Noel Durant is a Chattanooga, Tenn. native who is a summa cum laude graduate of Clemson University with a B.S. degree in natural resource management. While working at Rocky Mountain National Park, Noel managed and suppressed forest fires across the United States with the Alpine Interagency Hotshot Crew. He worked to control wildlife spread in remote terrain and complete resource management objectives while stationsed at Estes Park, Colo.

Josh Holmes is a northeast Alabama native and graduated from Jacksonville State University with a master’s degree in history.  While at Jacksonville, Josh researched the Depression-era South, focusing his studies on the agricultural rehabilitation efforts in the black belt region and the Skyline farms project in Jackson County, Ala.  Josh coordinates the drafting and development of conservation easements in Alabama.

Leslie Horne is a Virginia native who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and French and from the University of Georgia School of Law with a J.D. degree. During her law studies at the University of Georgia, she participated in the Land Use Clinic and served on the board of the Environmental Law Association. Leslie is licensed to practice law in Georgia and South Carolina. She joined the land trust after working with a corporate law firm in Savannah.  She is Director of Land Protection in southeast Georgia.

Matt Wells graduated from the University of Georgia, with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.  He then attended the University of Georgia School of Law where he received his juris doctor, graduating with honors. He also received  a Certificate of Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development from the Odum School of Ecology. As program director for the Chattahoochee Valley Land Trust, an affiliate of Georgia Land Trust, Matt manages CVLT programs and provides conservation expertise for Georgia Land Trust in southwest Georgia.

Stephen Kirk is a Gadsden native who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University’s School of Forestry. While at Auburn, Stephen worked as land manager for the AU campus Arboretum and in the School of Forestry’s Longleaf Pine lab. His forestry studies specialized in spatial analysis of geography and geographic information systems (GIS), expertise he now uses in his position with the land trusts. For his senior project, Stephen compiled a database to be used by the state of Alabama for Escambia County’s state forests, which included management practices, stand dynamics and records of past applications.

Katy Malloy is a native of Atlanta, Ga., where she worked for the National Wildlife Federation as a youth educator. After graduating from Emory University with majors in English and environmental studies, Katy worked in land protection for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Charleston, S.C. While completing a joint degree program with the University of South Carolina School of Law and Vermont Law School, Katy served on the Southeastern Environmental Law Journal as a student note editor and was published in the journal. She also served in leadership roles on the Public Interest Law Society and the Pro Bono board. Upon graduation in May 2010, Katy received a J.D. and a master’s in environmental law and policy.  Katy is Georgia Land Trust’s coordinator for the Army Compatible Use Buffer program at Fort Stewart, Ga.

Christy Claes is a California native who graduated from Cal Poly State University in Animal Science (Zoo & Exotic) with minors in both Art and Geography. She made her way to Alabama for the opportunity to expand her knowledge to include land conservation practices and operations. She is currently an intern at the Land Trust working under the Director of Land Protection and assists with coordinating the closing of conservation easements and helping to plan events for a new watershed alliance group. 

Justin Park serves as staff attorney.  He oversees the drafting and development of conservation easements in Georgia and coordinates the conservation of ecosytems mitigation sites for Georgia Land Trust and Alabama Land Trust. Justin has a J.D. and master’s degree in environmental law from Vermont Law School, where he was a staff member of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. He is licensed to practice law in Georgia.

Dave Tipper is a Birmingham, England native and U.S. Air Force veteran who has worked as a forest technician and computer mapping expert. After serving in the Air Force, where he helped to decommission missles at the end of the Cold War, Dave graduated from Lake City, Fla. Community College with an A.S. degree in forest technology. Dave worked as mapping technician for the startup of the land management program at Alabama River Woodlands at Perdue Hill, Ala., where he specialized in computer mapping and training. He also worked as GIS specialist for Landmark Technologies, a spatial database firm, and as a forestry consultant, specializing in control of invasive species including cogongrass and Japanese privit. In this capacity, he created a GIS database for invasive species that has been incorporated into federal lands databases.

Jamie Williamson is a Birmingham native who grew up in Gadsden, Ala.  She attended Gadsden State Community College.  Prior to joining the land trusts, Jamie worked in administration in the medical and hospitality fields and worked in title and mineral reservation research in the oil and gas industry in Alabama and Texas. Her responsibilities for the land trusts include coordinating all documentation on conservation easement agreements.

Lu  Anne Young, a northeast Alabama native, studied English at Jacksonville State University and worked with the U.S. Department of the Army’s federal civil service in program management, budget and administration. Also, Luanne has worked as bookkeeper for the Jacksonville State University book store and as services coordinator for the non-profit agency East Coast Head Start Centers. For the land trusts, Luanne coordinates accounting functions for Alabama Land Trust, Georgia Land Trust, The Chattowah Open Land Trust and affiliates.

Steven Gordon is a Ludowici, Ga. native. He works in the wildlife habitat project in southeast Georgia. A certified welder and equipment operator, Steven attended Armstrong Atlantic University in pre-engineering. He is also certified in hazardous materials handling.

Mercedes Martin is a native of Augusta, Ga. She works with Georgia Land Trust’s wildlife habitat project in southeast Georgia. Mercedes graduated from Augusta State University with a degree in psychology and completed some graduate studies in pyschology.

Grover Mixell is a native of Pennsylvania and a trained mechanic, truck driver and equipment operator. He does forest restoration and preservation work for the wildlife habitat project in southeast Georgia.