“Dan" and his wife, Julia Karet, purchased land in Unity in 1975 and were married there the following year. Inspired by Scott Nearing's Living the Good Life, In 1985, Dan started building a passive solar, round, stone house, and has been adding to the homestead ever since. Dan taught political science at Pitzer College in Claremont, California from 1982 until retirement in 2012, including two year stints teaching in Japan and China, as well as a sabbatical year in Vietnam, a Fulbright in Turkey, and frequent excursions to Latin America. Dan and Julia now spend half the year in Unity and half in Claremont. Appropriate technology, horizontal organization, decentralized systems, participatory democracy, and ecology have been decades-long interests pursued alongside research in American politics and political psychology.

Tom was born in Boston and graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  He has a life-long obsession with birds and all aspects of the natural world.  Early work included stints with Massachusetts state parks, Massachusetts Audubon Society and both Boston zoos.  Tom relocated to Seattle in 1996 to work as a zookeeper and environmental educator presenting raptor programs at Woodland Park Zoo before moving back to New England in 2010 to settle in central Maine.  Previous volunteer work includes assisting The Nature Conservancy, Washington Ornithological Society and Seattle Audubon.  He has co-authored four field guides on the birds of the Pacific Northwest .  He and his wife Cheryl live in Unity.

Ellen is a Maine native who had plenty of access to the Maine outdoors growing up. After moving out of state for college, graduate school, and post-doctoral research, she returned as Associate Professor of Biology at Unity College where she taught Introductory, Cell, and Micro biology.  She teaches currently at the Ecology Learning Center in Unity.

Ellen appreciates the benefits that a diverse natural ecosystem provides, as well as enjoying the quietness of being in nature.  She joined the SRLT Board in 2018 to help preserve that experience for others while being a connected part of the human community.  In addition to serving SRLT,  she volunteers for several other local organizations.

Adri grew up outside of Maine, but quickly found happiness in the small town of Unity after travelling as a wildlife technician throughout the country.  For four years following graduation from Unity College with a Bachelor's in Wildlife Biology in 2016, she was involved in conservation and research of many species including Greater Sage Grouse, Spruce Grouse, red squirrel, white-tailed deer and various songbirds and waterfowl.  Her passion for the outdoors, forestry, and wildlife habitat conservation rings true in her efforts to steward, discover, and protect wild lands for all species (including humans) to enjoy.  She currently maintains seasonal positions with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Doug grew up on Lake Ontario in central NY, camping, hiking, and canoeing. While earning his B.S. and M.S. in Forestry, he worked summers for the USDA Forest Service in Colorado and Maine, and he interned with International Paper Co. in the Adirondacks. After working for a few years as an arborist, he joined the faculty of Unity College, where he taught a wide variety of courses for over 30 years. In retirement, his primary passion is studying philosophy and theology, seeking clues to the underlying causes of our current environmental and social discontent. He also enjoys volunteering as a naturalist in AMC’s backcountry huts and writing interpretive guides for trails. He and his wife, Patrice, live in Unity, where they raised their four children with a love of the outdoors.

Doug moved to Maine from upstate New York in 1987 to become Superintendent of the Portland Water District.  Doug and Nina moved into the watershed in Unity in 2021.  As a semi-retired environmental engineer (P.E.) he has a lot to contribute to the Trust.  He completed his bachelor and master’s degrees at the University of Connecticut but has continued to keep current in his field up to the present.  Currently self-employed as a water and wastewater treatment consultant, he has been employed at various locations across the country as well as working overseas on projects in Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. 

After purchasing a residence near the Richardson Preserve, Doug became interested in supporting and contributing to SRLT.   He and his wife Nina soon began working with the Stewardship Committee and then he was nominated to join our Board.  He appreciates the benefits of natural ecosystems and understands how to keep our environment functioning to maximize its benefits for both human and non-human residents.  He enjoys being outdoors while fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and contributing to trail maintenance.

Jonathan has worn many hats during his 30 years in the conservation world. From park ranger in Oregon and at Baxter State Park, from land stewardship roles with the Nature Conservancy, Boothbay Region Land Trust, and the 7 Lakes Alliance to outdoor educator for the United States Navy and Colby College.  He is humbled to work alongside this dedicated group to conserve land and help tell the story of this amazing region.

Buck O’Herin has been an educator in a variety of experiential alternative schools including the Audubon Expedition Institute, Unity College, Sterling College and The Community School. For seven of those years, he participated in or co-led semester-long field study programs throughout the U.S. Since 1999 he has been involved with land conservation as a staff person and board member and is currently board chair at Midcoast Conservancy. Buck is passionate about landscape scale conservation and conservation biology, and his reflexive passion is exploring remote wilderness areas of North America that includes solo backpacking trips.

For ten years he had a guiding business that fed his passion but not his wallet, taking groups on wilderness canoeing and backpacking trips in the U.S. and Canada. He is a co-founder (and part-time coordinator) of the Hills to Sea Trail Coalition that built a 47-mile footpath from Belfast to Unity. Buck has a M.S. in Environmental Education and a B.S. in Secondary Education. He lives in Montville with his partner Lisa Newcomb. He has one daughter, Zaela Newcomb who recently graduated college and lives in CA.

Erika grew up in Ohio and earned her Bachelor's degree in Botany and her Master's degree in Environmental Science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She and her family spent 15 years living in Southern California, where she worked as a resource conservationist focusing on habitat restoration, project management, and community education and outreach.  Erika is passionate about community-based conservation that thoughtfully balances human needs, public access, and working landscapes with the protection of natural resources. In her free time, Erika enjoys spending time in nature -- canoeing , hiking, camping, and backpacking with family and friends.

Alison Whitlock, PhD, is a retired USFWS wildlife biologist, and has particular expertise and interest in wetlands ecology and herpetology. Alison has also worked with The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Lands, and the US wildlife refuge system in conserving lands, and volunteered several times with the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust.