Emma Balazs, Lands & Stewardship Director (she/her)
emma@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o) | 207-200-4621 (c)

Emma Balazs has worked in nonprofit leadership and environmental education since 2010 and has traveled throughout the state of Maine to connect with diverse audiences about the importance of caring for the natural world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Colby College and feels most fulfilled when collaborating with colleagues and the community to further an environmental mission. Emma joined HHLT in 2024 and is thrilled to engage in conservation work with a lasting impact.

Originally from Western Massachusetts, Emma lives in Brunswick with her partner and their dog. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, canoeing and gardening.

Lauren Dumont, Development & Communications Director (she/her)
lauren@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o) | 617-207-7144 (c)

Lauren has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She spent many years in the corporate world as brand manager at SC Johnson and Conagra in Chicago before pivoting in 2020 with a move to Maine and a career change to working with mission-driven organizations. Most recently, Lauren served as Executive Director for Arts Are Elementary, a Brunswick-based nonprofit focused on arts education. After years spent exploring Harpswell’s trails with her family, she is excited to bring her marketing and fundraising experience to HHLT. 

Lauren lives in Brunswick with her husband, 9-year-old daughter, and dog. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking with her family, and competing on her local rowing team.

Brandon Hall, Programs Director (he/him)
brandon@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o) | 207-200-4172 (c)

Brandon grew up on a beef cattle farm in North Carolina. From a young age, he was involved with 4-H programs and summer camps which sent him down a lifelong path of camp and environmental programs. He received his degrees in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (PRTM) at North Carolina State and East Carolina Universities. After several years of working in the industry, he moved overseas to teach at a South Korean middle school. Upon returning to the U.S., Brandon and his wife settled in Portland where he founded and ran a global education non-profit until joining the team at HHLT. Brandon has a passion for programming, and he is excited to focus his joy and creativity on HHLT programs.

From rock climbing to reading a good book under a tree, Brandon loves recreating outdoors during his free time.

Matt Newberg, Executive Director (he/him)
matt@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o) | 207-200-4404 (c)

Matt has a BS in Environmental Education from the University of Vermont and a Certificate of Graduate Study in Leadership Studies from the University of Southern Maine. Matt comes to HHLT after serving as a teacher and administrator at the Hyde School in Bath and as the Head of School at the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley. 

Matt grew up in Harpswell and was excited to return with his family a few years ago. In his spare time, he enjoys backpacking and spending time outdoors.

Kim Van Zorge, Operations Manager (she/her)
info@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o)

Kim grew up in the Florida Keys, where her lifelong connection to the ocean and the outdoors first took root. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, then spent 16 years in Chicago before relocating to Maine in 2021. A year later, she proudly became a Harpswell resident. Inspired by the beauty of the local trails, Kim became involved with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust as a member, volunteer, and contributing photographer for the Harpswell Nature Watchers page. She brings strong leadership and customer service experience to support HHLT and its mission.

In her free time, Kim enjoys hiking—especially sunrise treks along the Cliff Trail—birdwatching, nature photography, native plant gardening, and spending time with her husband and their three cats.

Abby Ward, Salka Impact Land Steward (she/her)
landsteward@hhltmaine.org | 207-721-1121 (o)

Abby grew up in northern Virginia and moved to Maine a few years ago with her family. She has loved nature and the outdoors from a young age, and has recently graduated from Tulane University with a BS in Environmental Biology. Abby has previously worked as a Camp Counselor at Wyonegonic Camps and as a Park Ranger for the City of South Portland, and she is thrilled to be channeling her passion for conservation in her role as a Seasonal Land Steward at HHLT.

In her free time, Abby enjoys weightlifting, birdwatching, playing guitar, and spending time with her two dogs.

Beziko, Office Dog

Beziko, the unofficial mascot of HHLT, is a four-year old Pomeranian with a big personality. He was born in New Hampshire, but has spent most of his life in Harpswell exploring the trails with his family (especially his favorite trail, Curtis Farm Preserve). Inside and outside of work, Beze enjoys napping, scrounging for treats, and exploring nature. He welcomes any and all visitors to the HHLT office, particularly if you give him some attention!

