Board and Staff

Meet Our Board

Tom Boothe

Chairman

Tom retired in 2002 as a Captain in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps after over 30 years of service. He was also a senior consultant to the Navy for several years after retirement. He has a BS in Civil Engineering from U of Michigan, an MSCE from U of Washington, and is a registered Professional Engineer in New York. He’s on the boards of Lakeside House Mental Health Facility, Dewey Mountain Friends, and the Saranac Lake Village Healthy Infrastructure Advisory Board; and he is Treasurer of the Osgood Pond Association, as well as President of the Beech Hill Camp Property Owners Association. Tom has done the 90 Miler Canoe Race 16 times, including his first time at age 2. He enjoys all the outdoor activities up here, where “all his toys work.”

Steve Maikowski

Vice Chair

Steve and his wife Andrea live on Upper Saranac Lake. Their two grown children, Alex and Claire, visit the Adirondacks as often as possible. Steve retired as Director of NYU Press after almost 40 years in academic book publishing. He has a BA in political science from the University of North Texas, and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. He traces his love of the outdoors to becoming an Eagle Scout while growing up in Michigan. When not out hiking, paddling, curling, swimming, cycling or snowboarding, he pursues his other passions of reading, food and wine, and international travel and soccer. He was the chair of the Environmental Committee of the USLA from 2015-2018.

Mike Preis

Secretary

Mike has been coming to the Adirondacks since he was a young child and is the fourth generation in his family to spend summers on Lower Saranac Lake where he maintains a seasonal home. His career included management positions at several companies, management consulting for Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG), and he retired recently from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was on the marketing faculty. He is currently president of the Lower Saranac Lake Shore Owners Association and has served on the boards of several organizations. Mike graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in mechanical engineering, earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Ph.D. in marketing from The George Washington University. Mike enjoys “simply messing about in boats.”

Dave Wolff

Treasurer

Dave is a Saranac Lake native and lives at the family homestead on Lake Kiwassa. He is married to Holly and they have two grown boys, Dj and Stephen. He retired from IBM in 2006 after 31 years in sales and consulting. Both Dave and Holly are “46ers”; he is also on the Board of the Lake Placid Olympic Museum; and he is the President of the Lake Kiwassa Shoreowners’ Association. Dave graduated with a BS in Physics from Trinity College (CT) and earned an MBA from Dartmouth College and an MS in Computer Science from VPI. Dave has also served two terms as Chairman of AdkAction.

Anne Schoff

Anne grew up in Schenectady, vacationing with her family on Sacandaga Reservoir. She and her husband Jim purchased their summer home on Upper Saranac in 1987. Her educational background, BS in Radio-Television (Ithaca College) and MEd (John Carroll University,) has led her professional career to span both public relations and teaching (grades 1-8) in Cleveland, Ohio. Her board experience in Cleveland includes The Near West Theatre and City Year Cleveland. In the Adirondacks she has served on the Pendragon Theater board and is active with the Birth To Three Alliance through the Adirondack Foundation. Anne and Jim count their ten grandchildren as their greatest contribution to the future of the Adirondack Region.

Ruth Smith

Originally from the Boston area, Ruth came to the Adirondacks with her husband, Craig, to relax at the Smith’s summer camp on Upper Saranac Lake after they completed graduate degrees in 1974. Since they both enjoyed the many outdoor experiences this region offers, it wasn’t long before they decided that Saranac Lake was the place to call home. Ruth is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, with a B.A. in Biology, and earned a M.S. in Microbiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. After initially working in biomedical research, Ruth taught environmental microbiology and other science courses at Paul Smith’s College from 1977-2011. Ruth’s community activities include past membership and Board positions in the Saranac Lake Women’s College Scholarship Club, and BluSeed Studios. Inc. She is currently a Board member of the Upper Saranac Lake Association, and had previously served on its Environmental Committee. At the Trudeau Institute, Ruth serves on the institutional committee overseeing animal use and care.

