Staff and Board and Contact Info

Alan Stearns – Executive Director

Email: Alan@RRCT.org
Cell: (207) 215-8315
Mail: P.O. Box 90, Yarmouth, ME 04096
Office: 52 North Rd., Yarmouth

Alan has served as Executive Director of the Royal River Conservation Trust since November 2011. He previously worked at the Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands and in other roles in state government. He previously served on the boards of Maine Historical Society, Maine Island Trail Association, Northern Forest Canoe Trail, and other organizations. Alan holds degrees from the University of Maine School of Law, the University of Maine, and Brown University. He grew up in Old Town and now lives in Hallowell with his husband Austin Brown.

Dave Beers – Director of Development

Email: Dave@RRCT.org 
Phone: (207) 572-2027
Mail: P.O. Box 90, Yarmouth, ME 04096
Office: 52 North Rd., Yarmouth

Dave Beers began work for RRCT in November 2022. Prior to returning to Maine and joining Royal River Conservation Trust, Dave served in a variety of constituent engagement and fundraising roles with educational institutions in New England and the Pacific Northwest including ten years at Colby, his alma mater, and seventeen years as Vice President for University Relations at the University of Puget Sound where he led the $131 million One [of a Kind] Campaign. When not on the trails in the Royal River watershed, Dave is most likely to be sailing in Casco Bay.

Vacant — Stewardship Director

Email: TBD (vacant) 
Phone: TBD (vacant)
Mail: P.O. Box 90, Yarmouth, ME 04096
Office: 52 North Rd., Yarmouth

Please join us thanking Chad Fierros for an exceptional job. Chad left RRCT in late April 2023 for a new job with a land trust in south eastern New Hampshire, after joining RRCT in January 2021.

Recruiting information for RRCT’s now-open position is at the top of this page.

The position of Stewardship Director includes all aspects of planning and management of RRCT’s conservation land and conservation easements. The position leads key partnerships with town parks, state parks, local schools, and others. The position oversees several volunteer programs to bring more capacity to RRCT’s stewardship efforts, and leads initiatives toward ecological restoration, social equity, low-impact recreation, and more.

Adam Pereira — Conservation Director

Email: Adam@RRCT.org 
Phone: (207) 809-9103
Mail: P.O. Box 90, Yarmouth, ME 04096
Office: 52 North Rd., Yarmouth

Adam’s job as Conservation Director includes all aspects of land conservation including donations and purchase of conservation land, conservation easements, and agricultural conservation easements. He leads conservation planning initiatives for RRCT and key partnerships with the watershed’s seven towns to assist with town land conservation goals and projects.

Adam joined RRCT in February 2021. He is originally from Virginia and received a B.S. from Virginia Tech, starting a design career building websites and apps. After traveling across the country and hiking the Pacific Crest and Appalachian trails, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning a Master of Science in Environmental Conservation. He has a background in conservation/strategic planning and cares deeply about participatory efforts that cultivate a communal relation and respect for place. He lives in Topsham with his partner and dog, Maize.

Emily Sneath Jones – President  

Emily has served on RRCT’s board since 2019, leading adoption of the organization’s new strategic plan, new conservation plan, and expanded staffing. Emily holds degrees from Williams and Harvard. She served as a Trustee of Merrill Memorial Library. She has worked as an educator in Santiago, Boston, and Yarmouth, and also as a business owner, consultant, and ski instructor. Emily and her husband Spencer live on the Royal River estuary in Yarmouth where they raised four sons. Her love of the outdoors began at a family home abutting vast conserved forestland in Vermont, and continues today as a runner on the West Side Trail and at Bradbury Mountain.

Robert Greenleaf — Vice President

Rob joined RRCT’s board in 2018 with passions for land stewardship and the ecology of Casco Bay. He grew up on Littlejohn Island in Yarmouth, where he lives today with his wife Rebecca and their three children. Rob has degrees from Connecticut College and Maine Law, working as a a consulting attorney for clients including the National State Attorneys General Program and its successor organization, StateAG.org. Rob returned to Maine from Manhattan in 2014.

