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Meet the Orleans County Team

Sarah Damsell

District Manager

Sarah Damsell has worked as the Orleans County Natural Resources Conservation District as Manager since November 2015. Sarah has focused her efforts on building the District’s water quality improvement services to local farms and municipalities. She manages the day-to-day operations of the district including maintaining core programming through grant management and development, writing land treatment plans and working with landowners and towns to plan and implement conservation projects. Prior to her current position, she worked as the Essex County NRCD district manager, for the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts as an Agricultural Resource Specialist and as a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Regional Coordinator. Sarah also worked for seven years as an Organic Farm Inspector for Northeast Organic Farm Association. She grew up in working class family in southern NH. Her first job at 15 was a trail crew member with the Student Conservation Association in NH. She became interested in agriculture while a student at the University of Montana when she was captivated by the agrarian lifestyle and worked on vegetable and dairy farms during and after college. Sarah has concentrated all of her working career in the non-profit conservation and agricultural sector. Sarah has a deep understanding of conservation districts, local, state and federal regulations and conservation practice standards. She also is well versed in funding and technical assistance programs available to landowners and towns. With a commitment to improve and protect the inherent value of natural resources for future generations, she is devoted to creating valuable and effectual experiences while working alongside community members to improve land use practices. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, cooking, yoga and getting out into the mountains to ski, hike, and bike with friends.

Ted Sedell

Conservation Specialist

Ted is the newest member of the Orleans County NRCD. As Conservation Specialist, he will be the lead on natural resource restoration programs that primarily deal with aquatic environments like streams, rivers, and wetland/floodplains, as well as web based information sharing about the OCNRCD.

Prior to moving to the Northeast Kingdom, Ted was a research fish ecologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in La Grande, Oregon leading monitoring efforts on Snake River Pacific salmon. Ted earned his Master’s of Science from Montana State University, and for the last 25 years, he has been involved in the development, coordination, and implementation of large-scale aquatic habitat and water quality monitoring programs throughout the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Ted’s passion is in the conservation and recovery of watersheds for both human use and natural flora and fauna through restoration of ecosystem functions, especially in aquatic and riparian environments. As such, his interests include developing relationships and collaborative problem solving among stakeholders; finding sustainable solutions for the community, aquatic organisms, and riverine systems; evaluating and designing restoration of ecosystem processes to promote clean water and sustainable habitats; and building resilient a landscape for future generations. As is in common with most Vermonters, he and his family enjoy everything that involves being outdoors whether it’s in the woods or on the water and exploring the world at large.

Bevin Barber-Campbell

Community Engagement & Lake Shoreland Coordinator

Bevin Barber-Campbell is thrilled to join the Orleans County NRCD as the Conservation Assistant/Community Engagement staff. She is looking forward to assisting the District Manager in general district procedures and leading outreach and communications efforts for our programs and services. This summer she will increase her hours to include community engagement work with lake associations on lake restoration work.

Bevin comes to us from the Memphremagog Watershed Association and bike advocacy/alternative transportation work. She has been in Vermont for a few years and lives in Westmore with her family. She is passionate about her work, uses personal connections, communications and education to inspire individuals and leaders. At the same time, she values listening and learning about people’s experiences. These interactions provide the basis for constantly evaluating her strategies and programs, leading to thoughtful and creative innovations and solutions.

Walter Medwid

Secretary, Derby

Walter is a biologist with a deep soft spot for this special part of the Northeast. He has worked in the nonprofit conservation sector for many years in Connecticut, New York, Minnesota and Vermont. He has served previously as the executive director/publisher of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education and the executive director of the International Wolf Center in Minnesota, the NorthWoods Stewardship Center and the Adirondack Mountain Club in New York. While in New York, he became an Adirondack 46er by climbing all the peaks over 4,000 feet. He has travelled to the Northwest Territories and backpacked several times on Ellesmere Island is search of arctic wolves. In addition to his strong background in management of non-profit organizations, Walter Medwid brings with him a variety of accolades including the Silver Eagle Award, the highest award given by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to an individual outside the agency, and the Cooperative Conservation Award given by Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne. He has a keen interest in natural history and has identified over 150 avian species in Orleans County. Walter currently works as the coordinator for Orleans County Restorative Justice Center, coordinating the reparative justice panels and lives in Derby, Vermont with his wife Mary Beth. The Orleans County NRCD is honored to welcome Walter to the board for a one year trial term and we look forward to working with him to address local soil and water quality natural resource concerns.

