Will Cockrell is currently the Senior Planner for Louisa County, where he helps draft land use policies and reviews development permits along Lake Anna.  He started this position in January 2006, after leaving the City of Charlottesville.  The Albemarle Board of Supervisors appointed Mr. Cockrell to the TJWRPF in 2007.  He currently lives on Pantops and has resided in Albemarle County since completing his time at the University of Virginia.  In 2003, he finished his undergraduate work, with a Bachelors degree in Urban Environmental Planning and a minor in Architecture.  In 2005, Mr. Cockrell completed his graduate program at UVA, with a Masters in Urban Environmental Planning.  He is an avid kayaker and familiar with the regions waterways.

Dr. Richard Collins, TJWRPF President, is professor emeritus from the University of Virginia Department of Urban and Environmental Planning.   He was the founder and Director for 20 years of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation in the School of Architecture at UVA.  He has extensive environmental mediation experience in addition to his teaching and publications in the field of environmental planning and resource protection. He is a resident of the City of Charlottesville. 

John Conover, Treasurer of the TJWRPF, has 26 years of experience as a small business owner, which informs his practice of consumer and housing law at the Legal Aid Justice Center, where he helps to direct clinical programs at UVA's School of Law.  He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, and a Master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago.  He is a resident of the City of Charlottesville and is a former President of the Rivanna Trails Foundation.

John Easter lives in Fluvanna County with his wife and twin sons.  He was born in Richmond, Virginia and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from UVA and a Master of Science Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He runs an expanding beef cattle and horse farm and is a part-time commercial pilot as well as a real estate broker. Mr. Easter is retired from the U.S. military (Air Force and Army).  He served as a Director of the TJSWCD from 2004 through 2007 and presently serves as an Associate Director.  He is on the Board of Directors of the Heritage Trail Foundation, and is active in the Rivanna Conservation Society and the Fluvanna County Historical Society.  In 2003, he and his wife, Laura, created a forested “riparian buffer” along the James River.

Nick Evans also serves as Chairman of the TJSWCD Board, to which he was elected in 1999.  He is a geologist working primarily in hydro geologic analysis of groundwater resources.  He holds a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Geology from Virginia Tech.  Mr. Evans is a member of the Virginia Citizens for Water Quality, the Rivanna River Basin Roundtable and the Wintergreen Nature Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.  He lives in northern Albemarle County with his wife and two children. 

McChesney "Ches" Goodall, III has been an independent consulting forester since 1985 specializing in managing private forestland under a conservation minded land ethic to produce multiple benefits.  Presently, he is Coordinator of the Albemarle County ACE (“Acquisition of Conservation Easements”) Program – a 5 year old program that voluntarily purchases open space easements from farmers and landowners in Albemarle County.  Mr. Goodall received his BA from Duke University in 1979 in plant ecology and a Master of Forestry from the Duke University School of the Environment in 1983 with an emphasis in silviculture and forest ecology.  He received Wetland Identification and Delineation Certification in 1998 from N. C. State University.  He currently serves on the Board of Forestry,   and the  Board of the Ivy Creek Foundation. Mr. Goodall is a certified Tree Farm inspector, a member of the Virginia Forestry Association, Society of American Foresters and the National Association of Realtors. 

Joy Matthews, Secretary of the TJWRPF, is a resident of Albemarle County.  She says “It is a great pleasure to help protect our vital natural resources in a positive hands-on way. My involvement with the League of Women Voters Natural Resources Committee over the past ten years has taught me that we cannot take our water, land and forest resources for granted. We must be constantly building our understanding of what makes healthy ecological systems and then working to foster them through protection and proper management. The easements promoted and administered by the Foundation are a direct means to do this, and I will enjoy learning and supporting the Foundation in this work.” Ms. Matthews first became involved with the TJSWCD, nine years ago, when she and her husband purchased 59  acres in Northern Albemarle for a retirement home, and immediately felt the desire to be good stewards of this land. This led them to place their land along Buck Mountain Creek in a riparian easement. The TJSWCD staff took them through the process, and then went the extra mile by organizing, with the Matthews and a neighboring landowner, a tree-planting day with 75 volunteers. Matthews has been a supporter of the District for several years and she brings a wealth of experience with her to the Foundation.

Susan McSwain has been active with environmental organizations her entire life, not only in the U.S., but also in seven countries including Latin America, Asia, and  Africa. For her efforts, she has received awards from the Panama Audubon Society, the Malayan Nature Society, and the Soil and Water Conservation District in Loudoun County, Virginia. Her formal education includes a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the  University of South Florida (1972), and she currently serves as the Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator for Nelson County.  She says that diversion of waste from landfills and one's ecological footprint are issues of huge importance that are too often ignored, even by folks who think of themselves as environmentalists.  In 2003, along with her husband (a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer), she put her Nelson County property into the first Ag/Forestal District to be created in that county, and she is compiling a flora & fauna inventory of the AFD.