Jeff Verrill – Executive Committee 

Jeff is an insurance industry executive, an avid fly fisherman, and enjoys golf and bird hunting. He grew up in Yarmouth where with his wife Anne he raised his family.

Mark Power — Director and Past President

Professionally, Mark brings 30 years of diverse engineering and operational experience. The first 15 years of his career was spent as an engineering officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Mark was born in Maine and spent much of his youth as a farmhand on a Holstein farm in Falmouth. Today he is an avid fly-fisherman, hunter, hiker, boater, and outdoor enthusiast. He enjoys spending time with his adult children, working on his small organic farm in New Gloucester and recreational lobstering on Casco Bay. 

Mark is a former chair of the land management planning committee for the town of New Gloucester and is a longtime RRCT volunteer. He was very involved in fundraising and support of both the Pisgah Hill and Lower Village conservation projects.

Bill Dunn – Secretary

Bill Dunn created Sunset Point, LLC, in 2007 to continue part-time consulting in the electric utility industry after a long career and until his retirement in 2022.  He holds engineering degrees and an MBA.  Bill served for nine years on the Board of The Iris Network, providing services to the visually impaired.  He is active in the Rotary Club of Yarmouth, through which he participates in the development and growth of Yarmouth’s West Side Trail.  A resident of Yarmouth since 1998, he is also a member of its Committee for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability.  Bill is a skier and a passionate outdoorsman.

Ed Gervais – Director

Ed Gervais founded and owns an engineering firm, Cascon. He has previously served on the Planning Board of the Town of North Yarmouth. He holds degrees from Yale University. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife Joyce.

Steve Barr – Director

Steve is an orthopedic surgeon with a passion for rivers and paddling. Born in Taiwan but with Maine family roots for 300 years, he lives in North Yarmouth with his wife Martha Leggat. Steve has degrees from Princeton and the University of Massachusetts, with work experience including medical service to military personnel and also to the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni tribes.

Terry DeWan – Director

Terry has over 40 years of professional experience in landscape architecture and community development. He has written open space and river corridor plans for the Towns of Yarmouth, Brunswick, and Falmouth, including the Royal River Master Plan for Yarmouth. He is a statewide leader on topics including park design, trail design,  interpretive planning, and public art.

His involvement on the Royal River goes back to the 1970’s, when he designed the Royal River Park in Yarmouth on the site of the old Forest City Paper mill. Terry recently was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (the first in the state), and receive the Excellence Award from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects.

He lives next to Pisgah Hill Preserve in New Gloucester with his wife Nancy Wines-DeWan.

Christine Force –  Director 

Christine was born in Maine with an endless passion for exploring Maine’s outdoors. She has sailed, fished, canoed, kayaked, and hiked throughout the state. She works for Freeport Community Services. Her professional experience includes many years working in marketing and community relations at Hannaford Supermarkets, and more recently an extensive history of community support in development and non-profit management that includes managing development at Good Shepherd Food Bank where her team led the creation of purchase partnerships with 20 Maine farms. Christine is Co-Chair of the Royal River Alliance. She has served on the boards of the Maine Commission for Community Service, Maine Association of Nonprofits and Center for Grieving Children. Christine has a BA degree in English/Philosophy from the University of Southern Maine. She lives in Yarmouth with her partner Tom Cox.

Bob Humphrey — Director

Bob is a certified wildlife biologist, former refuge manager, Registered Maine Guide, and a freelance outdoor writer and photographer for publications including Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Vermont Outdoors, Northwoods Sporting Journal, Birder’s World, Grouse Point Almanac, Wildfowl, Bowhunter, Bowhunting, Bow & Arrow Hunting, North American Whitetail, American Hunter, North American Hunter, Turkey Call, Turkey Country and others. Field Editor: Outdoor Life, Petersen’s Bowhunting, Buckmasters. Formerly a board member of the Pownal Land Trust, Bob lives with his wife on Poland Range Road in Pownal.

