Staff

Jeff Senterman

Executive Director

Jeff joined the Catskill Center in 2015 after working for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference as the program coordinator for the Catskill region, and then as their manager of regional trail programs. Jeff has worked as an environmental planner for the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, and Waterman Design Associates. He also worked as a New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation assistant forest ranger in Greene County.

An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Jeff spends a lot of time exploring in the Catskills, Adirondacks, and New England with his husband Maurice. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Hiking Society, the Catskill Watershed Corporation, and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Lyndon State College in Vermont with a concentration in environmental science.

Kali Bird

Deputy Executive Director

Kali is passionate about conserving the land and waters we have borrowed from our children, while strengthening the Catskill region's economic vitality and protecting its cultural heritage. Prior to joining the Catskill Center, Kali worked as a program coordinator, educator, and land manager with several Hudson Valley non-profits, and started Hike New York, an outdoor adventure company, dedicated to connecting people with New York's natural areas in the Hudson Valley and Catskills.

Kali earned an MS degree studying the microbial ecology of aquatic ecosystems at Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station and is currently completing an MBA at SUNY New Paltz. She enjoys trail running, botanizing, and birdwatching.

BRENT LE RASH

Communications manager

Brent joined the Catskill Center following a fifteen-year career in documentary television. As a conservationist-cum-filmmaker, he parlayed a background in wildlife conservation into a career telling stories for science- and expedition-focused networks including National Geographic, Discovery, and PBS. Despite professional experience in over fifty countries and some of the most remote and inspiring wild spaces on the planet—Brent is continually in awe of the beauty and diversity surrounding him at home in the Catskill Mountains.

Brent holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a concentration in Wildlife Conservation. In his free time, Brent enjoys committing binomial nomenclature to memory and helping amphibians cross the road.

Danielle Tucker

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Danielle joined the Catskill Center in 2021 as the Annual Giving Manager after a 6-year career in human services at a local community action agency. As the Development Director, she continues to share her love of the Catskills through her work. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies from SUNY Oneonta.

Danielle was raised and resides in the Catskills, and cares deeply about the environment and the people of the region. She lives in East Meredith with her husband, Alex, and dog, Quincy. In her spare time, she enjoys making modern quilts, gardening, birdwatching, downhill skiing, and kayaking.

Phone: (845) 586-2611 Email Danielle Tucker — 845-554-4698
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SARAH DIMAGGIO

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Sarah joined the Catskill Center in 2024, eager to make a meaningful impact in the environmental field after previously working in higher education. She is passionate about environmental conservation and justice, believing that we are all connected through our shared environments and we must work together to make a difference. Sarah is an avid climber and hiker and since coming to the Catskills, has also taken up biking as a new way to experience and appreciate the beauty of the region. She earned her PhD in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 2022 before teaching courses on environmental philosophy and climate justice at Sarah Lawrence College for two years. She is excited to bring this experience to the Catskill Center and grateful to be able to call New York home.

KATIE PALM

CatskillS Visitor Center Director

Katie Palm joined the Catskill Center in November 2010. Prior to working at the Catskill Center, Katie was the Education Specialist at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. In this role, she created a volunteer program and planned all the educational programs for adults and children. She has also worked at Longwood Gardens, the Watershed Agricultural Council and for Cornell Cooperative Extension as the Broome County Consumer/Community Horticulturist. Katie holds a MAT in Museum Education from George Washington University in Washington D.C. and a BS in Horticulture from Cornell University.

(845) 688-3369 Email Katie Palm — (845) 688-3369
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David hans

Catskills visitor center manager

David has spent most of his professional career working in retail, food service, and reception. He began working as a seasonal steward with the Catskill Center’s Catskill Stewards program in 2021. After a thru-hike attempt of the Appalachian Trail in 2022, David returned the same year to the Catskill Center and resumed his work as a Steward. David also served as a Catskills Visitor Center Assistant, and is now here full-time as the Catskills Visitor Center Manager.

His career path at the Catskill Center comes after a focus on classical voice. He graduated from Onteora High School with his Advanced Regents Diploma in 2013 and pursued an education as a Classical Vocalist both at SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Ulster. He now looks forward to continue using his voice to help visitors find ways to explore the region, in the mountains he calls home.

Finn Parnell

community relations specialist

Finn joined the Catskill Center as a seasonal steward in 2022, seeking meaningful work in the environmental field. Following his passion for nature and conservation, he joined the Catskill Center full-time to continue his work through community outreach and to lead the steward program.

You can find Finn hiking one of the Catskill’s beautiful trails, bird watching, photographing nature, and spending time with his wife, two dachshunds, and five cats. How’s that for Cat-skills!

JOHN THOMPSON

CRISP director

John joined the Catskill Center in February 2016. For the past twenty years, he has been collaborating with scientists and land stewards throughout southeastern New York State promoting science-based management and conservation. His broad interest in nature has resulted in published articles on ecology, vegetational history, lake dynamics, fish populations, climate change and phenology. He is certified as a wildland firefighter and has participated in prescribed fires in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York and the serpentine barrens of Pennsylvania.

