Staff

John has nearly 20 years of experience working on land and water conservation projects and transactions. He focused his training and work on field ecology and conservation real estate, and has helped protect landscapes that contribute to the character of rural communities across Colorado. Most recently, John was the Executive Director of the Colorado Water Trust, a unique start-up conservation organization dedicated to protecting flow levels in Colorado’s streams and rivers. John served on the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts Board of Directors for six years as the organization worked with local organizations and developed market-based incentives that have catalyzed private land conservation on hundreds of thousands of acres across Colorado. John has worked on numerous conservation projects including transactions and restoration as the land protection specialist for Ducks Unlimited’s Colorado conservation program. As the first Land Protection Fellow for Colorado Open Lands, John developed community-based open space protection programs in the Wet Mountains and the Wahatoya Valley. John has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a Master's of Science from the University of Vermont. He lives in Denver with his wife.

Ariana joined the Foundation in 2008, bringing years of experience in economic and community planning in the Northeast region. Ariana worked for the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council from 2004-2008, where she was the staff lead on several initiatives focused on developing a place-centered approach to economic development. Her project work included the Borderlands Project in Connecticut and Rhode Island, in which the Foundation is a partner. Ariana also worked on the One River Project, a collaborative initiative with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) that seeks to advance waterfront development integrating natural systems, economic opportunities, cultural heritage and public access. Ariana earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and she received her Masters of Community Planning in 2004 from the University of Rhode Island, where she concentrated in environmental and land use planning. She received an American Institute of Certified Planners Award for outstanding achievement in the study of planning. Prior to graduate school, she worked in the Boston office of the Conservation Law Foundation. She lives with her husband in Middlebury, Vermont.

Bill has been with the Foundation since 1998. After graduating from Williams College in 1977, Bill traveled around the world for two years, eventually settling in Vermont and graduating from Vermont Law School in 1983. For the next 14 years, he practiced law in a private firm in Middlebury, Vermont and became a prominent land use attorney focusing on creative and thoughtful local community planning, as well as on sound economic and environmental development in the private market. In 1997-1998, Bill lived with his wife and two daughters on the west coast of Ireland where he spearheaded changes to Ireland's land use practices and regulations, helped form Ireland's first land trust and worked on several local projects. During his ten years with the Foundation, Bill served as the Foundation's Director of Programs until becoming the President and CEO in 2006. He has written articles for the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review and the Vermont Law Review and has authored a chapter on the Foundation's groundbreaking planning software for the edited volume, Conservation in the Internet Age (Island Press, 2002). Bill lives with his family in Weybridge, Vermont and serves on the Weybridge Planning Commission and the boards of Smart Growth Vermont and Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater.

Rebecca first joined the Foundation in 2006 and returned in 2008 as a Senior Associate. In the interim, she worked as a consultant and taught ecology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and environmental studies at Southern Vermont College. Rebecca holds a BA in biology and English from Williams College and helped found the Williams Social Choice Fund for socially responsible investing. She also earned a Master's degree in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES), where she was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow and focused on land use, conservation planning and ecology. She also worked for the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry and was a Teaching Fellow at FES and in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Before graduate school, Rebecca was a teacher in the English Department of the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School and in the Science Department at Vermont Academy, where she was also a dorm parent, outdoor instructor and coached ice hockey, lacrosse and rock climbing. She writes on environmental issues for publications including E Magazine and Northern Woodlands. Rebecca is a native of coastal New Hampshire and now lives in Bethel, Vermont with her husband.