Midcoast Conservancy is thrilled to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors. The all-volunteer Board is a dedicated group who donate their time, expertise, and goodwill to provide organizational oversight and support Midcoast Conservancy’s work protecting and restoring vital lands and waters on a scale that matters.

Former Board member Liz Petruska has rejoined the fold, much to the delight of the organization! Petruska 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, Petruska 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. She received her B.A. in government and public service from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. 

Brent Douglass is a long-time member and volunteer at Midcoast Conservancy. Douglass is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he is on the Alumni Council. He was chief facilities officer at four universities over a 40-year career (operations, maintenance, planning and construction) overseeing staff ranging from 40 to 200 people. As vice president for Development and Facilities at Wintergreen Resort, he oversaw putting in a historic conservation easement. He and his wife Carter put a conservation easement on their Virginia 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. Douglass is an active volunteer with Midcoast Conservancy’s Damariscotta Lake Council, and serves as a Courtesy Boat Inspector and on the Invasive Plant Patrol. Douglass and his wife live in Virginia for half of the year and the other half on Damariscotta Lake.  

Andy Brand graduated from the University of Connecticut with BS and MS degrees in environmental horticulture and plant science, respectively. For 27 years he was employed at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, Connecticut, where he was the nursery manager. In March 2018, Brand joined the staff at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens as curator of Living Collections. His responsibilities included plant selection and introducing new plants to the Gardens’ collection and maintaining plant records and labels. In November 2021, Brand was named director of Horticulture. Brand has put his interest in native plants to use as a volunteer for the New England Plant Conservation Program where he has helped monitor historical sites of endangered native plants and spoken to groups throughout the northeast on a range of topics including native plants, butterfly gardening, and increasing biodiversity in landscapes. He and his wife Michelle live in Bristol, Maine. 

Kathy Stevens has over 20 years in the nonprofit 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. Stevens is a fundraiser, lawyer, community organizer, and trained mediator. As a consultant, she has provided strategic planning facilitation and board development to local nonprofits since 2018. Stevens 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, Maryland. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she also holds a EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a J.D. from the University of Richmond. Stevens lives part time in Maine, in her house on Damariscotta Lake. 

Chris Kenoyer has served as an active council member, steward and property monitor 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, working to ensure safe passage of anadromous fish and preserve the history and vested interests of the community. Kenoyer graduated with a BA in natural resource management from the University of Maine, then worked for both private and public sectors as an interpretive naturalist and guide in New Mexico, the Everglades and New Zealand. In 2004, he 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. When not working in the garden or woods, Kenoyer is often exploring the wilder areas of Maine and Canada, seeking out forgotten portage trails and tuckaway trout ponds.  

Midcoast Conservancy also says farewell (but not good-bye) to departing board members Hugh Riddleburger, Chuck Dinsmore and Tracy Moskovitz, with heartfelt thanks for their tireless efforts and invaluable creativity in leadership. Any organization would be fortunate to have as engaged, passionate, and generous a board as the one that supports Midcoast Conservancy.