| General Board Members |
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George Ambrose has been involved directly and indirectly with the Darby Creek and the Swedish Log Cabin since the 1980s. He is the President of the Friends of the Swedish Cabin. George retired from teaching two years ago from the William Penn School District where he worked for 22 years. He taught World Literature and led a Darby Creek- based Environmental Science program for six years. The watershed program that George ran won several awards (including one from the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, PA). He was featured in a color photo story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is a nationally certified Environmental Educator and currently affiliated with the Cobbs Creek Environmental Center in West Philadelphia.
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Jamie Anderson has a BS in Environmental Science and an MA in Geography and Planning. She has always had a keen interest in nature in particular water quality from growing up across the street from Little Crum Creek. Jamie currently resides in the Darby Creek watershed and has professional experience in environmental planning, water resource conservation, and the MS4 program. Her activities in DCVA focus on education and outreach initiative as well as supporting the expansion of riparian plantings along Darby Creek and its tributaries. She has been very active in building rain gardens and giving rain barrel workshops. Jamie is also the coordinator for the Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative.
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| David Bennett was born in and grew up in Lansdowne and still live on Darby Creek for past 68 years. David became active with DCVA around the year 2000 and soon joined the Board of Directors. He has been serving as the liaison to Lansdowne Borough as well as the DCVA representative to the Circuit Coalition. David was the chairperson of the Annual Darby Creek/Cobbs Creek Watershed Wide Cleanup for the years 2016, 2017, and 2018. During that time we expanded our number of sites to include 2 areas in Philadelphia, one in Montgomery County, and several in Delaware County. |
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Vanessa Bullock has been a Delco resident for over 30 years. She is an active member/captain of the Darby Creek clean up, initially in Yeadon and then taking over the captain duties in Lansdowne (Hoffman park area). Vanessa earned her MBA from LaSalle University. She is employed as a Federal Mediator for over 25 years, mediating workplace disputes in the private and federal sectors. She is married to a Labor Arbitrator, who has volunteered his time annually in cleaning the Creek. Vanessa is an avid outdoors person who enjoys hiking, biking, and nature walks. Vanessa has served on the boards of the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators and the Threshold Organization of Delaware County (a better choices group for the incarcerated). Her other volunteer duties include Community Mediation for the Center for Resolution in Media, Pa. She was awarded Mediator of the Year in 2015. She is a long-term member of the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. Her ongoing mission is the preservation and enjoyment of greenspaces. |
| Merritt T.(Terry) Cooke founded the China Partnership of Greater Philadelphia in 2011 as a 501c3 public-private platform to accelerate commercial and research collaboration between the Greater Philadelphia region and China in clean energy and energy-efficient buildings. One of only 36 competitively-selected current EcoPartnerships under the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework, CPGP’s PHL-TEDA EcoPartnership is now focusing on “energy-efficient, smart and healthy industrial park built environments” and a Sino-U.S. Eco Park showcase. Terry is currently teaching a course in the University of Pennsylvania’s international Masters of Public Administration degree-program under Fox Leadership International and the School of Arts & Sciences. CPGP serves as the principal case-study for the course “China and the U.S. in the 21st Century: Sub-National Sino-American Relations.” Terry was a 2010 Public Policy Scholar with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. His book Sustaining U.S.-China Cooperation in Clean Energy was published by the Wilson’s Center’s Kissinger Institute in September 2012. Previously from 2006-8, Terry served as Director for Asian Corporate Partnership at the World Economic Forum, the host of the Davos Annual Meeting and the ‘Summer Davos’ in China. In 2003, Terry retired with the rank of Counselor as a career-member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Commercial Service following tours in Taipei, Berlin, Tokyo & Shanghai. Terry received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985, his MA from UCB in 1981 and his BA from Princeton University in 1976. |
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Tim Denny became a member of DCVA in 1992 after helping with the Darby Creek Cleanup for several years. Tim served as the Director of Parks and Recreation in Haverford Township. In that role he was instrumental in the 14 year effort to transform the former Haverford State Hospital grounds into the current Haverford Reserve and the LEED certified Community Recreation and Environmental Center (CREC) which opened in 2012. DCVA played a pivotal role in administering the grant from the NFWF which Haverford Township acquired for the ecological inventory of the 209 acre site, which is adjacent to Darby Creek and critical to the watershed.
