior Technical Specialist, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Peter Daly
Pastor, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., Retired
Bob Field
U.S. Postal Operations Director, Retired
Darlene Harrod
U.S. Department of Navy, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Retired
Ronald Klauda
Division Director at Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Retired
Shirley Knight
U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Retired
Penny Moran
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Director of Participant Services, Retired
Nathan (Nate) Novotny
Financial Advisor, Edward Jones Investments
Birgit Sharp
Social Worker & Educator, Retired
Suzanne Shelden
Shelden Studios, Owner/Artist
Robyn Truslow
Public Relations Coordinator & IT Supervisor at Calvert Library
Frederick Tutman
Riverkeeper & CEO, Patuxent Riverkeeper
Randi Vogt
Calvert County Department of Planning & Zoning, Principal Planner, Retired
