Meet the Board of Directors

WNYEA maintains a 9-15 member board with seats elected each year for service in a two-year term.
​Board Officers include the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.

JOHN WHITNEY (2022 to present)
Chair

John served as the District Conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service from late 1985 until he retired in January of 2019. In addition to more than 39 years of professional experience, John was a founder and long-time Director and Treasurer of the Western New York Land Conservancy. He remains an enthusiastic supporter of the open space, farmland and natural area protection work of the WNY Land Conservancy and many other local land conservation organizations and initiatives. He has considerable experience in geographic information system data development, project management and mapping. John also served on the Erie County Environmental Management Council as an at-large member for many years. John now holds a part-time position as an agricultural educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County.

John is a 1982 graduate of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences where he studied Natural Resources & Agronomy. Other interests include nature photography, woodworking, gardening, and music. As a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, John can be seen and heard in various venues in and around East Aurora where he resides with his wife, Laura.

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BRENDA YOUNG (2023 to present)
​Treasurer

Brenda Young, PhD, LEED AP is Professor of Biology at Daemen College and Chair of the Global & Local Sustainability Department.  Trained as an ecologist with additional coursework in sustainable design, she teaches courses in ecology, animal behavior, conservation biology and environmental sciences.   With students, she works on campus sustainability initiatives including demonstration green roof and rain garden projects.

Brenda and her husband own Niagara Malt LLC, a certified organic farm business producing carbon-neutral malt for craft brewers and distillers.  Additionally, she is a beekeeper and uses agricultural practices that promote biodiversity. 
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Brenda serves on the boards for Buffalo Heritage Carousel, Western New York Sustainable Energy Association and WNY Earth Day Expo.  She also helps manage Allenberg Bog owned by Buffalo Audubon Society. 
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JAY BURNEY (2023 to present)
Advocacy Chair

Jay Burney is a long-time conservationist, educator, naturalist, and community activist. He is also a writer, media maker, and publisher. He attended college at the University of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and UCLA. He attended and later taught at the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. He has produced, written, and helped market a number of projects including for Warner Brothers, PBS, National Public Radio, CTV, the BBC, and CBS. He is the Executive Director and Special Projects Director for the Pollinator Conservation Association. He was one of the founders of the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve. He served as chair of the Niagara River Corridor Globally Significant Bird Area coalition that worked to obtain that designation. He is one of the founders of the Our Outer Harbor Coalition, is the U.S. Chair of the Birds on the Niagara International Festival, and is the founder and chair of the Pollinator Conservation Association. 

Most importantly he is a husband to Jonna, and the father of two children, Jajean Rose Burney, and Jamie Hamann-Burney.

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TERRENCE ROBINSON (2023 to present)

Terrence Robinson is an active advocate for Historic Preservation in the City of Buffalo and Western New York Region. Born and raised in the City of Buffalo, a student of Political Economics at Princeton University, a former Marine and former Buffalo police officer, a lifelong commitment to public service and community advocacy is a core personality trait. Environmental awareness and Environmental Justice are integral components of those advocacy efforts. Current positions as Board member of the Pollinators Conservation Association and Western New York Minority Media Professionals reflect the diversity of those interests. Past efforts include but are not limited to: founding member of Preservation Buffalo Niagara and years of service as that organization’s representative on the City of Buffalo Preservation Board, Board member of the Graycliff Conservancy, Lexington Coop Credit Union, and various civic and community organizations have provided a wide range of experience and knowledge. 



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MARGARET WOOSTER (2022 to present)

Dr. Margaret Wooster was a founding member of the Friends of the Buffalo River, the headwater spring that led to Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. She created a Watershed Learning Project with middle schools in the Buffalo-Niagara River Watershed on both sides of the border which was featured in a 1990 National Geographic film, The Power of Water. As a watershed planner for the Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, Margaret worked with local governments on stream and groundwater protection, then serving for eight years as the Executive Director of Great Lakes United (GLU), a bi-national coalition of environmental, labor and indigenous groups dedicated to conserving the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecosystem.  Margaret is the author of three books: Meander: Making Room for (Great Lakes) Rivers (currently under review, SUNY Press), Living Waters: Reading the Rivers of the Lower Great Lakes (SUNY Press), and Somewhere to Go on Sunday (Prometheus Books). She has also published many articles, stories and local geographies inspired by Great Lakes flows. She has won several awards for her conservation work and writings.

