AMHERST LAND TRUST - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Freelance Journalist
Bill is a freelance journalist, author, and book consultant who writes about management, health care, and the environment. Among Bill's books are Merchants of Virtue (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), the story of the making of a sustainable company, and Nature's Keepers (Jossey-Bass, 2005), the story of the world's largest environmental group, the Nature Conservancy. Bill's writing has appeared in Chief Executive, CFO, Fast Company, Strategy + Business, and other magazines.
Bill and his wife, Suzanne, have lived in Amherst since 1989. Bill served as a youth soccer coach and scout leader for many years. Bill spends his free time in the outdoors, hiking, skiing, and canoeing, and has traveled widely in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America to remote and mountainous regions.
He blogs about book writing at www.billbirchard.com
Christopher was raised in Amherst and has spent most of his life in the area, having also lived in Germany and Arizona. He works for the New Hampshire Department of Safety and is a Captain at Amherst Fire Rescue, where he has served since 2007. Christopher volunteers as Chairman of the Amherst Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Commissioner of the Amherst Village Historic District, and Chairman of the Friends of the Souhegan Valley Rail Trail.
He received his master's degree in Intelligence Studies from American Military University and his bachelor's degree in both Political Science and International Affairs from the University of New Hampshire. His primary interests are infrastructure design and travelling, where he has been fortunate enough to visit about 45 countries around the world, usually admiring local infrastructure.
Since moving to Amherst in 1979, Cynthia Dokmo has immersed herself in town affairs, volunteering in various capacities. She has served on the Planning Board, the Amherst School Board, was moderator of the Souhegan School District and represented Amherst in the NH Legislature. She has recently rejoined the Planning Board and also is a Cemetery Trustee. Cynthia was a member of the Amherst Land Trust in the 90's, at the time when the late Betty Arnold rejuvenated it. After a lengthy hiatus, Cynthia is honored to return to the land trust, and participate in its mission.
George and his wife Jackie have lived in Amherst for more than 30 years. He has served on the Amherst Land Trust Board of Trustees since 1997.
George earned his Ph.D at Michigan State University and as a principal in ESRA Consulting, provides scientific, technical, and regulatory services to industrial facilities. George twice served as chairman of the U.S. Commission on Science and Technology at conferences with the former Soviet Union and has provided committee testimony to the US Congress on technology issues. Dr. Bower has frequently served as a human factors expert in industrial, product safety and traffic accident cases. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pennichuck Corporation and is the co-inventor of a patented, high-performance oil/water separation and recovery system.
Gordon is a land planner and landscape architect who has practiced in New Hampshire for most of his 40 year career. He is a graduate in Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois, and is a licensed Landscape Architect in New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts. He specializes in complex land use entitlements, land planning, community planning, environmental restoration and sustainable design. His public service includes 18 years of service on the Amherst Planning Board, membership on the PlanNH Board of Directors, Chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Landscape Architects and the Souhegan River Local Advisory Committee. Gordon has lived in Amherst for over 20 years.
Jay and his family have lived in Amherst since 1988, and he has been a Trustee of the Amherst Land Trust since 1997. He has served as an Amherst Selectman and on the Amherst Ways and Means. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a member of the Milford Rotary Club. He is on the Boards of Opportunity Networks, Greater Nashua United Way and Education For All Children. He also serves as a Trustee on the Bean Foundation. A New Hampshire native, Jay and his wife, Toni, have two grown daughters who were raised in Amherst. He is Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending for Enterprise
Jim LaBelle joined the ALT board in 2021 after a 40-year career in printing and magazine print production, including 6 years as Production Director for Fast Company Magazine. In 2003, Jim created Process Production Services, a magazine consulting business. In the years since, he has helped clients such as Atlantic Media, Harvard Business Review and MIT Technology Review with issue production, workflow challenges and print contract negotiation. His primary interests these days are in creating documentary films, and hiking or mountain bike riding on Amherst's extensive trail system. He lives in Amherst with his spouse Martha Whitney. Jim and Martha have long held interests in conservation, land preservation and renewable energy.
Matt has served as trustee since 2019. He spent his formative years in Amherst. He is currently the Residential Director at Nashua Children's Home, having worked there since 2008. Matt graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Criminology. Matt likes to spend time outdoors, having hiked all 48 of the NH 4000 footers in 2013, and is currently working towards completing other hiking lists. Matt also enjoys traveling with his wife and friends, and many ski adventures during the winter months.
Serving on the Amherst Land Trust since 2017, Megan and her family reside in the heart of Amherst. First in her family to graduate college, she earned her B.A. from Lehigh University. She is a mother to three young children, she seeks to find ways to continue maintaining open spaces in nature that families can enjoy for years to come. She and her family are active in Scouts BSA and makes use of many outdoor spaces mentoring environmental stewardship within the organization. She also serves in the New Hampshire Legislature as a State Representative and was first elected in 2018.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Founding Partner of Brayman
Ron is a founding partner of Brayman, Houle, Keating & Albright, PLLC where he specializes in the area of individual, partnership and corporate taxation. He has considerable experience with easements and other land-related tax issues. Ron is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. He received his Master of Science in Taxation from Bentley College and B.S. in Accounting from Plymouth State College. Ron is an avid skier and general outdoor enthusiast. He and his wife, Ann Foster, live in Amherst Village.
Ryan has served as trustee since 2018. He grew up in Amherst, where a significant portion of his family still lives. He is currently Vice President and Credit Manager for Eastern Bank. Additionally, Ryan serves as a Land Steward for Society for the Protection of NH Forests and graduated from Wagner College with a degree in Business Administration.
Sally has lived in Amherst since she and her husband, Tom, built their house on a piece of family land in 1981. (Tom is a descendent of several of the founding families of Amherst.) They maintain a small homestead on Green Road and run the family business, a sawmill started by Edward Hartshorn in 1808.