Our Board
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.
Jeremy King is the Director of Sustainability & Campus Improvement where he stewards sustainability initiatives on behalf of the College and acts as a resource for other departments and offices. He also serves as a liaison to the surrounding community on issues regarding sustainability and sustainable development. An alumna of Denison, Jeremy brings a wealth of educational and resource conservation experience to the position. He taught high school science in Circleville, Ohio for 10 years and during that time earned a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University. Jeremy served in the Peace Corps and worked on sustainable development and sustainable agriculture projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Jeremy was born and raised in Licking County.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 in college. Growing up, her family always had a garden in the backyard and many of her weekends were spent “helping out” and exploring their family friend’s farm. Her own 3 acres are her passion where she works to add native plants and habitat, to weed out invasives, and to promote biological diversity. 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 Granville Public Library as a Community Outreach Coordinator responsible for teen and adult programming. There she has led a few environmental initiatives including the Books and the Bees book club, the iNaturalist Licking County Atlas of Life project, the Citizen Science project collection, and bringing in guest speakers on variety of scientific and environmental topics.
Wendy attended Miami University where she majored in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on psychology and sociology. She has three children, four dogs, two cats, and one husband. They keep her busy. She is currently working on her master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences at Kent State University.
Josh Troyer is an engineering technician with Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District, where he enjoys helping agricultural producers and rural landowners manage land and water resources on the farm. Josh grew up in Wayne County, Ohio, before moving west to further his education. He earned a B.S. in earth science from Western Oregon University before beginning his career as a habitat restoration biologist living and working among the redwoods of northern California.
After a ten-year stint on the West Coast, Josh returned to Ohio in 2015. His interest in natural places led him to a variety of roles in conservation, habitat restoration, and ecological monitoring. Positions with The Nature Conservancy, Dawes Arboretum, and county government have helped him truly appreciate the environmental and social benefits of open space and the value it brings to local communities. Josh is thrilled to help advance the Trust’s mission to protect ecologically valuable and working lands in and around Licking County.
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.
Scott Gray is the newest member of LLT’s Board of Trustees, joining the Board in July. Scott has been the Manager/Lender at the Park National Bank’s Granville Branch for the last 3 years and at the PNB Reynoldsburg Branch before moving to his current position. Scott brings essential expertise and experience in financial management to the LLT Board.
A native Ohioan, Scott grew up in New Washington near Bucyrus. He attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH majoring in Business Administration. Scott has worked in the banking industry for nearly 36+ years at a variety of institutions in Ohio and in Florida.
Scott lives in Newark with his wife Michele, two teenage children, Ethan and Rylee, and Bailey, their Blue Merle Labradoodle. Scott and his son Ethan also run a small mowing business. He also enjoys coaching for the Granville Rec District, currently basketball. In his free time he loves family game nights, and is learning to play Pickleball. Truly community minded, Scott serves as the Treasurer of the Granville Rotary Club.
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.
The Trust is deeply saddened by the passing of Don "Biff" Wiper on September 24, 2015, while joining the entire community and his family in celebration of his life of huge accomplishment and boundless love. As a long-time member and driving force behind the growth of the Granville Land Conservancy, Don worked tirelessly for 23 years to advance the mission of the Conservancy, which became the Licking Land Trust. Serving as a board chair and member, he shared his passion for conservation of open spaces, working with landowners, members, youth, the community and many others to save undeveloped land as a treasure forever. His love for nature and the land lives on in the Licking Land Trust. He served as chairman of the board from 1996-2006 during which time the area protected by the Trust grew by over 700 acres. Don served as a board member until his recent death in 2015. He lent his legal expertise freely, and was invaluable to member and landowner outreach. We miss him dearly!