2021 Speakers
Week 1: Open Space From Planning to Implementation – March 4, 2021 at 2:00pm-3:30pm
Melissa Cryan is the Grants Program Supervisor at the Division of Conservation Services where she oversees municipal and non-profit open space and recreation grant programs. She directly administers the PARC, Land and Water Conservation Fund, and Conservation Partnership Grant Programs. She also reviews municipal Open Space and Recreation Plans.
Rebecca Longvall is the Conservation Agent for Bolton, MA.
Kristina Madsen is a Keystone Cooperator in Southampton, MA. She has worked with land trusts, municipal boards, and local volunteers to advocate for and protect open space throughout her town.
Week 2: Protecting and Building Resilience in Local Green Spaces – March 11, 2021 at 2:00pm-3:30pm
Jennifer Hughes is the Environmental Program Manager at Merrimack Valley Planning Commission. She has an extensive wetlands and conservation background with experience in wetland delineation, stormwater management, environmental permitting, open space management and climate resiliency activities. Jennifer has assisted both Ipswich and North Andover with open space acquisition projects and in updating their wetlands bylaws. She is also a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC).
Robert O’Connor is the Director of the Division of Conservation Services for the state environmental agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has a B.S. in Forestry from S.U.N.Y Syracuse, an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Mediation at UMass, Boston. He coordinates land and forest conservation efforts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was the statewide Director of the Watershed Initiative and the Director of Natural Resources at Metropolitan District Commission of Boston.
Vandana Rao is the Director of Water Policy at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. She has over 20 years of experience in watershed related planning, management, and protection; water quantity and quality improvements; water conservation, stormwater mitigation; low impact development; nutrient management; and habitat protection and restoration. She is currently the chair of the Drought Management Task Force, and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Commission providing guidance on water resources, and climate change adaptation and resilience.
Week 3: How to Build and Maintain Trails and Increase Recreation – March 18, 2021 at 2:00pm-3:30pm
Malcolm MacGregor, a longtime Plymouth, MA resident, chairs the Plymouth Planning Board and is a member of the Plymouth Open Space Committee. He is a member of Wildlands Trust, where he leads monthly hikes and does all of their trail and parcel mapping. He has always enjoyed hiking and the outdoors, and since his retirement from a professorship at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, he has dedicated his time to protecting open spaces as well as building, maintaining, connecting, and mapping trails throughout Plymouth to bring the community into outdoor spaces.
Tom Chamberland is the Chair of the Massachusetts Recreational Trails Advisory Board (MARTAB). He is certified in Universal Trail Assessment (UTAP) and has been working on trail development and construction with a focus on community partnerships and accessible trail standards since 2000. Tom retired from the Army Corps of Engineers as their regional trail expert. He is now with MARTAB and the Sturbridge Trails Committee, and he has helped to develop a series of regional rail trails in MA. He is also a reviewer of MassTrails grant applications.
Week 4: How to Conduct Outreach, Network, and Maintain Relationships – March 25, 2021 at 2:00pm-3:30pm
Dave Small, a lifelong MA resident, is president of the 280-member Athol Bird and Nature Club and currently Director of the Millers River Environmental Center. Dave shares his passion for birds, butterflies, dragonflies and most recently moths, through workshops, lectures, and field trips around New England. He has organized biological inventories finding and documenting state listed species for the MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, various conservation organizations, US Army Corps of Engineers, and local communities. For over a 30-year period, he was responsible for the creation of more than 300 acres of open field habitat in the Quabbin and Ware River Watersheds. Retired in 2013 Dave is able to continue to share his passion with others and serve on the Athol Open Space Committee.
Colin Novick is a Worcester native and an alumnus of the University of Chicago. Serving as the Executive Director of the Greater Worcester Land Trust (GWLT), he has pursued conservation for the past two decades. Colin has also served the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition (as Secretary, Chair, and Chef) and worked with the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Bolton Land Trust, and the Regional Environmental Council. He serves as a deacon for the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the Diocese of Worcester.
Robert McArthur is the Conservation Administrator and Director for the Conservation and Open Space Division of the City of Framingham. Robert has more than 30 years of experience in conservation land management, planning, environmental permitting, and park interpretation. He is also an avid photographer in his spare time.