Our Board

Jeremy King is the Director of Sustainability & Campus Improvement at Denison University located in Granville, Ohio. He is an alumna of Denison graduating in 1997 with a degree in Biology and Education. His role at Denison focuses on key sustainability-issues such as: renewable energy, energy-efficiency, local food sourcing, recycling, sustainable landscaping and transportation. In addition to the Licking Land Trust Board, he serves on the Licking Park District Board and Granville Planning Commission.

Jeremy is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer having worked on sustainable development and sustainable agriculture projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon from 2007 to 2009.  Jeremy taught high school science at Circleville High School in Circleville, Ohio for ten years and during that time earned a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University. 

Whether managing nearly 2,000 acres as Dawes Arboretum’s director of land conservation or working to preserve property in her own community, Shana Byrd has a passion for conservation. She hopes to share her expertise and enthusiasm as part of the Trust’s board.

“I hope to offer support in monitoring properties, working with landowners considering partnership, educating the public on the value of our work and inspiring individuals to donate resources,” she said. “I’m also interested to learn more about how I can best be of service based on needs of our community.”

Shana studied biology at Ohio University and earned a master’s degree in zoology from Miami University. Before accepting her position at Dawes, she worked with the Sustainable Forestry Program of Rural Action and directed the restoration ecology program at The Wilds. She currently serves on the Ohio Invasive Plant Council Board of Directors, where she raises awareness about native plant conservation.

 Recent residents of Granville, Shana and her family also own a 10-acre farm in Athens County, where she helped secure adjacent property for preservation.

Shana reflected, “The land trust’s relevance of today helps endear communities to their natural assets; the relevance of tomorrow will be gratitude of future generations.”

Amy works as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at an Ob-Gyn practice in Columbus, a mid-life change from her prior career in public health. Amy worked as the part-time Administrator for the Licking Land Trust from 2015 – 2019 while completing her nurse practitioner training, and has continued to volunteer with the Trust in activities such as property monitoring, fundraising, and invasive species management.

Amy’s prior career focused on worker health and safety and environmental health training and advocacy. She worked as a trainer, grant writer, and program coordinator for the Health and Safety programs of two national labor unions, the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Amy and her husband, Mort Guiney, are long-time residents of Granville. They have raised their 2 daughters, Zoe and Kate, in Licking County, both of whom are now at college. Amy has also been deeply involved in several community organizations in the past, including 6th Street and Growing Community Gardens in Newark, OH and the Granville Education Foundation.

Doug Spieles is a professor of environmental studies at Denison University, where he teaches courses on ecosystem management and wetland ecology.  A member of the Licking Land Trust Board since 2004, Doug is interested in conservation ecology, environmental education, and ecological succession.  He is the author of Protected Land: Disturbance, Stress, and American Ecosystem Management,  from Springer publications.

Paul is a farmer in Newark, Ohio, a member and past president of the Licking County Farm, Bureau, and a Trustee of the Ohio Farm Bureau from 2011 - 2018. He enjoys being a 4H Club Advisor, and is a lifetime member of the Utica FFA. He also works for Layton Excavating as a Field Superintendent.

Jim has been a licensed real estate agent since 1995, specializing in homes and land in beautiful Licking County.  He is a commissioner on the Licking County Planning Commission, and has been involved in other community and organizational planning efforts.   Jim has experience as a general contractor and has a degree in architecture from MIT with emphasis on real estate law and building construction.

Jim has been involved in numerous charitable and non-profit organizations, usually in a strategic planning of communications role.   He has had professional and volunteer experience in annual giving programs for many years.   Jim lives north of Granville on 40 acres of farmland, woods and stream and was certified organic in 1993.  He is embarking on a more permaculture based approach to agriculture, relying more on perennial crops and seeking long-term sustainability.   Jim has four children, recent college graduates Danielle and Luke, and Hannah, and college Sophomore, Claire.   

Having lived most of her life in rural Ohio, Wendy has seldom resided more than a mile from a corn field or a farm. She has been concerned about land use and protecting wildlife habitat since she was in college. She is an avid fan of author Doug Tallamy and the Homegrown National Park initiative as an effort to create more habitat for native species.

Wendy first served the Licking Land Trust as the office administrator from 2009-2015. She was deeply involved in the initial Land Trust Alliance accreditation process. Currently she works at the Licking County Library as the manager of outreach and programming.

Wendy received her undergraduate degree from Miami University in interdisciplinary studies and her MLIS from Kent State University.

Karen is an ecologist and professor at The Ohio State University Newark who researches the ecology and conservation of native bees, teaches undergraduate biology, and mentors graduate and undergraduate students. Karen’s childhood in the mountains of western Massachusetts fostered a deep love of the natural world through gardening, recreation, and scenic beauty. In college at Brown University and University of California Santa Cruz, she studied biology and the environment, setting her sights on becoming an ecologist. Then Karen spent two years with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica working in integrated farm management with coffee farmers., which solidified her interest in the intersection of ecology, conservation and agriculture. She went on to receive a MSc degree in Botany and Plant Science from the Univ. of California Riverside and a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from SUNY Stony Brook. She joined the faculty at OSU Newark in 2004 in the Department of Evolution, Ecology.

Kristy Hawthorne is excited to join the Licking Land Trust Board and has been working with the Trust since spring 2023. Kristy serves as an “ex officio” member of the board - someone who holds another position that is relevant to the Trust’s work. Kristy brings the knowledge, experience, and expertise of the Licking County Soil & Water Conservation District (LCSWCD), where she heads the organization as the District Program Administrator. Kristy oversees programs including Ohio Dept. of Agriculture’s Farmland Preservation Easement program, Ohio EPA’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, and USDA cost share programs to help farmers adopt conservation practices. With the county’s land use changing rapidly, LCSWCD is focused on capturing data on the South Fork Licking River watershed to assist in planning and protecting water and soil resources in our communities.

Tom Henshaw is an environmental studies professor at Denison University. His career in agriculture started as an agriculture extension volunteer with Peace Corps in Paraguay. Additionally, he has worked as an organic vegetable producer and US Customs agriculture inspector. Tom studied international business at DePauw University, has a MS in agro-ecology from the University of Florida, and a PhD in rural sociology form The Ohio State University. Deeply interested in community agriculture Tom was a founding board member of 6th Street and Growing Community Gardens in Newark in addition to the Licking Land Trust.

Born and raised in Chillicothe, Tom and his wife Erin moved to Licking County in 2009 where they purchased a small piece of property and an old farm house in Granville Township.

Shauna Weyrauch is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University at Newark, where she teaches introductory biology and humanitarian engineering courses.  She earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from Wright State University, and her Ph.D. in EEOB from The Ohio State University.  Her research interests lie in applied ecology/conservation biology, with topics ranging from wetland restoration, to the effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of amphibians, to improving habitat for bobcats by creating artificial den sites.  She co-founded Project Wild Coshocton in 2015, a project that seeks to document the recovery of Ohio’s bobcat population and learn more about the species’ habitat requirements.  Shauna is also an avid nature photographer and enjoys spending time outdoors.