Mark Monson, Vice President of the TJWRPF, represents Louisa County on the TJWRPF board.  Originally from Fairfax County, Mr. Monson has lived in Central Virginia since 1978.  He holds a BS degree in biology from George Mason University and an MS degree in public administration from  George Washington University.  Mr. Monson has worked for Virginia state government for 30 years.  Presently, he is the Deputy Director for Administration with the Department of Health Professions.  Active in a number of community organizations, Mr. Monson also serves Louisa County on the Industrial Development Authority and the Clean Community Commission.  He has 2 grown children and lives along the South Anna River in southeastern Louisa County with his wife, Nancy.

Deborah Murdock studied art history at Vassar College. Later she worked for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources documenting and photographing historic homes and structures in Fluvanna, Cumberland and Albemarle counties.  In 1975-76 she edited a special Bi-Centennial series for The Daily Progress.  In 1976 she began a real estate career specializing in the marketing of historic homes and properties.  She has served on the boards of Historic Green Springs, Inc., Preservation Piedmont, APVA-Preservation Virginia and the Fluvanna County Historical Society.  She enjoys cross-country skiing, beagling and fox hunting.  She is the mother of two children and is married to retired Professor of Chemistry, Robert Bryan.

David Stone is the County Forester in Louisa County for the Virginia Department of Forestry. He is a Certified Forester by the Society of American Foresters and a Certified Arborist by the International Society of Arboriculture. He has an Associate of Science Degree in Forest Technology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire. Mr. Stone has extensive work experience across the country in forest management, water quality, land conservation, urban forestry, logging, reforestation, and wildland firefighting. He came to Virginia to work as a forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry in 1993 and has been the Louisa County Forester since 1997.

Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District Staff 

Deloris Bradshaw (TJSWCD Administrative Assistant) began working with the TJSWCD in July, 1990.  She is a native of Huntington, West Virginia and received an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Marshall University.  She served as Recording Secretary for the Albemarle County Planning Commission for 14 years and has been employed in office administration for 30 years.  She and husband Pete have two children and divide their time between a farm at Kents Store in Fluvanna County and a home in Charlottesville.  deloris.bradshaw@vaswcd.org

Martin Johnson (TJSWCD Conservation Specialist) joined the District in November 2004. After earning a B.S. in biology from Bates College, he taught middle school science and mathematics for two years in Liberia, West Africa with the Peace Corps. In 1977 he moved to Tokyo, Japan where he taught English as a Foreign Language for 21 years. Martin and his wife, Hiromi, moved to Charlottesville in 1998, where he earned a Master of Education in science education from the University of Virginia. Martin worked as the Education/Information Coordinator for the Culpeper SWCD for 5 years, publishing a newsletter, creating and maintaining a web site, and making presentations in schools. Martin's work with the Thomas Jefferson SWCD includes mapping and monitoring easements, erosion and sediment control inspections on construction sites, working with the Albemarle County Illegal Discharge Detection and Elimination Program, offering information and technical advice to homeowners about rainwater harvesting options and providing watershed education for local schools. Working with the District combines a lifelong interest in the outdoors with extensive experience in education and communication. martin.johnson@vaswcd.org.

Garnett Mellen (TJSWCD Easement and Education Programs Coordinator)  has as one of her primary charges  to act as staff for the TJWRPF and usher appropriate easements into the wings of the TJSWCD.  She did her undergraduate work at the University of Virginia and returned to Charlottesville with her husband in 1993.  Prior to returning to this area, Ms. Mellen lived in the New River Valley working and completing a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech.  From southwest Virginia, Garnett brings knowledge of developing an open space plan and the experience of publishing an Open-Space Handbook for Virginia Decisionmakers.  The Handbook outlines many of the advantages of easements.  In 2003, Ms. Mellen was appointed by the Charlottesville City Council to the Stream Protection Task Force.  Most recently, Garnett staffed and supported the endeavors of the Rivanna Conservation Society.  She is active with her Charlottesville neighborhood association and loves to garden and hike.  She is a Director on the Board of the Rivanna Trails Foundation.  She has two children and loves spending time in her children’s classrooms and promoting the Burnley-Moran Elementary School’s Walk Program.    garnett.mellen@vaswcd.org

Alyson R. Sappington (TJSWCD District Manager) has been employed by the TJSWCD since 1986.  She received a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from Rutgers University (Cook College, 1980) and a Masters of Science in Natural Resource Economics from Virginia Tech (1983).  Her work experiences include:  Economic Assistant for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) serving on Pueblo Indian Reservations in New Mexico, Resource Economist for the USDA Economic Research Service, and an assistant manager for a Southern States dealer.  She has received additional training in stormwater management, urban erosion and sediment control, agronomy, wetland delineation, and NRCS engineering systems.    She is a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society of America, received their Commendation Award in 1990, and was selected as a Berg Fellow participating in the 1993 Forum for Public Conservation Policy.  Ms. Sappington, her husband Larry, and their two children reside in Orange County, where they operate a sawmill and dry kiln. alyson.sappington@vaswcd.org