 

 

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Our Board of Trustees

Judy Wallingford, President

Judy Wallingford was born and raised in Maine, and graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine with majors in mathematics and geology. She spent the majority of her career at Maine Water Company, a public water utility, ultimately serving as president for 24 years until her retirement in 2017. While at Maine Water Company, working with land trusts and other groups to preserve important watersheds of drinking water resources, she appreciated the importance of these organizations for the conservation of both ecological and community values. Passionate about her home state, its natural beauty, and the importance of public access, Judy also serves on the boards of Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Coastal Mountains Land Trust, in addition to HHLT. Judy and her significant other, Peter Brann, live on Great Island with four adult children between them. She enjoys tennis, gardening, kayaking, going up to camp, and spending time with her granddaughter and grand dogs.

Tim McCreight, Vice President

Tim McCreight is a designer, metalsmith, teacher and author. He received a B.A. from The College of Wooster and an MFA from Bowling Green State University. He taught full-time for 25 years, first in Massachusetts and then at the Maine College of Art, which brought him to Maine in 1988. Tim has written two dozen books and taught hundreds of workshops throughout the US and in Canada, Japan, Mexico and the UK. He has served on several boards including the Society of North American Goldsmiths and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. He runs a publishing company called Brynmorgen Press. He is co-founder of a nonprofit organization called the Tool box Initiative that collects donated tools that are given to jewelers in West Africa. The program has evolved to also help the families of jewelers by providing a free education to their children. Tim and his wife, Jay have two children and four adult grandchildren.

Lew Hinman, Secretary

Lew Hinman moved to Harpswell from Connecticut, having grown up in a farming community and fruit orchards in particular. He has a BS in Environmental Studies and an MBA in International Business, and spent 35 years in business development and strategic planning with aerospace, pollution control technology and precision manufacturing companies, including two assignments in England. He was also on the Environmental Technology Board of the Maine Technology Institute. He is currently supporting two start-up companies in strategic planning, as well as contributing the occasional crossword puzzle to The Anchor. Lew spends as much time outdoors as possible fly-fishing, bike riding and traveling. He and his wife Krista live in South Harpswell year-round and have two children, one on each coast.

Ed Robinson, Treasurer

Ed Robinson grew up in a small farming community near the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York State. With degrees in management and marketing, Ed spent his career working in the fields of photography, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and aquaculture. His assignments included stints in Mexico, Australia, Singapore and 14 years in England. In 2004, Ed realized a dream by acquiring an old farm in central New York where he could pursue his interests in wildlife habitat management. He now spends many weeks each year in the woods and fields, planting trees, shrubs and food plots, while creating forest openings and water features to increase the carrying capacity of the land for wildlife. Ed and his wife, Mary, live on Orr’s Island in Harpswell enjoying the friendly people and beautiful places in the state, and activities such as lobstering, hiking, fly fishing and hunting. In his spare time, Ed is a board member of Maine Operation Game Thief, writes for the Harpswell Anchor and is working on a third book in the popular Nature Notes series.

Nathan Ackerman

Nathan Ackerman is a media producer and message strategist who began his career at ABC NEWS/Good Morning America before serving as the producer for the Democratic Leadership under Senator Tom Daschle and Senator Harry Reid. In his subsequent role as Creative Director at Washington, D.C. based public affairs firms, he was responsible for turning complex policy challenges into winning campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, national non-profits and environmental organizations. He holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of New Hampshire and has lectured at The George Washington University, American University and Maryland Institute College of Art. Nathan restores historic properties “for fun”, is an obsessive record collector, and can often be found on HHLT trails, attempting, but mostly failing, to capture the beauty of Harpswell on his iPhone. He’s been a member of HHLT’s Lands Committee since 2021.

