♦ James C. Abbot Jr., Atlanta (2005)

Jim, a professor of classical history and languages, was born and raised in Louisville, where he spent many a summer afternoon swimming in the Ogeechee. He was one of the founding directors of Friends of the Ogeechee and served on the OCRK Executive Committee before being elected chairman in 2007. Jim has graduate degrees in classics and in education. For the last ten years he has taught ancient history and Latin at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, where he was formerly an assistant dean of the College and the director of foundation and corporate relations. In addition to his work for OCRK, Jim is a longtime volunteer for Trees Atlanta and past chairman of the Atlanta Boy Choir. Jim and his family live in the historic Inman Park neighborhood of Atlanta.


♦ Mary Andrew, Millen (2005)

♦ Craig Barrow, Savannah (2009)

♦ Thomas Black, Louisville (2005)

♦ Gerald D. Cowart, Savannah (2008)

Gerry, an architect, is senior partner of the Cowart Coleman Group. His firm specializes in historic preservation, environmental stewardship, and appropriate urban design, for which it has won numerous awards, including twelve American Institute of Architects (AIA) Excellence Awards and two AIA Georgia Sustainable Design Awards. Gerry, who earned a graduate degree in architecture at Georgia Tech, is the author of numerous publications and is LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. For the AIA, he has served on numerous committees and in leadership roles, twice presiding over its Savannah chapter. Gerry has also been a member of the Historic Savannah Foundation Board of Trustees for over twenty years. When he is not designing award-winning buildings, Gerry enjoys reading Southern history and studying coastal environmental science.


♦ William F. Easterlin III, Louisville (2005)

Bill, a banker, was a director of Friends of the Ogeechee at the time of its merger with Canoochee Riverkeeper. He has been president of the Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company, formerly First National Bank and Trust Company, since 1995. Queensborough has been recognized by the American Bankers Association as one of the top 50 community banks in the United States. Bill, who holds an undergraduate degree in finance as well as an MBA, is very active in professional and civic affairs at both the state and local level, having served as a trustee of the Georgia Bar Foundation; director for Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Georgia Bankers' Association and Community Bankers' Association; president of the Development Authority of Jefferson County; and in several other roles.


♦ Willard Fell, Statesboro (2007)

♦ Tim Goodson, Wadley (2005)

♦ Ann Hartzell, Savannah (2009)

♦ Larry M. Hodges, Louisville (2005)

Larry, a forester, co-founded both Citizens against Sludge Pollution and its successor organization, Friends of the Ogeechee, where he served as secretary. A certified forester and registered appraiser, Larry is employed by Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company as its trust forester. He also serves as supervisor in the Brier Creek Soil & Water Conservation District and is an active member of the Louisville United Methodist Church, for which he chairs two committees. When Larry is not indulging his enthusiasms for his grandchildren, falconry, and early rock and roll, he can be found advising Riverkeeper Chandra Brown on forestry issues or coordinating the annual Rivers Alive clean-up of the Ogeechee River in Jefferson County.


♦ John Lewis, Louisville (2005)

♦ James H. Newsome, Warrenton (2005)
 

James, a businessman, was born and still lives in Warren County, where he grew up fishing and swimming on the Ogeechee River at Mayfield and Jewell. As sales manager with The Carpet Shop in Augusta, he is actively involved in the floor covering industry: he is a founding member, director, and first president of the CSRA Floor Covering Association, as well as a member of the National Insurance Accounts Advisory Board for Carpet Coop of America Global Partners. James is a generous volunteer of his time and talents. Before Friends of the Ogeechee merged with Canoochee Riverkeeper to form OCRK, James served as vice chairman of that organization, and for OCRK, he chairs the important Legal and Advocacy Committee. In addition, he is vice chairman of the Warren County Board of Education and a member of the First Baptist Church of Warrenton. James and his wife Susan have three daughters, and whenever he has the opportunity, he enjoys coastal sailing, snow skiing, and canoeing.

♦ Phil Odom, Hinesville (2005)

♦ James S. Reichard, Ph.D., Statesboro (2005)

Jim, a professor of environmental geology and hydrogeology, was the faculty supervisor of Chandra Brown's water-quality study of the Canoochee River in 2000-2001. He later became a founding director of Canoochee Riverkeeper. As an associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern, Jim maintains a dual research program in hydrogeology and pedagogy. His publications in hydrogeology focus on how aquifers are affected by pore pressure and on computing applications for aquifer tests. At GSU, he has developed an applied-hydrogeologic research program on Georgia's coastal plain, in which researchers investigate the relationship between groundwater and surface-water quality. His interest in improving teaching techniques has culminated in the writing of a forthcoming environmental geology textbook. Jim is an advisor to the Center for a Sustainable Coast and enjoys traveling, hiking, and camping. 


♦ Linda Smith, Claxton (2005)

Linda was born and raised in Evans County near Claxton, Ga. She spent most of her childhood summers camping and swimming in the tea-colored waters of the Canoochee River. In the late 80s, she and her sisters began to see their once pristine river begin to degrade. By the late 90s , their beloved property was no longer usable because of algae blooms which covered the entire surface of the river. They began a long fight to save this beautiful resource which resulted in the formation of Canoochee Riverkeeper. Linda was a founding board member and served as secretary for several years. She continues in her effort to restore the rivers of the area as a Board member of the new merged organization and a volunteer. She has been trained in water quality monitoring and participates in the monitoring program for OCRK. Linda has two adult children and two grandchildren. She fights for their right to have a legacy of clean water passed to them and hopes they will have the opportunity to learn to love the river and the critters which depend on its environs for their very lives. Linda is a member of Nevils Trinity Baptist Church, where she sings in the choir and serves as an assistant Sunday school teacher. Her message is that we all have the power to effect change, but only if we speak up and join the fight.

♦ Donald  J. Stack, Savannah (2005)

Don, an attorney, is the founder of Stack & Associates, P.C., an environmental compliance law firm with offices in Savannah and Atlanta. His firm focuses on plaintiffs' work, representing individuals, citizens' organizations, neighborhood associations, and businesses as they strive to protect and preserve the beauty and natural resources of the Southeast as well as their own individual properties. Don was the attorney in the case that led to the creation of Canoochee Riverkeeper, for which he then served as president and chairman of the board. Before establishing Stack & Associates, Don took an undergraduate degree and did postgraduate work in biology, followed by employment as a park ranger, environmental education coordinator, and naturalist for the U.S. Department of the Interior. After graduation from law school in 1986, he became an expert in environmental law issues during work for private law firms and also as an assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Don has served as legal counsel for many citizens' groups, and his firm provides legal counsel to several environmental advocacy organizations. In addition to being immediate past chairman of OCRK, Don is a past president of the Georgia River Network. He was the Georgia Environmental Council’s Outstanding Environmental Professional of the Year in 2003, and three years later, he received the Ogden Doremus Award for Excellence in Environmental Law. Don is married to Ann Marie Ernst Stack, herself a noted environmental lawyer, and they are parents to five children.

♦ John Thrift, Swainsboro (2009)

♦ Stephen Vives, Ph.D., Statesboro (2005)