Staff

The Otsego Land Trust hired its first full-time staff member in 2002. Today, our small, but growing team includes professionals with extensive conservation experienceacquired with organizations working at the local, regional and national level.

Executive Director

Peter oversees the Otsego Land Trust’s efforts to protect land in Otsego, southern Herkimer and northern Delaware Counties. Before joining Otsego Land Trust, he worked for over 10 years with The Nature Conservancy in the Lassen Foothills of northern California, where he managed extensive conservation lands, restored streamside forests, coordinated fire management efforts, and monitored conservation easements before joining the Land Trust in late 2006.  Peter holds a Bachelor degree from Dartmouth College and Masters degree in land resources from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and currently serves on the Land Trust Alliance’s New York Advisory Board. He lives with his wife, Sharon, and their son, Luke in the Upper Otego Creek watershed, where they are restoring a historic farmstead.

Field Representative

Connie works with local landowners to protect and steward their cherished lands. She has also worked as a botanist for the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy in New York and has compiled the first comprehensive flora of Otsego County. Connie serves as a board member for the New York Flora Association and has extensive administrative experience as a former postmaster. Connie has a Bachelor degree in plant science from Cornell University, and a Masters degree in biology from State University of New York–Oneonta. Connie lives in the 1792 Butterfield Tavern, known locally as the White House, overlooking Upper Otego Creek. She has two grown daughters, Jane and Sally, and three grandchildren, Quincy, Sam, and Liana.

Field Representative

Joe works with the Otsego Land Trust and local landowners to protect and steward their cherished lands on a part-time, volunteer basis and also serves on the Land Trust board. He retired from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2007 and has extensive experience in natural resource conservation with county, state, federal agencies and non-profit conservation organizations, having helped initiate conservation of the Rome Sand Plains near Utica. Since 2004, he has served the Land Trust in a variety of capacities. Joe holds Associate and Bachelor degrees in biology from State University of New York–Cobleskill and –Oneonta. Joe lives with his wife Jane along the Susquehanna River, where together they raised their daughter Sheila, who is also a biologist.