Jenny Baca

Jenny Baca grew up in Texas, with deep family roots in New Mexico. She spent her summers camping in the national and state parks across the Southwest, where she first smelled the deliciousness of a desert rainstorm, wondered at the star-filled sky, and developed a healthy fear of bears. She is a human geographer interested in the intersection of social (in)justice and the environment. For the past five years, she worked in environmental consulting, supporting the U.S. Agency for International Development’s global conservation and climate programming through research, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and organizational learning. In her past life as an academic, she lived off and on in Chile, researching the participation of the rural working class in the governance of Chile’s native forests during socialism, dictatorship, and democracy. From 2015 to 2017, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Bowdoin’s Latin American Studies and Environmental Studies programs, where she taught courses examining the relationship between people, power, and place. She is happy to be back in Maine and cannot believe that the beauty of Harpswell is less than ten minutes from her home in Brunswick.

Brooke Barnes

Brooke Barnes is retired from more than 36 years of public and private experience in the field of environmental regulation. Brooke’s 15 years of professional experience at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection included extensive work in enforcement, policy development and implementation, licensing, rulemaking, leadership development, and organizational change. In addition to his regulatory experience, he served on the Governor’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force, as Acting Chief Counsel to Governor King, and was a Leadership Instructor for the Maine Management Institute, building professional leaders and managers in state government. During his subsequent career as a private consultant in Topsham, Brooke offered Stantec clients practical expertise in evaluating critical permitting issues for their projects, developing permit applications, conducting negotiations with state and federal agencies, and assisting in expert witness testimony preparation. He was appointed to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection in 2026. Raised on a farm in Sebago, the garden is still his happy place. He works at Longfellows Greenhouses in the spring, in the summer months can sometimes be found washing dishes at a midcoast restaurant, in the fall visits his kids for a Colorado music festival, and in the winter enjoys skiing and snowshoeing.

John Boomer

John Boomer grew up in the Big Apple, which might not be the ideal launch pad for a life-long conservationist but he had a lucky break in his youth. His parents packed him off to summer camps in the Adirondack Mountains, 5.5 million acres of free-flowing rivers, diverse wildlife, and big skies over tall mountains. When it was time for college, John chose the Green Mountain state, attending Goddard College in northern Vermont to earn his teaching certification. The die was cast, and John soon found himself in Maine working in alternative education. His passion for conservation led to John to help organize the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club. With that foundation, John moved on to the board of directors for the Natural Resources Council of Maine and later was a founding member of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust. By 1999 John settled in Harpswell and for has been a stalwart supporter of HHLT, now serving in his fourth term as trustee where he is a long-time member of the Development and Building & Grounds committees. His commitment to community engagement brought John to a leadership role in the transformational HHLT Community Viewpoints survey and more recently John championed a community survey that formed the basis for relaunching the Harpswell Anchor newspaper.

Charlie Hancock

Charlie Hancock was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the suburbs. His love for the Maine coast started when his family chartered a sailboat and cruised up the coast of Maine at the age of six, and ever since he has had the dream to build a house there. Fifty years later, in 2011, he fulfilled that dream by starting the process of building his house on the Maine coast, largely with his own hands. He graduated from Cornell with a degree in architecture and has worked as a registered architect in both large and small firms, working on pharmaceutical research labs, hospitals, very high-end corporate offices, restaurants, and as a self-employed architect with small scale developer and private residential projects. His favorite job was teaching fourth year architecture and interior design plus several building tech courses at Philadelphia University for fourteen years. Charlie has worked with several volunteer organizations in a variety of roles including Bright Feathers, a camp for children infected and affected by AIDS, the Franklin Inn Club, a writers and arguer’s club, the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, and the Gazela, Philadelphia’s 177 FT wooden three masted barkentine. His other passions include his wife and dogs, anything maritime especially boat design, marine resources, and sailing, cooking, and music.

