A native of Owensboro, Ky., and resident of Frankfort for 45 years, Steve Coleman has been in awe of Kentucky’s diverse and beautiful landscapes from a young age. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from the University of Kentucky, he’s had a robust career serving in the Kentucky Division of Conservation. He began his work in 1976 as a Soil Scientist, mapping soils in the cooperative soil survey party in Boyle and Mercer Counties. He assumed leadership of the Division’s Soil Survey Program in 1979, became Assistant Director in 1982, and took over as the Director of the Division of Conservation in 1994, a position he held until his retirement in Dec. 2012 .

Steve currently serves as a Conservation District Supervisor on the Franklin County Conservation District and as chair of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group. He has served on numerous conservation-focused boards, and is currently a board member for the Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts, a nonprofit representing Kentucky’s 121 Soil Conservation Districts. Additionally, he’s been the Kentucky Coordinator for the Leopold Conservation Award since 2013 and serves on the board for Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom, a nonprofit providing agricultural, environmental and practical living literacy programs across the Bluegrass.

Steve is married with two sons, two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren. He’s actively involved with St. Paul United Methodist Church, serving as church treasurer since 1989, and his hobbies include model railroad trains, traveling, coin collecting and the outdoors.

Nancy Rose Osborne’s respect for the land took root on her grandparents’ farms in Hardin County and deepened on a northern Norway farm as a 17-year-old exchange student. Her Kentucky heritage, nurtured by Nordic cultural and environmental ethics, informed her public service career spanning three decades. Starting with the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources Secretary’s Office in the mid-1970s, she worked with state environmental policy and land management. Upon earning her law degree, she clerked for the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court. At the Legislative Research Commission for 25 years, Nancy was a fiscal analyst with the budget committee and the capital projects and bond oversight committee. 

Nancy has been restoring her 1800s home on the Kentucky River near Lock 4 since 1980. She resides in Northern Franklin County, at Rock’n Woods Farm, in a home and studio she helped design on 12 acres near the Kentucky River. 

“I have always found peace, joy and spiritual connection in nature. I support Woods and Waters Land Trust because the organization’s mission aligns perfectly with my life’s intentions,” Nancy says.

Nancy has been a Woods & Waters Land Trust supporter since the organization’s inception. She’s been on the Land Extravaganza planning committee for many years, and you can always find her volunteering at this annual fundraising event (among most other events). She currently serves as WWLT Board Treasurer and Chair of the Performance Excellence Committee.

Born and raised in Franklin County, Lee Troutwine and his wife of 56 years, Betty, live on a 120-acre farm on Elkhorn Creek in the Peaks Mill valley.

Lee graduated from Elkhorn High School and then attended the University of Kentucky, where he played in the famous Marching 100 Band. He left college for the United States Navy, spent two years in Morocco, went aboard the USS Forrest B. Royal, and was involved in the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Blockade. After his time in the service, Lee joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, DC, and met Betty. The couple returned to Kentucky, and Lee completed his degree in Political Science from Kentucky State University.

Much of Lee’s career was spent in state government, including as the appointed Commissioner of the Department for Local Government under Governor Wilkinson and Kentucky’s representative to the Federally Funded Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission.

Outside of work, Lee has been involved in many boards and commissions, including three terms as the Chair of Franklin County School System; past president of the Frankfort Rotary Club, Downtown Frankfort Inc. and the Dry Stone Conservancy; Kentucky’s representative to the Appalachian Regional Commission; Kentucky State University’s legislative liaison for two years; and a member of VFW Post 4075.

Ask Lee your dry stone construction questions: He’s a Journeyman Mason (level 2) with the Dry Stone Conservancy and, in 2009, won the National Drystone Laying Competition Amateur Class.

Lee is on the Executive Committee and the Performance Excellence Committee.

Michelle Tackett Singer has more than 20 years of experience in federal and state grants management. From 2005 to 2019, she served as the Director of Finance and Grants Management for the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, a statewide coalition of partners and advocates working to end homelessness, where she managed federal and state grants in the millions of dollars and oversaw the nonprofit’s financial and budgetary matters. She temporarily served, concurrent with her primary duties, as interim Executive Director during the nonprofit’s transition times. Michelle currently works for the Kentucky Housing Corporation as the Grants Management Supervisor.

Michelle hails from Scott County, where her family has lived for six generations. Her love of the land was birthed during her childhood while spending weekends on her maternal grandfather’s farm in Grant County, fishing, roaming the outdoors, picking wildflowers and hunting for arrowheads. Now, with three kids of her own, she tries to spend as much time outdoors as she can, hiking, gardening and exploring.

Michelle is passionate about the Commonwealth and its history, land and people. She’s dedicated her life to preservation, whether it be historic preservation or preservation of natural areas, and wants future generations to have the same opportunities to have a relationship with the land that she’s been able to.

