Steering Committee 2023-24
Katie Allen
Katie Allen is a collaborative conservation and planning professional with expertise in outdoor recreation economic development, strategic conservation planning, and market-based conservation finance. She is currently serving as the Director of Landscape Conservation for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and previously worked for over 10 years for The Conservation Fund. She is a 15-year resident of Shepherdstown and loves the outdoors and exploring nature on foot, on horseback, or paddling through waters near her home.
Sandy Brown
Sandy is a government relations professional who has led the government affairs teams at Amtrak and Teach For America, and currently does career coaching for underrepresented and historically marginalized folks working to enter and rise in that field. After moving to Shepherdstown a little over a decade ago she had the opportunity to work as an environmental educator and with the National Park Service to help develop our future environmental stewards. In her free time she loves kayaking, biking, hiking and X-country skiing.
Peggy Bowers
Peggy Bowers is a professional horticulturist and garden designer. She has spent nearly 20 years working and managing both private and public gardens including Dumbarton Oaks, The American Horticultural Society River Farm and as the Garden Manager at the George Washington Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens. In 2018, Peggy and her husband David built and opened Sundogs Bed and Breakfast located on 46 acres close to Shepherdstown WV. Peggy and David have been dedicated to restoring the woodlands and meadows and creating sustainable pollinator-friendly gardens. Peggy’s passion for pollinators can be seen not only at Sundogs but also at the new Shepherdstown Public Library where she is the lead designer of a community effort to create habitat gardens. Peggy continues to provide garden designs and consultations with the goal to promote life spaces for the native insects and birds, and to teach and inspire others to create their own much-needed wild life habitats in their own backyards.
Evelyn Gettys
Evelyn is a Master Naturalist with the Potomac Valley Audubon Society.
Caroline Hosmer
Caroline Hosmer is a senior aquatic science and general music major at Shepherd University. She is currently conducting capstone research regarding the use of fish as biological control agents for larval mosquito populations and has previously worked with the mosquito control division of the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Her main focus for the Town Run Watershed is to help preserve native species and provide education about the flora and fauna of the watershed.
Diane Niedzialkowski
Suzie Patrick
Town Run flows through Suzie’s backyard. She spearheaded the removal of purple loosestrife from the segment of Town Run between her yard and the property of the Jefferson Security Bank. She is an active member in the local Shepherdstown Area Independent Living group (SAIL) comprising more than 130 senior households in the Shepherdstown area.
Kay Schultz
Kay organized the Monocacy Watershed Alliance and managed volunteer restoration projects in that Frederick County MD watershed (2003 – 2009). She chaired the development team for the Shepherd Village from 2013-2018, throughout the planning, construction, and completion/move-in stages. Kay is a member of Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church’s and its mission committee and earth care group. She has three delightful grandchildren nearby.
Carolyn Thomas
Carolyn is a retired science teacher and an active member of the community. A recipient of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, Carolyn cares deeply about clean water, brook trout, the natural world, and community engagement. Carolyn grew up in northern Minnesota and Howard County, Maryland, earning degrees from the University of Maryland, University of Montana, and Marshall University. She and her husband Bruce have two adult sons and enjoy spending time hiking and fishing.
Greg Welter
Greg is an environmental engineer with 50 years of experience. He has been employed with a consulting engineering firm with municipal water and wastewater utilities as principal clients. Areas of interest have been surface water quality studies, lead in drinking water abatement, combined sewer overflow abatement and emergency planning. He has been a registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia, and the state of Maryland, and is a diplomate accredited by the American Association of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. Prior to his consulting career, Greg was a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in the Yemen Arab Republic.
