Staff

Mary Dennis

Administrative Manager

Mary Dennis lives Orange County, Virginia, where she and her husband have a small farm growing produce for market and seed stock for organic seed catalogs. For the previous 15 years, she worked in the nonprofit sector, most recently in administrative operations at the Pew Charitable Trusts and The Wilderness Society, both in Washington DC. In past lives, she also worked in client services for small technology companies in Northern Virginia and Ohio and, at the beginning of her career, managed an independent bookstore in Columbus, Ohio. She has a BA in English literature and creative writing from the Ohio State University, an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, and has visited all 50 states.

Kara Nichols

Program Director, Southern Climate Restoration Solutions

As American Climate Partners expands its work catalyzing climate-smart practices across the Southeastern United States, Kara collaborates with the leadership team to architect the organization’s new Southern Climate Restoration Solutions program, starting with the orchestration of a multi-year, $2m grant-funded initiative in collaboration with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) across 12 states. This project supports NRCS’s nationwide implementation of a new Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activity (CEMA), encouraging widespread adoption of conservation practices by providing financial assistance to producers for measuring soil organic carbon stocks before and after.

Caleb Pellmann

Agriculture and Wildlife Habitat Services Manager, SoilKeepers

Virginia born and raised, Caleb joined ACP in Spring 2022.  In his time at ACP, Caleb hopes to improve the resiliency of his home of Orange County by connecting residents with the local systems that maintain and improve the health of our area.  Since graduating from William and Mary with a B.S. in Biology, Caleb has pursued fine woodworking, architectural salvage, and green design.  At home Caleb and family cultivate a ¼ acre no-till vegetable and seed garden where they focus on soil health as the basis of nutrition.  In his free time Caleb can be found canoeing on Mine Run, juggling or skateboarding. 

Wilder Meade

Clinch River Project Manager, StreamSweepers

Wilder joined the StreamSweepers crew in 2019, first as a Sweeper, then as an On-Water Manager. In 2023, he is now the Project Manager, overseeing our clean-up program in Southwest Virginia. While at Eastside High School in Wise County, he volunteered in many extracurricular clean-up projects in Southwest Virginia. This year, he is responsible for a maintenance sweep of the Clinch River in Russell County and the assessment and clean-up of the river in Tazewell County.

Taylor Burgess

Central Appalachia Project Manager, StreamSweepers

Taylor Raymond Burgess serves as a Grundy Virginia Town Councilman, Owner of Burgess Consulting Group LLC., CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Central Appalachia, Vice President of Big Sandy Land Foundation, Associate Director of Big Sandy Soil & Water Conservation District, and Project Manager of StreamSweepers Central Appalachia Project. A 1995 Graduate of The University of Virginia Wise, Taylor has served on the UVA-Wise Alumni Board for over 25 years and is a dedicated benefactor of UVA-Wise and Charlottesville GO HOOS! Taylor is also an professional photographer working for organizations such as The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Image Associates, NASCAR, The Carolina Hurricanes, and many newspaper, magazine publications, and live concert music websites. Taylor has over a decade of river guide and waterway cleanup experience as the former General Manager of Appalachian Adventures in Todd, NC. Taylor’s wife, Pebbles Burgess, works with The Virginia Attorney General’s Office Civil Trial Division in Richmond, Virginia, and is a Professor at Appalachian School of Law.

Clinch River StreamSweepers 2024 Crew

Left to Right: Alex Ward, Erin Wheeler, Mary Hawkins, Jazmine Lyall, Andy Satterwhite, Wilder Meade, Jacob Branham, Ryan Salyers, Zackery Fleming.

Jeff Waldon

Special Advisor, Nature Based Solutions for Carbon Capture

Mr. Waldon is managing partner for a new company focused on bioenergy and carbon capture and sequestration utilizing purpose-grown biomass and pyrolysis to produce bio-oil and biochar. Mr. Waldon also serves as an advisor regarding land management, carbon, biomass energy, timber, and wildlife for clients throughout North America. Mr. Waldon has extensive experience in international forestry, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and the international carbon markets working on land conservation and climate change.

Hervé Bonin

Special Advisor, Soil Science

Hervé has performed research and practical application work on managing microbiomes in soil, on plant and root surfaces, in animal guts and in compost on over 11,000 farms in Europe and USA for the past 29 years, and more recently on other natural ecosystems. He education includes a Master’s degree from the AgroParisTech (formerly Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, France) in Biochemistry, Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, and Microbiology as applied to Agriculture; and a certificate in Leading Change in Organizations from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education program.

Mary “Maddie” Gordon

Special Advisor, StreamSweepers

Maddie is the former project manager for our Clinch River Clean-up. Her passion for the Clinch River comes from growing up fishing the river with her granddad who grew up along the Clinch. Her granddad and his family depended on the river for many things including water and food. He shared with her his passion of being on the river from the time she was able to walk, and she still remembers the times they had together. Maddie says that having the opportunity to help clean and preserve the river her grandfather loved so much was an amazing opportunity.

Maddie worked for StreamSweepers from 2017 through 2022, leaving to devote more time to her family’s business ventures: Greystone Manor, an assisted living facility located in Castlewood, and Clinch Life Outfitters in St. Paul.

Myron Neuhauser

Special Advisor, Farm Fields and Grasslands

Myron Neuhaser has significant experience in farm management consulting, operations, agronomy, and urgent-operations management including animal care, maintenance and repair. Born and raised in South Dakota, he has worked throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern US regions.

Richard “Buzz” Van Santvoord

Special Advisor, Pollinator and Wildlife Habitats

Buzz has extensive experience in designing fulfillment systems and processes for direct to consumer as well as business to business programs. He has been a Vice-President of a multi-title $185mm catalog company and has more than 30 years of professional work experience in the land management, construction, civil engineering, retail management, and distribution and business operations industries.