Trustee Biographies

​

Sherri Albrecht joined The Conservancy’s Board of Trustees in 2006 and is a resident of Rockaway Township. Sherri is a Senior Environmental Scientist for URS Corp and specializes in wetlands and permitting. She has an MA in Environmental Science and a BS in Biology. Sherri has been a volunteer and later treasurer with Tri-Boro Animal Welfare in Butler. She was also a volunteer and later board member with Brookview Wildlife Center, formerly of Boonton. She currently volunteers with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife through the Wildlife Conservation Corps (WCC). Her main involvement as a WCC volunteer is with the Endangered and Non-game species program conducting amphibian crossing and vernal pool surveys. Sherri enjoys outdoor recreation activities, particularly kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and cross-country skiing. She also enjoys gardening and spending time with family and friends.

​

Andrew Allen is a Licensed Site Remediation Professional with 17 years of experience in the environmental engineering field. He has worked extensively with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and
started his own firm, GKL Environmental Consulting, in 2022. He lives in Newton with his wife and three children.

​

David Broderick was a partner at McCarter & English, where he specialized in corporate transactional law, until he retired in 2023 after a 40-year legal career.  He and his family have resided in Rockaway Township since 1991, and they continue to enjoy the many preserved lands surrounding their home, including Wildcat Ridge, Beaver Creek, and Jonathan’s Woods. He currently serves as chairman emeritus of the Appleseed Public Interest Law Center of New Jersey, and for the past 30 years has served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School, where he teaches business planning.  He is a former chairman of the First Occupational Center of New Jersey, and a former trustee of the Morris County Hospice. David graduated from Rutgers University and received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, after which he clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Court. David enjoys fishing, boating, swimming and enjoying the outdoors in his free time. He joined our board of trustees in 2023.

​

John P. de Neufville, Ph.D. is the President and founder of Voltaix, Inc., a manufacturer and international supplier of electronic gases based in North Branch, NJ. He started Voltaix, Inc. in 1986 to capture the market for an obscure gas, germane, GeH4, which is used in multi-junction solar cells based on “amorphous silicon” to improve efficiency by better converting the red and near infra-red portions of the solar spectrum into electricity. He has a Ph.D. in Applied Physics (specialty in Materials Science, Harvard, 1969), an M.S. (Harvard, 1965) and a B.S. (Yale, 1961) in geology, and is a self-taught chemist, who has worked on advanced batteries, phase change rewritable CD technology, catalysis, uranium exploration technology and semiconductor physics at Energy Conversion Devices in Troy, MI and Exxon’s Corporate Lab when it was in Linden, NJ. He was a Board Member of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey from 1994-1999, serving as Vice Chairperson in 1995 and Chairperson in 1998. He is a past Board Chair and has been a trustee on the board at The Land Conservancy of New Jersey since 1995.

​

Andy Dietz was the Co-founder and CEO of Spectra Gases, Inc., a specialty gas company. Andy and his brother ran the company for 25 years until they sold it to Linde AG, a multinational engineering and industrial gases company. Andy attended Lafayette College and currently lives on a farm in Chester with his wife, Karen and their two children. He has been a Conservancy member since 2002 and joined our Board of Trustees in 2013.

​

Jeremy Doppelt is a former civil trial and real estate attorney. In 2000 he gave up his files to become a full time real estate investor. He is also the Managing Member of several LLCs. Jeremy graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of General Studies, majoring in Political Science and History. He later attained his law degree from the Rutgers Newark School of Law. A Boonton Township resident since 1993, Jeremy is married with 3 grown daughters. He is also on the advisory board of Roots and Wings and joined The Land Conservancy’s Board in 2018.

​

Teresa Finlay has lived in Mendham with her husband and three sons since 1998, relocating from Manhattan. In 1999 she established a 501(c)(3), The Nickelodeon Fund, to raise funds, design and build a children’s playground in Mendham. The playground was recognized by the State of New Jersey for its design, which features play structures modeled after local historic sites. She served on the Board of Trustees of Schiff Natural Lands Trust for 8 years and chaired 3 of its major fundraising events. Teresa is Vice President of Friends of Pitney Farm, a non-profit committed to preservation of historic Pitney Farm in Mendham Township, and its repurpose for community uses. She has been active in her children’s various schools, including Peck School, Willow School, Hotchkiss and Peddie. She held a Series 7 and spent time at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette in Private Client Services. Prior to that, Teresa worked in Corporate Finance at the Fiat Group in New York. Teresa graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Art History and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in Finance. Teresa enjoys gardening, hiking, sailing, tennis, skiing and traveling to all corners of the earth. Her favorite place, however, is home, where her family enjoys fly fishing, cycling and appreciating the great outdoors. She has been a trustee since 2016.