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| Tim Devaney has been involved with DCVA for many many years. He has a Bachelor of Fine Art. He studied Botany and Ornamental Horticulture at Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation. Tim is an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist and PHS Tree Tender. Tim drafted the Historic District Ordinance and Shade Tree Commission Ordinance, both codified into law for Borough of Ridley Park. He also established a non-profit tree growing project funded in part by the National Tree Trust utilizing advanced growing techniques to provide tree species native to Pennsylvania for public lands. |
Carl DuPolt has a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering from Drexel University and a Bachelors Degree from the University of Wisconsin. He has been married for 42 years. He is semi-retired from the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service in Chester, PA, Somerset, NJ and Hammonton, NJ and is now working as a consultant for Green Building Solutions & Supplies, LLC in Exton, PA. He was the president of the Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association from 1983-2000. He has been on the Board of Directors of DCVA since 2006. He was on the Marple Township Environmental Advisory Board and Planning Commission during the 1970's and 1980's. He was a member of the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, where he served as Director, Vice President, Treasurer and President since 1976. He is a member of the American WaterWorks Association and the American Water Resources Association-NJ. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors and I have been a member since the early 2000's
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| Clyde Hunt 35 years ago a call went out to start a watershed-wide group for the Darby Creek. U.S. Representative Robert Edgar planned to assist an organizational meeting. Clyde and Gila attended the breakfast meeting at a Wm. Penn District School eager to do somethings locally. We learned on that Saturday morning, that Repr. Edgar had promised a vote for that morning in Washington. The overwhelming comment was... “Lets eat! We can start our own association.” And so most all attendees agreed that our stream now had its own sponsor. Clyde was the President for DCVA for 10 years. Clyde is DCVA’s tree expert! He is in charge of tree planting for DCVA throughout the watershed. He received the Point of Light award in 1991, The DCVA Ribbon of Green Award in 1997, and shared the DCVA Lifetime Service Award with his wife Gisela in 2009. |
Tim Devaney has been involved with DCVA for many many years. He has a Bachelor of Fine Art. He studied Botany and Ornamental Horticulture at Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation. Tim is an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist and PHS Tree Tender. Tim drafted the Historic District Ordinance and Shade Tree Commission Ordinance, both codified into law for Borough of Ridley Park. He also established a non-profit tree growing project funded in part by the National Tree Trust utilizing advanced growing techniques to provide tree species native to Pennsylvania for public lands.
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| General Board Members |
Gerry Krieg has been a DCVA board member since 2013. He has worked as a cartographer since the mid-90's, having received an M.A. in Geography from Temple University. He has been President of the Norwood Shade Tree Committee since 2008. In this position he has been responsible for overseeing the planting of hundreds of trees throughout the borough, work on a multi-year habitat restoration project along the Darby and Muckinapates Creeks near the Morton House in Norwood, the opening and continued operation of the Norwood Community Garden and other projects. Gerry is involved in the initial activities of the habitat restoration of the newly acquired DCVA Folcroft property that borders the Muckinpates Creek.
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Stephen Lockard is helping to lead the Upper Darby Rain Gardens program. He has also been actively involved in Friends of Upper Darby Trails which has been working with the township on the Darby Creek Trail in Upper Darby. He is a retired science teacher and a very hands on “doer”.
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Scott Maits
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Robin Mann is an environmental advocate, active for years with the Sierra Club, and currently serving in her 4th term on their national Board of Directors. During her time on the board, she has served as the Club's national Vice President and President. Previously, she chaired the Sierra Club's national water campaigns for several years, working to strengthen regulatory protection for small streams and wetlands, and defend against efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act. She led Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter advocacy efforts for clean water during the 1990s, helping to secure improved wetlands and stream protections at the state level. She participates in various local environmental initiatives, and serves on the boards of a local environmental justice coalition and other community organizations in addition to DCVA. She holds M.A.'s in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and in economics from the University of California - Berkeley.