She has a PhD in English literature, a Masters degree in environmental land use planning, and occasionally teaches a graduate course in ecology-based land use planning at SUNY Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning.​

 NICHOLAS HENSHUE (2023 to present)
​Vice Chair

​Dr. Nick Henshue has a B.S. in Environmental Education, Master’s in Biology, and Ph.D. in Ecology. He currently looks for ways to utilize earthworm ecology together with Restoration and Soil Ecology to improve habitats in Western New York. His current courses taught include Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Soil Ecology, and Phylogenetics and Taxonomy. Additionally, he is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo. Nick’s research interests include restoration, earthworms, ecology, science outreach, and helping teachers teach amazing science. 







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ANNA CASTONGUAY (2023 to present)
​Secretary

 Anna is a behavioral scientist who works with individuals with developmental disabilities, organizations, and community groups.  She graduated with her BA in psychology from SUNY Geneseo and her MA in Applied Behavior Analysis from Ball State University.  She is an active volunteer with Buffalo Niagara Waterkeepers, WNY Grassroots Gardens, and the Great Lakes Ecoregion Network; and is a board member and treasurer of Birds on the Niagara.  As a co-founder of Awakening Lands, she has facilitated collaboration within and between community groups and coalitions focused on regeneration, helping them to realize their collective potential.  Anna wants to focus her energy on helping communities realize transformative and holistic strategies to heal their land and waterways, and to work towards a future that works for all humans and more-than-humans.

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KELLEY ST. JOHN (2023 to present)
ex-officio

Kelley St. John is the Senior Resiliency Grants Manager for the City of Buffalo who works to secure unique funding streams that support the City’s sustainability and resilience initiatives. In this role, St. John is responsible for implementing the U.S. Treasury pandemic-response stimulus funding, and coordinating  participation in state-sponsored climate and energy programs. St. John brings experience from her contributions to applied research and policy making in communities across US. She holds a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning, and undergraduate degrees in Environmental Design (B.A.) and Environmental Studies (B.S.) from the University at Buffalo. 

Kelley is a life-long resident of Western New York, growing up among the rural landscapes of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties on her family’s fourth-generation dairy operation. Kelley currently resides in North Buffalo with her husband, Nathan and together they enjoy exploring the National Parks system and listening to live music. Her interests include gardening, 
thrift and vintage shopping, and winter recreation. 

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LYNDA SCHNEEKLOTH​ (2022 to present)

Lynda is Professor Emerita of the Department of Architecture, University at Buffalo/SUNY and 2019-2021 Chair of the WNYEA.  Throughout her career she has worked to connect environmental and social activism, design practice, teaching, and scholarship around both professional and citizen engagement in the practice of “placemaking.”  She engages people and institutions in the work of healing the world and the creating beloved places.  She holds an MS in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin, has taught at Schools of Architecture from 1976 to 2011, and is author or editor of six books and numerous articles.    
 
Schneekloth has been active in regional environmental work to include being one of the founders of the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, and the WNY Environmental Alliance.  She also serves on the board member of the Sierra Club Niagara Group and participates in the Crossroads Collective. With these organizations and others, she has facilitated collaborative work in climate justice with special attention to youth and frontline involvement, public trust matters as in Outer Harbor protection, the restoration of our ecology through the Native Plants Collaborative, and the moral imperative of both the climate and biodiversity crises through the Interfaith Climate Justice Community.  Schneekloth seeks to deepen people’s connections to the earth both culturally and environmentally.  ​

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Terry Belke (2025-2027 term)

Terry's 35 year career in television production includes experience in producing fishing and other outdoors shows on both a local and national level. His proudest career achievements are the creation and production of two environmental education series. The first was "Empire Outdoors", which aired for 3 years on the Empire Sports Network. Succeeding that was "2 The Outdoors" which aired for 15 years on WGRZ-TV/Channel 2. All told, both series totaled over 550 episodes, many half hour specials and with WGRZ, a six year series of public forums. Terry has been a lover of the Earth since he can remember , and he is excited and honored to continue to be an active part of our environmental community as he enters into "retirement".