​

Berkley Harmon III is a Certified Business Performance Advisor with Insperity, a Human Resources company, where in his role there for the last five years, he has helped small and mid-sized businesses, schools, and non-profit organizations provide cost-effective benefits and human resource services and technology to help their organizations compete and grow. Prior to his role with Insperity, Berkley was a licensed insurance agent with licenses in NJ, PA and DE in property & casualty and life & health insurance. For six years, he was a business owner serving small businesses in NJ and PA, helping them with their insurance and human resource needs, until he sold his company to join Insperity. After graduating with a B.A. Degree in Business Management from Eastern University in St. David’s, PA, Berkley spent ten years of his career in the pharmaceutical industry with GSK and Merck & Co. During his time with GSK, Berkley also received his MBA from Villanova University in their Executive MBA Program. As part of his MBA program, he spent part of a semester overseas in Chile and Argentina studying American business investments in South America and International Business. He has a family of eight including his wife, Dr. Sandra Harmon, his namesake Berkley Harmon IV and five siblings. Berkley joined The Land Conservancy’s Board in 2019.

​

Bruce Hyde joined The Land Conservancy’s Board in 2014 and is a 20 year resident of Chester where he resides with his wife Lee Ann and his two children and various other animals including horses, ducks, a dog and other wildlife. Bruce has been in the wealth advisory field for over 12 years and is currently a Wealth Manager for Round Table Services LLC in Westfield, NJ. He had previously worked for another wealth advisory firm in Manhattan for over 10 years. His career began in public accounting with Price Waterhouse in Morristown where he spent 8 years advising a broad range of corporate and individual clients before moving to AT&T and eventually Lucent Technologies where he worked in the Corporate Tax Planning group as Assistant Tax Director. Bruce is a graduate of Lafayette College where he earned his BA in Economics and Business and he later received a Masters in Taxation from Seton Hall University where he was elected Beta Gamma Sigma for high scholastic achievement. Bruce and his family have a passion for the outdoors including the beach and he is constantly tinkering with a project or two having to do with vintage muscle cars.

​

John Maurer is a recently retired executive officer of Foot Locker, having served as vice president and treasurer of the multinational retail company for the past 17 years. Among many other responsibilities, he managed $1B+ of retirement assets, as well as up to $2B in other corporate financial assets.  In 2021 and 2022, John was on the board of Retailors, Ltd, a publicly traded company based in Israel. Prior to his tenure at Foot Locker, John held senior positions in finance at Lucent Technologies and AT&T.  John holds a degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA in international finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. John has two grown sons and two lovely granddaughters. He and his partner, Rachel, live in Green Pond, NJ, where John is a member of the Lake End Corporation board of directors and co-chair of its Environmental Committee.  He is an avid outdoor enthusiast, with a special affection for cycling and birding.  

​

Spence Mehl is a Senior Vice President at RCS Real Estate Advisors, a New York City based firm specializing in real estate portfolio analysis. He has worked with many of RCS’ large national clients, developing close relationships with them through his unique skills as an effective negotiator and expertise in property dispositions. Previously Spence served as general counsel and real estate director for a national retail chain. Following that tenure he was involved in prominent and large-scale bankruptcy proceedings. Spence holds a JD degree from St. John’s University School of Law as well as a BA from Tulane University, and practiced law in New York, focusing on transactional real estate litigation. He joined The Land Conservancy Board in 2018.

​

Elise Morrison joined The Land Conservancy’s Board in 2017. She is a New Jersey native, and has been a lifelong enthusiast of protecting our natural environment and enjoying the outdoors. Elise had an extensive career with IBM in Sales and Sales Management positions, based in Washington, DC, Boston, New York City, Dallas, and New Jersey. She managed national and worldwide sales teams, growing IBM’s revenues with an ecosystem of business partners for IBM’s software, hardware, and services. Elise graduated from Cornell University’s College of Arts & Sciences with a BA in Economics, and from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business with her MBA. Elise also serves on the Board and is past-President of The New Players Company Association for theater in Ridgewood, NJ. She volunteers teaching English to immigrants in NJ. Elise resides in Edgewater, NJ, and is very proud of her two daughters living in LA and Brooklyn. She enjoys being with family and friends, adventure traveling around the world, exploring NYC, hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding, cooking, playing the piano, and reading.

