Board of Directors

Jeri and her husband of 49 years moved to Maine when they fell in love with the State during their honeymoon here. They have hiked all over the United States including many of the national parks including Denali, Yellowstone and Yosemite. She retired recently from a long career in management at Central Maine Medical Center. The joy of retirement is that she has more time to devote to exploring Maine, working in her garden and spending time walking both at Thorncrag and Woodbury. Her husband, Gary is the volunteer land steward for the Stanton Bird Club properties.

David, a member of the Club for over 40 years, is Professor of Mathematics Emeritus in Bates College. He also recently retired as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, in Limestone. Along with his participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, David has keen interest in natural history and in birding. His life list of 1275 species [observed throughout Europe, Africa, South America, as well as in the States] includes 253 seen in Maine. 112 of these were observed around his wife Alice’s and his home.

After both attending high school and starting a teaching career in Alaska, Rob moved to Turner in 1977, where he and his wife Lynn raised two children and have continued to
live. Rob has been a high school English teacher and an administrator or director with non-profit agencies, including Head Start. He served for 15 years as a speech and language clinician in the Auburn School District. Since Lynn’s and his retirements [Lynn is also an educator], he spends as much time as possible in his kayak, with camera and binoculars at hand.

Irene has been a Lewiston resident for over 40 years and has enjoyed living in the vicinity of Thorncrag nearly as long. Her three children romped through Thorncrag at every season, as do her two grandsons now when visiting. As an Ed-Tech at McMahon School, Irene has also accompanied students from there on educational nature hikes. Coming full circle, she now hikes there daily with a friend for health benefits, to do trail maintenance and for sheer enjoyment of experiencing the beauty of nature at Thorncrag at every season. She feels that there is not a bad day to be had at Thorncrag.

Carla Essenberg is a pollination ecologist and has been an assistant professor of Biology at Bates College since 2015.  She enjoys nothing better than to wander around outside looking at plants, insects, birds, and any other creatures she can find.  Since moving here, she and her husband, Tim, have fallen in love with Maine and hope to stay here, in their Lewiston home, for many, many years. 

Nancy is an associate professor of Biology and Neuroscience at Bates College. From a young age she has appreciated being outdoors, especially in the woods, and was thrilled to return to Maine over two decades ago. She and her husband, Bob, enjoy hiking, kayaking and cross-country skiing, and consider themselves ‘recreational’ birders. They live in Lewiston and consider Thorncrag Sanctuary to be a great reason to stay.