Lisa Salamon

Lisa Salamon retired to the ADKs several years ago to pursue her love of nature, hiking and macro photography. Now a resident of Minerva in southern Essex County, Lisa moved to the ADKs from Westtown, PA where she lived for 30 years. Lisa was active on several non-profit boards while leading public relations and investor relations departments for publicly traded healthcare and nuclear utility companies. Lisa and husband Ken, have two daughters in their late 20’s (who are gainfully employed) and live in a hand-hewn cabin on Minerva Lake with a Portuguese Water Dog and Tabby Cat. Lisa’s close-up photos are frequently featured in NCPR’s Photo of the Day. She is active in several organizations in the Minerva and North Creek communities.

Mea Rosner

Mea Melberg-Rosner splits her time between Jefferson, Lewis, and Essex Counties. Mea is the founder and senior partner of Rosner Financial Group and has been providing financial services to the North Country since 1993. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh as a. Magna Cum Laude and as the president of her graduating class in 1990. Mea has served as trustee and treasurer of Jefferson County Hospice, trustee of the New Day Children’s Center in Watertown, and has been both treasurer and president of the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce. She is also the treasurer of her Home Owners Association in Pensacola, Florida, where she and her husband own investment properties. Mea has been married for 25 years, and has two wonderful children, a daughter who attends Northwoods School and a son who attends Lowville Academy.

Andy Prescott

Andy Prescott is the Founder and retired Executive Principal of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture. Andy is also the past board president of Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH). Andy and his wife Kathy live in Port Douglass on Lake Champlain. They have two grown children and one grandson. Andy is a licensed Coast Guard Captain and ASA certified sailing instructor specializing in offshore ocean sailing. Andy’s ancestors moved from Boston to the Adirondacks in the 1830’s and the family has been here ever since. Although Andy spent the majority of his professional career in Washington DC he and Kathy have always spent as much time as possible in the Adirondacks.

Betsy Minehan

Betsy and her family moved to Saranac Lake in 1976. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and has worked as an Occupational Therapist in NYC and the Netherlands. She has been involved in Saranac Lake revitalization activities since 1978, first as a member of the Village Improvement Society later as one of the founding members of Historic Saranac Lake. For 11 years she served as chairman and member of the Village of Saranac Lake Planning Board . It was during this time that the planning board was responsible for the development of the Village Master Plan and Land Use Code. Betsy is an enthusiastic tennis player, and alpine skier and along with her husband has a serious interest in French cooking and wine.

Bruce McLanahan

Bruce McLanahan’s association with the Adirondacks began in early childhood with six winters at North Country School and summers with his family in Keene Valley, including one summer working as a trail clearer for the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society. He has climbed most of the 46 but still looks forward to Allen and a few others. Currently, his family has an old camp on Upper Saranac. He is a Board Member of the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and a Trustee of the Adirondack Land Trust. He is a lawyer having practiced for many years with the General Counsel’s office of ITT Corporation in New York City and subsequently as a Professor at Fordham Law School. He has an undergraduate degree from Yale University and Graduate degrees in law from Harvard Law School and New York University.

Seth McGowan

Seth was born in the Bronx, NY, and resides in Tupper Lake with his wife, Susan. He and his wife raised their three grown children, Laura, Scott, and Sarah in Tupper Lake. He started his career in 1987 in education as an instrumental music teacher in Indian Lake. He took the same position with the Tupper Lake Central School District in 1990 where he later became the computer technology coordinator for the District, elementary school principal, high school principal, and has been the Superintendent of Schools since 2007. In addition to his membership in Rotary and Kiwanis, Seth is the vice-president of the Adirondack Public Observatory and Chairperson of the Education Committee.

Eric Holmlund

Eric Holmlund is a Professor of Environmental Studies in the Environment and Society Department at Paul Smith’s College. He is also the Director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute Stewardship Program, which works to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species on waterways across the Adirondack region. Holmlund also steers a multi-year sustainable development collaboration with the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Appenines in Italy. Holmlund has served as Interim Dean at Paul Smith’s College, as the Director of the Outdoor Education Program at St. Lawrence University, as a senior instructor for the Wilderness Education Association (WEA) and as instructor and Course Director for the New York Outward Bound Center. Holmlund is the author, with Jack Drury, of The Camper’s Guide to Outdoor Pursuits, a book published in 1997.Eric Holmlund holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Dartmouth College, a Master’s Degree in Outdoor Recreation from Southern Illinois University, a Master’s Degree in Secondary English Education from the State University of New York at Potsdam, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England. His research interests include narratives of environmental attachment and socio-political conflict, and aquatic invasive species spread networks via overland transport of recreational watercraft.

