Board of Directors
The Central Algoma Land Trust’s Board of Directors boasts a broad cross section of the local community. It has citizens from Canada and from the United States, permanent and summer residents, those with long family histories and those with new experiences in this vibrant community. Everyone comes to the table with a genuine love of land and water and a wish for future generations to enjoy the same treasurers.
Richard Warren - President
Dick has been involved with Central Algoma Land Trust for more than 20 years. He has been a summer resident for 70+ years, sharing a small island near Desbarats with his family. He is retired from a 35 year career in the California Conservation Corps, and later the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. His career has offered many private and professional opportunities to provide support for the environment, local communities, CALT, and young adults. He has been a board member of other non-profits that support the environment, Secretary of CALT, and President of CALT’s Board for three years. Dick likes to sail. He lives in Auburn, California, and has two children and three grandchildren who love Central Algoma!
Betsy Kingery - Vice President
Betsy Kingery has been spending her summers on St. Joseph Island since 1954 following in the footsteps of her grandparents and parents since 1923. While professionally a nurse, she has been an active promoter of native gardening and environmental stewardship for many years. Her interest in Central Algoma Land Trust began with hiking the trails on the Boyer Preserve and touring the Black Hole Preserve with Central Algoma Land Trust staff. This interest developed further when she and her husband Bill created the Gravel Point Preserve, the first Central Algoma Land Trust nature preserve on St. Joseph Island. She is honoured to give back to a place that has given so much to her and her family by serving on the Board of Directors.
Phil Murray - Vice President
Phil Murray has been connected to Central Algoma his entire life. Born in Sault Ste. Marie, he spent his childhood summers at his grandparents’ cottage on St. Joseph Island, developing a deep appreciation for Lake Huron and the St. Joseph Channel. After beginning his telecommunications career with Algoma Technology Services, he moved to Toronto and later Calgary, working with companies including Northern Telecom, CNCP, AT&T Canada, Sprint Canada, and ultimately Shaw Communications, where he spent 20 years as a senior leader helping to grow the company’s Internet and telephone services. He and his wife, Rima, returned to the area every summer until purchasing their Pine Island property in 2001, eventually renovating it into their full-time home when he retired in 2020. They enjoy boating, hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing, and value the natural beauty and strong sense of community in Central Algoma. He is honoured to support the preservation of the region by serving on the Central Algoma Land Trust Board of Directors.
Nancy Schrank - Secretary
Nancy Schrank has been a life long community volunteer and homemaker. She and her husband, Doug, have two daughters and four grandsons, who have all spent a portion of each summer of their lives in Central Algoma. She has a BS in Fisheries from the University of Michigan and has always loved nature, especially birds, wildflowers, lakes and their ecosystems. She enjoys gardening, downhill skiing and spending every summer near Desbarats, Ontario.
Jaime Graham - Treasurer
Jaime currently serves as PwC Canada’s Director of Corporate Sustainability, leading a team that develops national strategies and initiatives for environmental sustainability efforts and sustained outcomes for communities. Her portfolio includes oversight on commitments and programs such as Net Zero with 2030 goals, and the Resilient Communities program which helps to equip our communities with digital skills of the future, build resilience to the physical impacts of climate change, and enable access to opportunities more equitably. Jaime holds a BSc (hons) in environmental science, and a MSc in environmental microbiology and carbon cycling in peatlands and is a certified Environmental Professional. Jaime enjoys warm days outdoors on the water, and cross-country and downhill skiing in the winter.
Bess Celio - Director
Bess Celio has been coming up to the Desbarats area every summer for her whole life. Originally from Mattoon, Illinois, she now lives in Oak Park, Illinois. She has worked with non-profits such as Illinois Arts Alliance, The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, Healthy Schools Campaign, Climate Cycle, Ryerson Woods, and Serve and Return Chicago, in various capacities. She has also served on the Board of the Lumpkin Family Foundation and currently Chairs the Land, Health, Community - Chicago program. Bess has a bachelors degree in Art History from DePauw University and a Masters in Cultural Anthropology from University of Illinois Chicago. Along with being on the Board of Central Algoma Land Trust, she is also the President of Friends of Central Algoma Land Trust. She loves to spend time with her family, travel, garden, hike and play tennis.
Libby O’Connell - Director
Libby O’Connell is a cultural historian and the author of The American Plate: A Culinary History in 100 Bites. After receiving her M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia, she taught history at Hutton House, Long Island University, and worked in historic preservation. Dr. O’Connell joined A&E Networks in 1993, where she served ultimately as the Chief Historian at The History Channel until 2016. Her work in education and television received four EMMYS, including three Governors’ Awards. Currently, Libby appears as a commentator on television and public radio on a variety of historical topics. She is active in historic and environmental preservation, with grandchildren, gardening, music, and birdwatching leading her long list of interests.
Brady Irwin - Director
Brady worked in Ontario’s broader public sector, starting in 1989. Concluding his career with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, he also worked for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Sault Area Hospital, Management Board Secretariat and the Ontario Lottery Corporation. Brady is a Past Chair of the Board of Algoma University, as well as the Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen. He is the recipient of the Chairman’s Award from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation for his work on that organization's Board of Directors.He also served two terms as an elected city councillor for the city of Sault Ste. Marie, and in that capacity served on several community boards and committees, including as Treasurer of the District Social Services Administration Board.
Jane Karhi - Director
Jane retired in 2023 after a 25-plus year career in public administration working at all levels of government managing diverse portfolios in support of economic and community development, business growth and innovation in Northern Ontario. She collaborated with community stakeholders helping them access government programming to implement strategic projects for the betterment of northerners. Jane spends her time at her home on Pine Island, enjoying the great outdoors, from snowshoeing, skiing, kayaking to fishing. As an aspiring artist, she draws strength from nature, understanding the importance of protecting and preserving the land for future generations.
Alden Meyer - Director
Alden Meyer has been coming up to the St. Joseph Channel since he was a small child, spending summers at his family's camp on Portlock Island. In 1995, Alden and his wife Connie acquired several islands off of Pine Island and relocated down the channel; in 2023, they donated one of the islands to the Central Algoma Land Trust as the Bowen Island Preserve. Alden has dedicated his career to environmental and clean energy advocacy, with a focus on responding to the threat of climate change. He draws strength and renewal from the natural beauty of the St. Joseph Channel and the wonderful community of friends and family that he and Connie are part of each summer. Alden is honoured to serve on the Central Algoma Land Trust Board of Directors and to play a small part in conserving the lands and wildlife he loves so much.
Drausin Wulsin - Director
Drausin Wulsin majored in English at Amherst College, graduating in 1976. He earned a M.S. from Ohio State University in Agricultural Economics in 1983. He currently manages a certified wetland mitigation bank in southern Ohio. In addition, he brings experience in agricultural production and financial management to this board. He has written four volumes of stories entitled A Farmer’s Almanac and publishes a periodic blog on wetland development. He has served on five other boards of trustees, and is honoured to serve on Central Algoma Land Trust’s to preserve a region he considers to be a crown jewel of the North American continent. He and his wife, Susan, live on their farm in southern Ohio.