Jamie Hark

Jamie is a landscape architect, drone pilot and cartographer with a lifelong love for the coastal environment. He brings a background in environmental science, fine arts, and outdoor education to his many endeavors. His current work at Acorn Engineering focuses on adaptive landscape design for Maine coastal homeowners and municipalities in the context of climate change. He has led workshops in Harpswell and around the state on coastal erosion and hybrid shoreline stabilization techniques. Jamie is a member of Harpswell Conservation Commission and the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership’s Management Committee and is a hand-made map artist and drone photographer on the side. In his spare time, you’ll find him outside in all seasons with his wife and daughter, paddleboarding across Harpswell’s bays and exploring our town’s natural wonders. HHLT’s trails brought Jamie and his family to Harpswell, and he is excited to support the ongoing work of this vital community amenity.

Alicia Pulsifer Heyburn

Alicia Pulsifer Heyburn is a fifth-generation Harpswell landowner and is forever grateful that her father’s generation made an early decision to permanently conserve the Quahog Bay land binds the family together. Alicia holds an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and has built a career at the intersection of land stewardship, community engagement, and family decision-making. She has worked as staff or board member for organizations dedicated to access and caring for the outdoors, including Teens to Trails, Maine GearShare, the Maine Island Trail Association, and several local land trusts. Her work has ranged from community-based projects—like connecting coastal landowners with oyster growers and supporting fish passage restoration—to facilitating collaborative planning processes for families who share land and legacy. As founder of Maine Land Legacy, Alicia now advises Maine families on succession planning, conservation options, and the design of operating agreements that help families enjoy shared properties while avoiding divisive logistics.

Lew Incze

Lewis (Lew) Incze grew up in Lewiston, Maine and summered on a small island in Casco Bay, a place his family treasured for almost 60 years. The island inspired his love of the coast and his education in ecology (Cornell University) and graduate degrees in Oceanography (Univ. of Maine) and Fisheries-Oceanography (Univ. of Washington). He spent his career as an oceanographer specializing in the interaction between the physical environment and planktonic processes in the Bering Sea, North Pacific, North Atlantic, and the Gulf of Maine. He has led and participated in numerous national and international programs. His career includes appointments at the University of Washington, at two NOAA laboratories in Seattle, and at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the University of Maine, and the National Science Foundation. He and his wife Liz lived for more than 30 years in Cumberland , Maine, and moved to Harpswell in 2017. He is an avid boater, hiker, and skier, enjoying history, art, science, and travel. Despite his focus on the sciences, he has always been interested in the application of knowledge to conservation and planning. He began his first term as a board member of HHLT in 2025 after several years as a steward at Skolfield Shores.

Jason Leese

Jason Leese, born in England and raised in Greater Boston, fell in love with Harpswell the moment he came across that perfect sweeping left bend entering Orr’s Island while riding his bike. A couple years later, Jason and his wife, Whitney, purchased a home on Gun Point in Harpswell. When not enjoying everything our rocky coastline has to offer, he lives in Cambridge, MA, currently working as a strategist in the finance industry. Jason previously worked in various go-to-market and strategy roles in the pharmaceutical, banking, automotive, and tech industries. Jason is committed to advancing HHLT’s mission and ensuring that access to Harpswell’s beauty is preserved for generations.

Sharon Oehmig

Sharon Oehmig and her husband Ken moved to Harpswell in 2005 and immediately became fans of HHLT’s work through enjoying its trails. Starting as a volunteer community steward, her appreciation for HHLT’s mission deepened after becoming a Trustee and seeing the many ways the Trust contributes to Harpswell and surrounding communities.  She currently serves on the Stewardship, Finance, and Lands committees, and has also served as Secretary and Treasurer. Sharon is involved in several Town of Harpswell committees and eagerly looks forward to the HHLT & Town’s Harspwell Hiking Challenge each year. Sharon has spent her career in nonprofit administration at large and small nonprofits in the Boston and Portland areas. She is also a board member of Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine in Bath and currently works in the finance department at Biodiversity Research Institute in Portland. In addition to hiking, Sharon and Ken enjoy kayaking, paddle boarding, and cross-country skiing.