Amber is a bi-vocational minister in Henry County, where she and her husband, John, co-pastor Port Royal Baptist Church. Having ministered in rural communities for over 20 years, it is her love of rural people and places that makes Amber a natural fit for Woods and Waters Land Trust. She believes that, as the population increases, maintaining the world’s biodiversity is holy work. She also appreciates the role land trusts and conservancies play in preserving forest and habitat for wildlife, especially birds.

A certified facilitator for Kentucky Association of Environmental Educators (KAEE), Amber enjoys teaching folks of all ages about birds, from elementary students participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count to farmers hoping to improve wildlife habitat on their land. Additionally, Amber is Affiliate Professor of Christian Worship at BSK Theological Seminary, where she is introducing a course on the intersections of nature and worship.

Amber long ago lost any bashfulness about wearing binoculars to all outdoor events. For a few days every September, you’ll find her in North Carolina, volunteering as a spotter for Grandfather Mountain’s Hawk Watch event.

Amber and John have three children: Olin, Leif, and Wren, who keep her outdoors most Saturdays of the year for cross country and track events.

Beth Harrod, a Frankfort, Kentucky, native and current resident, has a job many Woods and Waters Land Trust supporters might envy. Working with the Kentucky Division of Water, Beth regulates Kentucky's dams and water resources, and she has experience in stream and wetland mitigation projects. 

“I’m fortunate to have a profession that allows frequent field work in rural wooded areas. I get paid to hike,” Beth says.

Growing up, Beth played outdoors and went on solo hikes on her family’s farm in Waddy, feeling safe and protected in the solitude of nature. She enjoyed camping, too. It was when she started her career nearly 20 years ago that Beth realized we have to protect our resources so they’re not taken for granted. This is exactly the reason she wanted to become involved in Woods and Waters Land Trust.

“From past federal and recent state legislation, I see that we must take personal responsibility and public action to protect our lands and waterways. WWLT works to protect, preserve and restore Kentucky to its natural state,” Beth says.

Beth has a degree in civil engineering focusing on water resources from the University of Kentucky. She prioritizes time with family and enjoys vacation adventures with her husband, Mike, and two teenage sons, Eli and Lincoln. Beth is also an avid runner. 

“We have everything from knobs to prairies and woods to everything in between,” says Annie Metcalf. Her appreciation for our varied natural landscape is what helps her remain rooted in Central Kentucky.

The outdoors has always been where Annie feels at home. She grew up on a small farm in Nelson County, where her playground was the woods. Even living in Knoxville for graduate school, she made time for hiking and exploring in the Smoky Mountains. Having now lived in Frankfort for most of her life, Annie has kept up her hiking and gardens, as well.

Alongside her involvement in the natural world, Annie served for 12 years on the Franklin County Planning Commission, learning about land-use planning, bylaws, and rules and regulations. Understanding these details is helpful in her work on the Woods and Waters Land Trust board.

“I’ve been increasingly valuing land, clean air, and clean water, and the importance of bringing back wetlands. It’s not just for the environment, it’s also for humans,” Annie says. “This has become more important to me, especially as I’ve had time to slow down a little bit and visit other places here and in other countries—to see things that are unique, that wouldn’t be there without preservation, like national parks.

“It makes you appreciate both what you have and what others get to enjoy. Somebody has taken the initiative to keep something that should be treasured.”

With four grandkids to keep her busy in her retirement—including one who is showing his own interest in gardening—Annie sees her involvement with Woods and Waters Land Trust as another way she can give back to the community.

Mary Margaret was the Library Director at Georgetown College for twenty years, until her retirement in 2011. She has extensive experience in accreditation, budgeting, and personnel. Previously she worked for twelve years as a research analyst at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, including three years as a seed purity analyst.

Mary Margaret grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. Her interest in nature began when she was 8 years old and spent two weeks at Girl Scout camp. She also spent many happy summers on an aunt’s diversified farm in Grant County, Kentucky, where she gained an appreciation for locally-grown food, sustainable agriculture, and the hard work needed on a family farm to make a living but also to improve the land for future generations.

She and her husband Eugene Lacefield own 330 acres in Henry County, much of which is now a Kentucky State Nature Preserve. About 200 of those acres are in woods, including a mile-long stretch on Drennon Creek. They built their own solar house in the 1980’s and more recently installed solar panels that supply 90% of their electrical power needs.

Mary Margaret served as the Chair of the WWLT Performance Excellence Committee for many years, Secretary of the Board and as Treasurer of the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition (KLTC).

Morgan Jones grew up hiking, camping, cross-country skiing and biking in the woods of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The area was in the process of being developed from rural farmland and forest to subdivisions, shopping centers and office parks, and through this he learned the importance of land conservation and good stewardship. He earned a degree in forest resources management from West Virginia University and worked as a tree planter and consulting forester before moving to Kentucky in 1983 to work as a forester for the Division of Forestry in Graves and Bell Counties. He moved to Frankfort in 1988 and later served as the coordinator of the Wild Rivers Program at the Division of Water for 19 years. There, he initiated a successful land acquisition program for river corridor lands, using the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. He is now retired and fighting exotic invasive plants and messing with trees in northeastern Shelby County.