​

Dr. Grant Parr grew up in Essex Fells, NJ. He attended Wesleyan University where he graduated with honors in Physics. He received his MD from Cornell University Medical College. In 1978 he joined the faculty of Penn State University School of Medicine in Hershey. Dr. Parr subsequently became Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Acting Chair of Surgery at the Presbyterian-University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia. In 1988, Dr. Parr started the Cardiac Surgery Program at Morristown Medical Center. Under his guidance, this program grew rapidly to become the largest in New Jersey and the second largest in the New York Tri-State area. It has achieved national and international recognition, being ranked by the US News and World Report. Dr. Parr was instrumental in fund raising for and the design of the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute at MMC. Grant and his wife Helen have owned their home at 75 Picatinny Road in Morris Township for 22 years. He is exceptionally proud of his two daughters – one is a Cardiac Anesthesiologist in Maryland where she lives with her husband and son, and the other is Senior Director Editorial Operations of Medscape, the professional side of WebMD and she lives in Hastings-on-Hudson NY with her husband and son. Grant is an avid fly-fisherman who has fished from the Arctic Circle in Russia and Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in Chile and New Zealand. His life-long love of fly fishing started his interest in conservation. Grant has been a Land Conservancy member since 1997, and joined the board in 2014.

​

Catherine Pierson is an editor at The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, a monthly newspaper for corporate lawyers. She has worked as an English instructor for West Morris Mendham High School, teaching students absent with long-term illnesses, and has worked as a writing instructor at Penn State. She has served on several committees at Brookside Community Church, recently as chair of the trustees and on the building committee during a $1.2 million dollar expansion project. She also served on the Mendham Borough Board of Education for four years. She earned a dual bachelor’s degree in Economics and English at Goucher College and a master’s degree in English at Iowa State. She lives in Mendham with her family and enjoys hiking and cross-country skiing on the local trails. She is also an avid cyclist and amateur birder, and is looking forward to helping The Land Conservancy preserve the beautiful places in our state. Catherine Joined the Board of Trustees in 2014.

​

Robert C. Ross practiced law as an attorney for over 45 years with Debevoise, Plimpton, with Pfizer, and as a sole practitioner. He also was the sole caregiver for his late wife for 34 years, the last 10 years 24/7. Since her death, in accordance with her wishes, he has made fundraising grants to over 120 different charities with a wide variety of missions. Beginning in 2014, he acted as the intermediary between the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference and TLCNJ, assisting with the completion of 20 different land preservation projects. Bob has also served on the The Land Conservancy’s Development Committee since 2019.

​

Tom Scudese has over 18 years of experience in the Capital Markets. He was an institutional trader/portfolio manager specializing in fixed income, and more recently has provided wealth management services for individuals, charities, and corporations. Tom graduated from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance. He holds Series 7, 63, and 66 NASD registrations. Tom and his team joined UBS in 2012 from Merrill Lynch. Prior to that, he held senior positions at JP Morgan Securities and Brookfield Investment Management in New York City. Tom, his wife, Sarah, and son, Luke, live on their family farm in Long Valley, NJ with several slow, but lovable, Thoroughbred ex-racehorses. He has been a Land Conservancy trustee since 2012.

​

Niraj Shah is a partner in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners in New York. Prior to joining PJT, Mr. Shah spent 27 years at Citigroup, advising clients across a broad range of industries. He joined Salomon Brothers in 1996 in debt capital markets before moving to the investment bank in 2000, where he spent nearly a decade as a senior member of the Global Communications Group. Mr. Shah was formerly a board treasurer and board chair of Breakthrough New York (BTNY), which seeks to break the cycle of poverty in disadvantaged communities across New York City by supporting and accelerating the educational development of aspiring and driven young teens. Mr. Shah grew up in Edison, NJ and went to Edison High School. He received his BA in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and spent a year abroad studying at the London School of Economics. Mr. Shah is married to Mona Shah, and has a son who attends Georgetown University as well as a daughter who attends high school at Newark Academy. They live in Short Hills, NJ.

​

Barbara Wattenbach is a former commercial real estate professional who lived in Germany, England, and the US.  Now she is putting her real estate knowledge and experience to work in order to preserve our precious lands.  Splitting her time between Manhattan and Morristown, Barbara especially cherishes New Jersey’s parks, lakes, farms and other natural areas.  She earned a BS in mathematics at Montclair University and an MBA in finance at Rutgers University.  Barbara enjoys outdoor challenges such as summiting high peaks, rock climbing and scuba diving but also takes advantage of local hiking, biking, swimming and gardening and joined the Land Conservancy Board in 2018.