Jared Nunery

Associate Supervisor, Craftsbury

Jared is a licensed forester in Vermont, and works for the State of Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation as the Orleans County Forester. He lives in Hyde Park with his wife Ashley and children Finn and Willa. As the Orleans County Forester, he works with landowners across the county to promote sound stewardship of our forests. Jared also serves on the Advisory Boards for the Lake Region Union High School Vocational Agriculture Program, and the North Country Career Center Forestry, Agriculture and Water Resources Program. Prior to working for the State of Vermont, he worked across five continents evaluating forestry conservation practices. He has worked for non-profit organizations, private consulting firms, and both federal and state governments, offering a diverse background in organizational structure and function. Jared passionately cares about promoting and practicing sound stewardship of the land, and as Aldo Leopold best put it, “intelligent tinkering” in our forests.

Joanna Lidback

Supervisor

Joanna Lidback is a dairy farmer, business consultant, and lifelong farmer advocate. She and her husband Adam own and operate the Farm at Wheeler Mountain, a diversified dairy farm located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The farm consists of 80 registered Jerseys and Holsteins and a direct farm sales business for beef and composted cow manure.

Off the farm, Joanna is CFO for Adirondack Farms, LLC and the principal consultant for Adirondack Management Services, LLC. Previously, she was a business consultant with Yankee Farm Credit and has also held various positions with Farm Credit East including loan officer, director of Knowledge Exchange, and lead author of the Northeast Dairy Farm Summary.

She was inducted into Vermont’s Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2019 as an Emerging Leader and recognized with the Young Jersey Breeder national award in 2016. She volunteers as a board member for the Global Farmer Network, she is first vice president of Orleans County Farm Bureau, and can be found judging youth dairy cattle shows throughout the summer and early fall.

Joanna has a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and management from Cornell University and an MBA from Babson College. She and Adam are raising three children on the farm: Thomas, Eli, and Audrey. You can find Joanna at Facebook.com/TheFarmatWheelerMountain and @JoannaLidback on Instagram and Twitter. You can read her blog at farmlifelove.com.

Chris Steel

Supervisor

Chris is a resident of Greensboro, VT where he Chairs the Greensboro Conservation Commission, is a Watershed Steward for Greensboro and the Upper Lamoille, an Advisor to the Greensboro Land Trust and a Trustee of the Greensboro Association. Previously Chris worked as a Management Consultant focused on Healthcare and Information Technology and before that he worked for the Environmental Research Systems Institute (ESRI) designing and deploying Geographical Information Systems such as ArcView. His undergraduate degree is in Geography with a focus on fluvial geomorphology, he also holds a Masters Degree in Land Survey and Geodetic Engineering and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

He is committed to land and water stewardship in the NEK and in particular supporting efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding and improve the water quality of both the Lamoille and Memphremagog watersheds.

Alyssa Conn

Supervisor

Alyssa is a geographer and resident of Coventry, with experience in non-profit administration and community outreach. Before settling in Vermont, she worked with the Coastal Prairie Conservancy and is a certified Texas Master Naturalist. She became passionate about conservation while volunteering with the Colorado River Alliance teaching elementary students about watershed quality protection, and has since volunteered with the Houston Audubon, Texas A&M University’s Aquatic Plant Database, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas’s Armchair Botanist program, and Arnold’s Rescue Center in Brownington, VT.

She has worked closely with the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Zoology curator as a collaborator on the Texas Invasive Bird Project and has contributed to several published papers.

She is a Vermont Coverts Cooperator under the mentorship of the NorthWoods Stewardship Center's Director of Forest Stewardship, and during amphibian migration she serves as an Amphibian Crossing Guard and citizen scientist for the North Branch Nature Center. Alyssa is excited to connect with current and future land stewards and to contribute to water and soil conservation efforts in her community.

David Fox

Supervisor

David is a Geographer with The Nature Conservancy's Appalachian Program. In this role, he manages geographic data and spatial analysis supporting TNC's conservation mission, working with state chapters and partners from Maine to Georgia. Previously he worked for the State of Vermont, helping build the publically available statewide parcel data layer. Before moving to Vermont, David worked for TNC in Virginia, managing that chapter's extensive conservation easement program -working directly with landowners across the state on land management and water quality issues. He and his partner Jennifer are lifelong outdoor enthusiasts and birdwatchers who enjoy exploring the woods and waters of Vermont and beyond. They are also both crafters who can be found selling wooden ware and pottery at the Craftsbury Farmers Market.