Morgan served on the Board of Directors 2011-2020.

Andrew has lived in Owen and Franklin Counties all his life. He has worked for the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, the Legislative Research Commission (LRC), and the City of Frankfort as city arborist and manager of Cove Spring Park/Nature Preserve.

Andrew’s love and appreciation for nature began in childhood on the family farm which he and his brothers cherish. He has a Master’s Degree in Botany/Ecology from the University of Kentucky.

Andrew was a founding board member and served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2020.

Kay, like many on the Board, learned about conservation from someone early in life, her grandfather. On their family farm in Tennessee, he was keenly aware that when bottomlands along the river were used for row crops, erosion gullies formed. Having a farmer’s respect and awareness of the land, he repaired the gullies and no longer tilled the bottomland. He continually reminded Kay and her family that they’re not making more land so you should take care of it.

Kay received a degree in Biology, learning more about and developing her healthy respect for the natural relationships among animals, plants, and their habitat. She has come to believe that the best chance of keeping our planet healthy is to preserve these complex natural systems. She started her career teaching and then worked in Kentucky state government in environmental protection. Her work focused on water quality issues. When she left, she decided to continue to help preserve Kentucky’s ecosystems by working with nonprofit organizations that further the goal of land and water protection. She has served for many years on the Executive Council of the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition.

Kay was a founding board member and served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2020.

Originally from Indiana, Barb grew up visiting her grandfather’s house in the woods in Brown County. She remembers hiking, exploring and connecting with nature as a kid there. Today, she works as Canoe Kentucky’s educational coordinator, helping kids and adults to make this same connection.

When Barb’s not guiding trips and engaging the community with our special local waterways, she and her husband, John, visit national parks and sunny beaches, and they enjoy the water together—swimming, canoeing, kayaking, standup paddleboarding and sailing. They have two adult children and live in Georgetown.

Emma Strong, gets her dedication to natural spaces from her mother, Diane, who motivates their whole family to spend time outside.

Emma sees the whole picture in protecting our natural areas and believes waterways are extremely important because clean water is an essential part of life. She also views land conservation as essential for protecting wildlife as well as trees, which absorb carbon dioxide.

Emma served on the board for Woods & Waters Land Trust 2022-2025, interned with Kentucky State University Aquaculture & Aquaponics and Joanna Hay Productions. In fact, Emma shot and produced many of the video segments in Woods & Waters Land Trust’s first-ever virtual Land Extravaganza fundraiser, in 2020. She’s a volunteer at LIFE House for Animals, too, because she “cannot get enough of dogs.”

Emma serves on the Outreach Committee as Chair and Fundraising Committee.

A native of Henderson County, Kentucky, Zack Meuth credits his childhood on his grandparents’ 100-acre cattle farm for his deep appreciation of open spaces. While the agricultural landscape of Western Kentucky defined his home, it was his family’s 200-acre retreat bordering the Hoosier National Forest—fondly known as "The Country"—that truly shaped his soul. This land of towering oaks and hidden waterfalls served as the first classroom for understanding natural systems. 

Seeking to turn this lifelong value into a vocation, Zack earned a B.S. in natural resources and environmental science from the University of Kentucky in 2019. His career brought him to Frankfort, where he fell in love with a community uniquely situated among beautiful natural spaces. Today, he is proud to call Frankfort home, alongside his wife, Emily, their son, Theo (named after Theodore Roosevelt), and their dog, Buddy. 

Whether it’s the Kentucky River, the winding Elkhorn Creek, or the rugged forested hills, Zack has been a lifelong beneficiary of our natural wonders. He is passionate about passing that experience on to the next generation, and serving on the Woods and Waters Land Trust Conservation Committee allows him to help protect the "hollers" and waterways that define our region’s character.

Gerry Seavo James is a community planner, storyteller, and advocate for equitable access to nature. As deputy director of the Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All Campaign, he leads national efforts to expand equitable access to nature and public lands. He founded Explore Kentucky while in college to connect people to Kentucky’s waterways, trails, and natural heritage through storytelling and recreation: work that inspired his broader focus on inclusive outdoor access and community revitalization.

Gerry also leads the Outdoor Recreation Design Lab, a consultancy advancing equitable design and rural transition projects, and serves as president of the Kentucky Conservation Committee. With the American Canoe Association, he helped launch its Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives and supported the creation of the Community Paddlesports Leader designation to expand access to leadership opportunities in paddling. His cultural and interpretive work includes revitalizing Cherokee State Historic Park, Kentucky’s only state park designated for African Americans during the Jim Crow era, where he helped reinvigorate its Friends Group, develop the Coach Lester Mimms Trail honoring the parks' first superintendent, produce a film about the park, and organize the Segregation in Recreation Symposium. Since 2016, Gerry has supported the paddlesports races as part of Adventure Crew's Ohio River Paddlefest event.

An Air Force veteran, social artist, and photojournalist, Gerry holds a B.S. in mass communications from Campbellsville University. He lives in Frankfort, Kentucky, with his wife and daughter and their dog, Everest.