Leadership

The Greene Land Trust is governed by a Board of Directors. The current Directors of the Board, as of June 2025, are:

  • Bob Knighton, President
  • Hal Brodie, Vice President
  • James Coe, Secretary
  • Janet Angelis, Treasurer
  • Leslie Albright
  • Jennie Allen
  • John Cameron
  • Charlotte Carter
  • Joel DuBois, Greene County Soil and Water Representative
  • Frank Plattner
  • Mark Vian

Bob Knighton, President

Bob spent most of his career with the State Department of Transportation. As director of the Strategic Planning Bureau he oversaw the Department‘s strategic and operational planning efforts. During his career he also worked for the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations supporting agency executive management teams to implement the State‘s total quality management effort. Bob has served on the GLT board since 2007. Before that he served as president and treasurer of the New Baltimore Conservancy. He was a lead volunteer in developing a new comprehensive plan for the Town of New Baltimore. Bob and his wife Lynda enjoy travel by RV in the US and abroad.

Hal Brodie, Vice President

Hal was appointed as general counsel and secretary of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on September 24, 2007. NYSERDA advances innovative energy solutions to improve New York State’s economy. Hal worked in the Counsel’s Office for more than 20 years. During his tenure, Hal has been involved in a wide range of NYSERDA’s activities, including the development of its energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, as well as the cleanup of radioactive contamination at Western New York Nuclear Service Center. Prior to working at NYSERDA, he worked in legal services and then joined Hartman, Ule, Rose & Ratner, a law firm specializing in New York City real estate, cooperative and condominium, and landlord-tenant law, where he became a partner. Hal has a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College and a juris doctor degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. He has served on the GLT board since 2015 and was also Chair of the Town of Athens Planning Board for the past fifteen years. 

James Coe, Secretary

James is a landscape painter and wildlife artist. With degrees in both biology (Harvard) and painting (Parsons School of Design), early in his career he specialized as an illustrator of bird guides and ornithology textbooks. He is both author and illustrator of the Golden Field Guide, Eastern Birds, first published in 1994 and reissued in 2001. He then turned to plein air landscape painting featuring the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley and now combines his passion for landscape with his finely detailed knowledge of natural history, integrating birds into his landscape paintings. James has served on the GLT board since 2014.

Janet Angelis, Treasurer

Janet retired from a career in non-profit organizations and public entities related to education. She taught in both the public and private sector and served as director of communications for the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast & Islands and as associate director of the National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement as well as the Albany Institute for Research in Education. Her volunteer work has included election to two terms as Water and Sewer Commissioner of the town of Groveland, Massachusetts, including the period during which the town’s water supply, which had been contaminated by industrial use of trichlorethalene (TCE), was remediated by the federal Superfund (Region I). She has served as treasurer of the Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club and as treasurer and president of the New Baltimore Conservancy; she currently is treasurer of the Hudson-Mohawk Chorale, of which she is a founding member. Janet has served on the GLT board since 2016.

Leslie Albright

Leslie has 28 years of budget and policy experience with both the executive and legislative branches of the Federal government. Leslie began her career at the Department of Commerce, in Washington, D.C. and later worked as a Professional Staff Member for the U.S. House of Representatives, House Appropriations Committee. She was responsible for a variety of portfolios including national security, Federal law enforcement, and science. As a Professional Staff Member, Leslie was responsible for reviewing Federal agency budgets and making funding recommendations to Members of Congress. Her last position was Minority Clerk for the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.  Leslie retired from Federal service in 2019.  A native of Athens, New York, Leslie now resides in Coxsackie and is a policy consultant, gardener, and spends time hiking in the Catskill Mountains with her family. She has served on the GLT board since 2021.