David Kitchen — Director

David has been a real estate agent based in Yarmouth since 1983. He recently served as a Trustee of Merrill Memorial Library.  With an education in law and a land conservation passion including summers on his island on a lake in New Hampshire, he lives in Yarmouth with his partner of many years Diane Jenkins.   

Heather Wiggins Berger – Director

Heather moved to Yarmouth in 2020 and leads global campus system marketing strategy for Northeastern University. Her prior work experience includes roles at Amazon.com, The Trust for Public Land, Best Buy, and Deloitte. She has an MBA from the University of Michigan, MA from Emerson College, and BA from Smith College. Heather previously served for 4 years as the founding Board President of Girls on the Run – Twin Cities. On weekends you’re likely to find Heather and her family out on the trails at Big Falls Preserve, Elmwood Trails, or Pratt’s Brook Park.

Beth Sturtevant – Executive Committee

Beth was born and raised in Milo, Maine on a 100-acre family farm.

She is a civil engineer, and former principal owner of CCB Construction Services. Beth’s civic commitments include serving as past Chair of the Town of Yarmouth’s Parks & Lands Committee, as Board Treasurer of AGC Maine, and more.

She has lived in Yarmouth since 2009 and previously North Yarmouth since 1995 with her wife, Tania Jo Sturtevant. Beth championed the campaign to create Yarmouth’s new Riverfront Woods Preserve.

Rob Wood – Executive Committee

Rob and his wife Gay Peterson built their house in North Yarmouth in 1980. He is retired after a career as a teacher, GED Administrator, and director of Portland Adult Education. A past member of the North Yarmouth Select Board (2007-2013), Rob has also served on various town committees including Budget, Recycling, Communications, and Foreclosure. Rob is a long-time member of RRCT and an avid paddler.

 Steve McPike — Treasurer

Steve McPike grew up on a 200-acre farm and woodlands on the Canadian border in Washington County. While spending his college years at UConn in Connecticut he began to see the value of open space and the dangers of not protecting it. Recently retired, Steve had a dual career in pharmacy and data technology. He served as director of pharmacy for Maine and New Hampshire at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. His technology career included health data warehousing for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and creating a business intelligence department for InterMed in Portland. Steve has served in a variety of volunteer roles including Gray Library Trustee, Gray Community Endowment Trustee, Big Brother, and technology project contributor for Portland Trails and Maine Historical Society. His trail work includes founding the Libby Hill Trail system in Gray in 1999 and serving multiple roles for the Friends of Libby Hill. Steve lives in Gray with his wife Doreen and enjoys studying nature, hiking, kayaking, Maine history and gardening.

 Melinda Sheehee — Board Nominee and Member, Engagement & Fundraising Committee

Melinda is a corporate lawyer working as General Counsel for Diversified Communications. She has served on non-profit boards including the Maine Women’s Fund and Maine Boys to Men. She served on the Gorham Zoning Board of Appeals and the Gorham Planning Board, and currently serves on the Gray Planning Board. She lives in Gray, and is an avid trail runner, hiker, hunter, and outdoor enthusiast who is always encouraging others (especially her son) to get outside.

Melissa Libby — Board Nominee and Member, Engagement & Fundraising Committee

Melissa works for Bath Savings Institution as the Vice President Branch Manager in Yarmouth. She grew up in Pownal and settled in Durham to raise her two kids with her husband Michael. Melissa is often found walking with her dogs, hunting, fishing, hanging out at her camp in northern Maine or working with her horses and donkeys. She has previously served in non-profit leadership positions with the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce and other non-profit organizations.

 Ellen Tobias — Chair, Stewardship Committee (non-Board)

Ellen serves as the non-Board Chair of RRCT’s Stewardship Committee, leading a committee of Board members, staff, and community volunteers. She lives in Yarmouth with her wife, spending winters at a family farm in Indiana. She retired after a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing, with extensive civic and non-profit service in environmental stewardship, animal welfare, STEM education, and providing food to those in need.