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| Lauren McGrath is the Director of the Watershed Protection Program at Willistown Conservation Trust where she is working with the Academy of Natural Sciences to monitor water quality in the headwaters of the Ridley, Crum and Darby Creeks. With a Master of Environmental Studies Degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Lauren is passionate about clean water for everyone. |
| Toni McIntosh is a long time member of the Darby Creek Valley Association (DCVA). She was a beloved teacher at the Walden School in Media, PA for many years. Toni has contributed to DCVA activities throughout her time as a member of DCVA and a member of the DCVA Board of Directors. She is best known for providing excellent breakfasts at each and every monthly meeting for many years. She also has provided breakfast and lunch for the substantial crowd that attends the DCVA annual meeting for many years. Toni’s contribution has added considerably to the comradery of the gatherings. Toni was the 2021 recipient of the Darby Creek Valley Association Ribbon of Green Award. |
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Marty Milligan been a Darby Creek Clean up Captain since 1998. He is a commissioner for the Marple Newtown Recreation Department, Delaware County Parks and Recreation Board member and former Chairman of the Newtown Square Parks Recreation Board. He spent a good portion of his youth fishing, swimming and playing ice hockey on the Darby Creek, when the Philadelphia Flyers better known as the ”Broad Street Bullies” were winning Stanley Cup Championships.
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MaryAnn Sandone grew up in Collingdale. She resides in Glenolden, Darby Township. She is married to Steven and have two boys, Anthony who is attending Temple University and Jonathan who attends Cardinal O’Hara High School. She recently served eight years on the board of directors for Visit Delco. Her time with the visitor’s bureau brought her attention to the parks, trails, and conservation venues the “jewels” of Delaware County all of which are somehow connected and dependent on the Darby Creek watershed. She is passionate about protecting the watershed and as a member of the DCVA board she will be energized to do outreach for DCVA events and work to increase municipal sponsors and individual membership when those opportunities are presented. MaryAnn currently work at The Delaware County Transportation Management Association, a 501c(3) non-profit. She is a project coordinator for several events that they sponsor and works primarily to educate communities about bicycle, pedestrian and trail alternatives to the Single Occupancy Vehicle when traveling to work. She currently serves on the DVRPC Regional Task Force on the Technical and Transportation committees.
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Nora Schmidt currently works for AKRF, a small engineering company in Philadelphia, where she designs green stormwater infrastructure (rain gardens, tree trenches, etc.), stormwater design for trails, and stream restoration projects. Prior to working at AKRF, she worked at AECOM designing and permitting stormwater management for large highways. Throughout her professional career she has been volunteering to evaluate, design, and construct residential rain gardens with the Hav-A-Rain Garden program (which she help start!). Nora has a MS from Villanova University in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering and a BA from Bryn Mawr College in Geology. After earning her undergraduate degree, Nora worked for Haverford Township Recreation Department as their Environmental Coordinator. There, she learned about DCVA. She has volunteered for Stream Watch, cleanups, and worked on a few grants with DCVA.
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| Paul Schmidt is Professor and Undergraduate Chair of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as the NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative. He teaches evolutionary biology at the undergraduate level and communication for biologists for PhD candidates. Current research in the Schmidt lab centers on ecological and evolutionary responses to climate and climate change, rapid evolution, conservation genetics, and the genetics of complex traits. Paul received a PhD (1999) from Brown University, where he studied ecological and evolutionary dynamics in near shore marine communities, and an honors BA in Biology, magna cum laude, from Holy Cross (1993). When home in Lansdowne, he enjoys daily walks along Darby Creek with his wife and dog. |
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Andy Sharpe is a Social Media Specialist and customer service agent at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). He is treasurer and Co-Founding Member at TransportationCamp PHL. Andy received the SEPTA Customer Service Shining Star award for his work in setting up TransportationCamp PHL. He graduated from Temple University, Philadelphia, with a B.A. in journalism. Andy has attended numerous park and creek clean-ups in Greater Philadelphia. He loves walks, and greatly enjoys visiting the John Heinz Refuge and other state and national parks.
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Michelle Smith is currently the Outreach co-coordinator for Project W, a women’s giving circle that harnesses the power of collective giving to address the needs of women in Delaware County. For over 15 years, Michelle has been involved with Hand in Hand Children for Chernobyl as a host parent and Treasurer. This local program provides summer respites for children and humanitarian aid to hospitals, schools and orphanages to those in need in the Chernobyl region. She is a past member of the Springfield Township Environmental Advisory Committee and has volunteered at both DCVA and CRC stream cleanups. Having been raised in close proximity to the Folcroft Landfill, she has an understanding and appreciation for protecting our waterways, especially those of underserved communities. In 2017, she completed the Master Watershed Stewart Certification from the Penn State Extension. Subsequently, she became a volunteer for both the Havertown and Upper Darby Rain Garden programs. She holds a B.S. in mathematics from Penn State University.
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