About The Board
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The Brewster Ponds Coalition Board is a dedicated group of individuals who are passionate about its pond preservation mission. The Board plans and manages the organization as well as executes all BPC programs. Currently ten individuals serve on the Board, though BPC bylaws permit a maximum of fifteen members. Interested in an enjoyable and rewarding experience as a BPC board member? Email [email protected] with the subject title “Board Member” and a current board member will reach out to you.
Board members pictured, top row: John Keith, Kevin Kearns, Ron Essig, and Susan Bridges. Bottom row: Rob Condon, Nancy Ortiz, Marcia Kielb, and Mary Burke. Missing from photo: Tim Chase and Mary Mauterstock. |
Susan Bridges, President, has been coming to the Cape since the early 70s and retired to Brewster in 2016 after a 30+ year career with MetLife. Susan graduated from American University in Washington DC with a degree in fine arts. She joined The Brewster Ponds Coalition in 2018 and has been actively involved in many aspects of the organization. She is currently a member of the Creative Arts Center of Chatham, the Guild of Chatham Painters, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Past volunteer activities in New Jersey include PTO President, Board of Education member, Family Promise Homeless shelter, and Literacy for America. Susan was also on the Advisory Council for the Great Swamp Watershed Association where she was involved in water quality testing and fundraising.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
John Keith, Vice President, is a founding member of the BPC and a semi-retired environmental engineer. He currently works on assessing and designing clean-up of toxic contamination sites in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America. His long career included positions leading the air and water pollution programs of the New Jersey DEP and the environment, health and safety programs for a major pharmaceutical company. John has a strong interest in helping Brewster develop a plan that addresses long-term water quality concerns, particularly controlling nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that promote toxic algae blooms and growth of invasive species in our ponds. John has been leading a plant harvesting demonstration project to improve water quality in Elbow Pond.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Rob Condon, Treasurer, is president of Longley Associates, Inc., an advisory consultancy firm for businesses in the New England region. Mr. Condon works with business owners to improve operations and profitability, create Lean manufacturing processes and efficiently designed organizations. Prior to starting Longley Associates, Inc. in 2003, he held several Senior Executive positions in the manufacturing arena of the Aerospace and Automotive industries. Rob has held numerous positions in non-profit organizations, collaboration networks, and Economic Development committees. He is the past chairman and president of Hampshire Community Action Commission, Zoning Appeals Chairman for the town of Belchertown, and past executive board member and treasurer for the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. Rob now resides in Brewster (along Lower Mill Pond) and New Orleans with his wife Nancy and has three daughters that live in Nantucket, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. Rob and Nancy are hikers, kayakers, bikers, and dreamers of a clean and happy future. Email: [email protected]
Karyn Frey, Secretary, has a degree in cellular biology, with a minor in business and a specialization in technical/medical writing. She spent every summer on the Cape as a child and moved here in 2017. She has been a volunteer on the Communications Team since 2021 and also is a Citizen Science Team volunteer. Email: [email protected].
Tim Chase graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in computer system engineering. After graduation, Tim became a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Telephone Laboratories where he applied computers to automate toll trunk diagnostics and repair. After working at Bell Labs for seven years, Tim cofounded Corporate Computer Systems, Inc. (CCS) a hardware and software company specializing in satellite communications. He holds patent US6094671 for satellite computer communications. Tim sold CCS to Star Guide Communications and started a boutique software consulting company, Denim Computer Systems, Inc., which specializes in developing mission control and simulation software for the US government. Tim has also served as an adjunct professor at Monmouth University where he taught science courses. Currently Tim, his wife Nancy, and Penny the Cat live in Brewster. Email: [email protected]
Linda Darbyshire, Events Team, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and graduated from Yale University with a master's degree in Psychiatric Liaison Nursing. She is certified as a Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing with an interest in Cancer and End of Life care. She currently has a private practice with a psychopharmacology and therapy focus. Linda and her husband feel fortunate to have lived on a pond on Cape Cod for the past 35 years. Email: [email protected]
Ron Essig, Citizen Science Team Leader, Ron Essig retired in 2018 as a Fish Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hadley, MA after 27 years where he administered marine fisheries research and survey grants to Northeast state fisheries agencies. During the previous 11 years, he worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Washington, DC and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in Brunswick, GA. Ron is a Past President of the American Fisheries Society and several of its subunits. He has a Masters in Fisheries Biology from the University of Massachusetts and is a Certified Fisheries Professional. Ron grew up in New Jersey spending two week vacations each summer in a tent trailer at Nickerson State Park and bought a second home on Long Pond in 2012. Ron started with the Long Pond cyanobacteria sampling team in 2021 and looks forward to his role on the Board. Email: [email protected]
Kevin Kearns, Outreach, has been coming to the Cape for 25 years. He recently retired as Professor Emeritus from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh where, for more than 35 years, he taught courses in nonprofit management and leadership. Kevin joined the board of the Brewster Ponds Coalition in the summer of 2022 and he will be extensively involved in BPC’s efforts to work with the many pond and neighborhood associations in Brewster. Kevin is deeply involved in other volunteer activities and has lectured on nonprofit management in the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Macedonia, Slovakia, and Brazil and has delivered more than 100 seminars to executives and leaders in government, industry, and the nonprofit sector. Kevin is married with two adult children. He enjoys cycling, sailing, and enjoying Brewster’s beautiful ponds. Email: [email protected]
Marcia Kielb, Pond Education Team Leader, was born in the small town of Athol, MA but has spent most of her adult life in the Westfield, MA area. She has always been connected to water in many ways including summering and kayaking on lakes and ponds. Cape Cod has been an integral part of her life. She and her husband, John, have been property owners in Brewster for over 7 years and have spent many beautiful days at Nickerson and on the Brewster beaches! She enjoys biking when her knees permit, loves to swim in beautiful Seymour Pond, other ponds, and the ocean. Marcia has been involved in many non-profit organizations over the years, most recently her church, First Parish Brewster. She is looking forward to helping BPC continue our mission…. protecting our kettle ponds in Brewster. She is the incoming Chairperson of the BPC Education Committee and will be participating as our mascot, Shelly the Turtle, when available!
Email: marcia.kielb@brewsterponds.org
Email: marcia.kielb@brewsterponds.org