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Hillary Bialecki (2025-2027 term)

Hillary is passionate about creating spaces where equity and justice take center stage. Her journey has been shaped by a history of social justice activism and many meaningful experiences in the human services field, including work at daycares, Hillside Children’s Center, and DePaul Community Services. These roles taught her the value of listening to diverse perspectives and working across socioeconomic backgrounds to build strong, connected communities.

Hillary has also had the opportunity to get her hands dirty—literally! Working on a small farm in Rochester for two seasons introduced her to sustainable land stewardship, native plants, and integrated pest management. It was there that she developed a deep appreciation for food sovereignty and soil health, which she believe are essential to building resilient ecosystems.

Hillary is particularly inspired by the incredible community networks in Western New York and is excited to collaborate on projects that nurture environmental health and equity in the region. In her free time, you’ll often find her reading, hiking, camping, or gardening - activities that ground her and fuel her connection to the natural world.

At her core, Hillary is guided by a vision of hope and the belief that brighter futures are possible when we work together. Whether it’s through fostering strong coalitions or imagining bold solutions, she is committed to creating meaningful change that starts locally and ripples out.

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Pamela Sander (2025-2027 term)

Pamela Sander is an Amherst, New York, resident and a lifelong lover of the outdoors. The shoreline of Lake Erie, Eighteenmile Creek, Girl Scout activities, and the wooded fields behind her Lake View childhood home were her early influences. 

Pam’s work experiences include 23 years working in the nonprofit sector (Child & Family Services and The Research Foundation of NY at SUNY Buffalo) and in private medical settings. 

Pamela's volunteer activities include the following:

• Serving as Programs Co-Chair for the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) since 2021. Her roll in this capacity has put her in contact with numerous environmental organizations and individuals, including Dave O’Donnell of the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm; Jay Burney of the WNYEA and the Pollinator Conservation Association; Dr. Nicole Gerber and Dr. Dave Reilly of the Citizen Coalition for the Environment; Terry Belke of the Zoar Valley Coalition; Kyle Semmel of The Western New York Land Conservancy; Twan Leenders of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy; Paul Crawford of the Friends of Allegany State Park; the staffs of Tifft Nature Preserve and Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve; and Joshua Konovitz and the rangers and forestry staff of the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation & Forestry. 

• Pam is also a founding and voting member of the Zoar Valley Coalition, which was formed to fight against logging in Zoar Valley. This is an ongoing activity.

• She was also an active member of the Friends of ECO Park, a community-action group formed to fight (successfully) against the building of apartments that would have caused serious flooding at ECO Park and in the surrounding neighborhood. 

These and other activities have helped Pam develop excellent communication and networking skills.  

Pamela enjoys many outdoor activities, including winter mountaineering, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, hiking (she is a certified Level 1 ADK hike leader), biking, and camping. She visits the Adirondack region, Allegany State Park, and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge numerous times per year, and she often accompanies her husband John as he travels across western New York gathering information for his fishing and outdoors website. Pam is also an avid gardener, and her backyard is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat site.

​When not actively trying to promote and protect our natural resources, Pam enjoys exploring nature with her husband and friends and spending time with her out-of-town children and grandchildren.

While members of the Board of Directors of the Western New York Environmental Alliance (WNYEA) may be members of or employed by WNYEA member, associate, or supporting organizations,  or other non-affiliated groups or agencies, Directors do not represent any organization or agency other than the WNYEA when conducting and participating in organizational business and activities.  Directors are also subject to a written Conflict of Interest Policy to protect the WNYEA’s interests in transactions involving directors, officers and affiliated and related parties. ​