Julie Garcia

Julie was born in Ticonderoga, New York. Growing up in the North Country, she loved sports and ran track and played soccer for Moriah Central School. Julie has a long history of involvement in various state and local bar associations and in many other professional and civic organizations. She served as Essex County District Attorney for four years. There she engaged public and private partners to minimize crime and maximize public safety. Earlier, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk and Rensselaer Counties, and ran her own law office in Warren County. She currently serves as a sole practitioner, maintaining a law office in Port Henry and Warrensburg. She resides in Moriah, New York.

Carol Blakeslee-Collin

Carol, a retired broadcast journalist, and her husband Jimm have been pulled to the Adirondacks since a 1992 trip. In 2004, they moved fulltime to Keeseville, NY and can often be found at their yurt in Keene Valley during the summer. Carol’s career in journalism began in local television, followed by the Watergate hearings, stints in various documentary units, ABC News 20/20, 21 years at the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Mountain Lake PBS. She has a BA from Trinity College (DC), a Benton Fellowship from the University of Chicago, and an MA in Education from SUNY Plattsburgh.

Chris Cohan

Chris has enjoyed The Adirondacks all his life. Chris and his wife, Rita, split their time between Upper Saranac Lake and Rye, New York. He has degrees in Horticulture, Landscape Architecture and a Masters in Planning. As a licensed Landscape Architect, he has designed both private estates and public parks in New York City, Westchester County, and has also managed the Parks & Recreation Department in Stamford, CT. He writes a regular garden column as well and contributes to various magazines. He is a 90-Miler, and hopes to someday be a 46er.

W. Buck Bobb

W. Buck Bobb is a native of the Hudson Valley, Buck Bobbin was first connected with the Adirondacks while attending Curtis S. Reed Boy Scout camp near Brant Lake. He has canoed much of the Raquette River, finished Boy Scouting as an Eagle Scout and went on to graduate from George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs. Buck worked as a ski instructor in California and New York, and then in electoral politics in Virginia, Illinois, and most recently in the North Country and Adirondack Park of New York. He is currently a Mortgage Lender with Champlain National Bank, and remains active in environmental conservation, responsible and deliberate economic development, and local Democratic politics. He lives on the Saranac River in Cadyville, NY.

Meet Our Staff

Brittany Christenson

Executive Director

Brittany Christenson is a community organizer who is passionate about art, local food, and sustainability. Brittany has been a farmer and community nutrition coordinator prior to her work at AdkAction. As Operations Manager at Fledging Crow Vegetables, she honed her skills in membership management, public outreach, and grant administration and managed wholesale operations while overseeing a staff of up to 20 seasonal employees. At North Country Healthy Heart Network, she served as Community Nutrition Coordinator, building community buy-in and developing innovative program evaluation metrics. She received her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. Brittany lives in Keeseville, NY with her husband, Lucas, and son, Njorth.

You may reach Brittany by emailing her at brittany@adkaction.org.

Kiana French

Farmacy Project Coordinator

Kiana French is a SUNY Potsdam graduate with a passion for local food. Having worked on multiple small farms in a broad range of roles, she is no stranger to the North Country agricultural scene. From farm crews to tasting rooms to farmers markets, she has gained much appreciation and knowledge about the local producers in the Adirondack region. She has also worked on many farm-to-table initiatives and events across the country with the Outstanding in the Field company. Her intimate knowledge of local food systems has given her an opportunity to bridge the gap between consumers and their food sources. Her background and passion for connecting communities to local farmers makes Kiana the ideal AdkAction’s Farmacy Project Coordinator.
You can reach Kiana at Kiana@AdkAction.org

Alice Vera

Executive Assistant

Alice Vera's family has had ties to Saranac Lake since her great grandmother came to the area to recover from tuberculosis. She moved here and started her business, Alice Vera Photography, in 1994. Alice's daughter Jennifer was born in Saranac Lake a year later. Alice graduated from North Country Community College with an associates degree in Computer Graphics and Design. Her family enjoys camping, fishing, kayaking, boating, horseback riding, and reading. Alice is also a sculptor and one of the founders of NorthWind Fine Arts.

You may reach Alice by emailing her at alice@adkaction.org.