Sven Pulsifer

A Harpswell native, Sven grew up exploring woods and coastal waters with an affinity to nature and curiosity to all of its parts. A childhood home surrounded by forest and heated with hand-split firewood led to a B.S. in Forest Ecosystem Science with a minor in Sustainable Agriculture. Travel, work, and volunteering stints with the Forest Service and on Italian farms broadened an interest in land management and the variability of conservation. Competing in timbersports while at college introduced him to arboriculture and a knot-filled profession that combines aesthetics, applied physics, and ecology. Along with running a tree care business he enjoys milling lumber, carving, hiking, foraging mushrooms, and bow hunting. Sven lives in Harpswell with his wife and adventurous daughter.

Pat Richardson

Pat Richardson grew up in Maine and started her career in the newspaper business while in high school, working at The Kennebec Journal in Augusta. Over her career Pat served as the publisher for several newspapers, including The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA), The Capital Gazette (Annapolis, MD), The Carroll County Times (Westminster, MD) and The Day (New London, CT). Pat also held the position of Vice President of Strategy/Associate Publisher with the Times-Union (Albany, NY). Pat holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Maine and a MBA from the University of Louisville. Upon retiring in 2021, Pat returned to Maine to settle into her home in Cundy’s Harbor. She enjoys spending time with her Dad and sisters who live in Central Maine. She also keeps busy as an occasional digital news transformation coach for the American Press Institute; she serves as Treasurer/Board Member for The Maine Monitor, Secretary/Board Member for the First Amendment Museum and Board Member for The Harpswell Anchor, where she recently led the Anchor’s Board in their strategic planning efforts. Pat enjoys the many walking trails and natural beauty of Harpswell and has an avid interest in preserving and protecting our area’s beautiful land, abundant marine & wildlife and cultural heritage.  She joined HHLT as a trustee so she can serve the mission of the organization with her skills and talents to help ensure a strong future for this area we all love and desire to pass along to the next generation of local stewards.

Melissa Traynham

Melissa Traynham is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable nonprofit professional who loves bringing people together with causes they’re passionate about while building lasting relationships. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of a small global health NGO, Amazon Medical Project. In this role, she has learned what it takes to run a nonprofit and the importance of stewardship, discretion, and transparency. Melissa started her career in the nonprofit sector at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and has also worked with larger organizations like the American Red Cross. Wanting to make a more direct impact, she moved on to lead smaller nonprofits. She loves giving back to her community through volunteering. In addition to serving on the Development Committee at Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, she is on the Events Committee for the Brunswick Downtown Association and volunteers with Teens to Trails in Brunswick as needed. A few years ago, Melissa moved to Harpswell from Colorado, and she has a deep passion for the outdoors. She enjoys hiking with her pups, paddleboarding, rafting, spending time in the mountains and on the beach, and traveling whenever possible. Her extensive experience, combined with her dedication to nonprofit work and love for the outdoors, fuels her commitment to driving impactful initiatives and fostering strong community connections.

Jane Warren

Jane spent childhood summers at her family’s cottage on Pemaquid Lake, learning to swim, sail, catch frogs, build forts, and generally not come indoors for three months except to sleep… a wonderful Maine childhood. After earning her BA in English from the University of Maine, she worked for Maine Public Radio for 26 years, both in front of and behind the mic, and as the president of the employees’ association for many years. That was followed by time at Vermont Public Radio, as the Campaign Manager of United Way of Chittenden County (VT), and as a grant writer for Maine Coast Heritage Trust for 5 years. She is currently the Advertising and Sponsorship Manager for the Harpswell Anchor. She was introduced to Harpswell when she met and married David Warren, of Brunswick and Orr’s Island. They plan to build their retirement home on Lowell’s Cove. Their daughter Emily lives in Harborside and is a baker at Tinder Hearth Bakery.

Updated July 2026