Jennie Allen

Jennie Allen is a screenwriter and educator whose lifelong commitment to land conservation informs both her creative work and community engagement. A Dutchess County native, her conservation ethic was shaped early through volunteer work with the Student Conservation Association. Since moving to Greene County in 2014, she has become an active land steward through permaculture practices, volunteering with Scenic Hudson, and helping to oversee a DEC Regenerate New York Forestry Grant project. Jennie’s conservation philosophy centers on protecting wild places and supporting ecosystem resilience, while advocating for equitable access to land for recreation and sustenance. She is especially drawn to learning from the region’s Indigenous history and deepening her understanding of the diverse flora and fauna that call this area home. As an artist, Jennie’s current work explores the essential relationship between humans and the natural world—how land, history, and ecology shape our sense of belonging, and how encounters with nature can heal and connect us. Her films have screened internationally and received support from organizations including the Swiss Federal Fund, Zurich Film Foundation, Adrienne Shelly Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Greene County Council on the Arts. Jennie holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University and serves as Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the MFA in Film program at SUNY Stony Brook. Her earlier career as a mental health counselor in Troy, New York continues to inform her approach to all of her work.

John Cameron

John is a Registered Communications Distribution Designer for Adirondack Cabling and Security and an avid outdoorsman. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Marist College. John is also President of the Athens Sportsman Club, as well as being an active member in numerous other local outdoor organizations. These organizations annually sponsor multiple events gauged towards the youth of the community. One such event is a Bluebird House building event that the Greene Land Trust partners with. John has been a lifelong resident of Athens and Greene County. He has served on the GLT board since 2018.

Charlotte Carter

Charlotte retired from the New York State Dispute Resolution Association in 2018. NYSDRA is a nonprofit membership association of county mediation centers and individual ADR practitioners. The agency also administers statewide programs, including special education mediation and lemon law arbitration. She was part of a team that designed and administered a restorative justice program for people who had been sexually abused by clergy, directed a mediation program for farmers, and then served as Executive Director. Charlotte has been the director of the Coxsackie Community Food Pantry since 1997. She enjoys travel, spinning, dyeing and weaving wool, and her family. She has served on the GLT board since 2018.

Joel H. DuBois, CPESC, CFM

Greene County Soil and Water Representative

Joel has professional certifications in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) and Floodplain Management (CFM). His background consists of a unique blend of experiences that include stream assessment, watershed management, natural channel design, water quality monitoring, biological sampling, and construction management. His professional work experience spans more than 20 years with the Greene County Soil & Water Conservation District and includes the lead role in numerous large scale natural channel design projects located within New York State. He has been involved in the preparation of several watershed assessments, stream monitoring studies and management plans throughout the Catskill Mountain region of New York State. These investigations have been used to realize multi-objective project goals in the context of a demanding regulatory environment. Joel has served on the GLT board since 2019.

Frank Plattner

Frank received his BS degree in Horticulture: Plant and Soil Science from the University of Vermont. He had his own landscape company and worked in the city of Boston doing landscape design and construction of roof top gardens in the Back Bay and waterfront areas. He had a weekly radio show on urban gardening for a local radio station. For most of his working career he had his own company selling precision metal parts to GE Power Generation, gas and steam turbine divisions. He served on the Town of Greenville Planning Board for all of the 1990’s and was instrumental in putting together the town’s new subdivision regulation and helped the Board implement Greenville’s first Master Plan and Zoning ordinance. Now retired, he enjoys building projects, planting trees and maintaining properties he owns including the old Cairo Airport property along the Catskill Creek. Frank has served on the GLT board since 2024.

Mark Vian

Mark has lived in Palenville (Town of Catskill) with his wife Leslie since 2006. He retired in May 2023 after 28 years as a restoration ecologist with the NYC DEP’s Stream Management Program. While at DEP, Mark worked closely with area County Soil and Water Conservation Districts to develop community-based, multi-objective, science-driven stream management plans for streams in Greene, Ulster and Sullivan Counties. He received a BSc in Regional Planning and Public Policy from the Ohio State University, and his MS in Environmental Studies from Bard College. Prior to working with DEP, Mark worked as a research associate with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, as a film programmer and projectionist with Upstate Films, and as a general contractor. He has previously served on the boards of the Hudson River Environmental Society, Sustainable Hudson Valley, and on the steering committee of the Catskill Environmental Research and Monitoring Conference. His volunteer work includes consulting on natural resource and community development projects in Latin America and Africa. Mark has served on the GLT board since 2024.

    

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