John earned his MS degree in Geology at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS degree in Environmental Conservation at the University of New Hampshire. He currently serves as Vice President of the John Burroughs Natural History Society and is on the board of the John Burroughs Association. Working with those two groups, he is developing a stewardship plan for the Burroughs Sanctuary in Esopus. In his spare time, John enjoys birdwatching with his wife, Jamie.

Dan Snider-nerp

Terrestrial invasive species Manager

Daniel originally joined the Catskill Center for a 10-month internship to work on the biocontrol of invasive species within the Catskill’s region, focusing on hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash borer. He continues assisting with local education and outreach projects related to invasive species.

Daniel attended the University of Maryland at College Park, where he received a degree in Ecology and Evolution. Originally from Bowie, Maryland, Daniel spent four months working at an internship with the National Park Service in New River Gorge, West Virginia releasing Laricobius nigrinus and controlling invasive species.

He enjoys hiking, kayaking, and board games in his free time.

(845) 586-2611 x121 Email Dan Snider-Nerp — (845) 586-2611 x121
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sarah coney

Aquatic Invasive Species Manager

Sarah joined the Catskill Center staff in 2022 but has been working in the CRISP PRISM since 2017. Shortly before graduating from SUNY Oneonta in 2017, she began working with the CRISP Watershed Steward Program and has helped to oversee and grow the program.

Sarah is passionate about aquatic ecosystems, helping to preserve them, and spends much of her summers above and below our NY waters. She has participated in several studies involving aquatic invasive species (AIS) and has done a lot of work with native pearly mussels. Her master’s thesis revolves around the Reintroduction of the American Eel and its effects on native pearly mussel populations.

Sarah is currently working to expand our knowledge of AIS in the CRISP PRISM. In 2020, Sarah was the first to find Quagga mussels in Otsego Lake, and she will be mapping their current spread in the CRISP PRISM over the next few seasons.

Lee Alexander

Streamside Acquisition Program DIRECTOR

For nearly two decades, Lee has worked with land trusts throughout the northeast, including The Nature Conservancy, The Trustees of Reservations, Scenic Hudson, and Columbia Land Conservancy.

Prior to that experience, Lee engaged struggling teenage girls with horticultural therapy, and connected local farms with urban neighborhoods in Hartford, CT. Lee has a degree in natural resources from Cornell University. She enjoys gardening, hiking and kayaking with her family.

Lee joined the Catskill Center in May 2019.

(845) 720-2716 Email Lee Alexander — (845) 720-2716
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Lisa Wachtel

REAL ESTATE closing MANAGER

A lifetime resident of New York State, Lisa enjoys hiking, volleyball, golf, and travel—especially when those activities include the company of her family.

Lisa comes to the Catskill Center with over twenty-five years of experience in the legal, title insurance, and land services industries. She manages the later stages of the property acquisition process for the Streamside Acquisition Program. Her primary responsibilities include coordinating, reviewing, and documenting all closing-related activities, including managing contracts for services and other technical and legal aspects of the closing process.

(845) 720-0210 Email Lisa Wachtel — (845) 720-0210
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Brian Sechler

Real Estate Project Manger

Before Brian entered the field of natural resource management, he worked in the film and television industry as a writer and director for over a decade and has a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

With his wife and three children, he recently returned to the Catskills from Colorado where he earned an MA in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has previously worked as a project coordinator for a grass roots organization specializing in ecological restoration along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

Brian loves eastern philosophy, the outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.

(845) 720-0088 Email Brian Sechler — (845) 720-0088
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Marc Neves

STREAMSIDE ACQUISITION PROGRAM Financial manager

After half a lifetime bouncing between cities and careers, Marc arrived at the Catskill Center in 2019 where he has found the perfect organization to combine his passion for the unique beauty of his Catskills home with his professional experience in the business world.

Before joining the Catskill Center as Financial Manager, Marc had previous lives in film and media, as well as 20 years in finance. He spent 14 years splitting his life between the Catskills and New York City where he worked in real estate private equity.

Marc takes full advantage of every season in the Catskills: hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and riding motorcycles. He received his BA in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Wendy Hunt

Accounting Manager

Wendy comes to the Catskill Center with many years of experience in public, international corporate and non-profit accounting. She has worked in large and small non-profits both as an employee and in her volunteer efforts.

Her history with the Catskill Center goes back many years before becoming part of the staff. Including working as the auditor back when she was working as a public accountant out of Oneonta, NY and later as a consultant.

Wendy enjoys hiking, golf, Disney, live music, travel and restoring her 1880 home in the historic Village of Franklin, NY. She loves exploring the local natural beauty with her dogs and family. She has lived in multiple locations in New York including White Plains, Armonk, Oneonta, Albany, and Plattsburgh before moving to Franklin in 2020.

Michelle SChoenborn

Bookkeeper & Office Manager

Michelle joined the Catskill Center in February of 2024. She was born and raised in the Catskill Mountains and comes with experience in accounting, customer service, lodging, and the food & beverage industry. In her free time, Michelle enjoys hiking, gardening, birdwatching, and has developed a recent interest in learning how to become a beekeeper. She loves the outdoors and the sense of clarity that comes from it.

(845) 586-2611 x115
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Christina Ricciardelli

Executive Assistant

Christina's love of the natural world began in Maine where she was born. It has become a lifelong commitment to understand the natural world and animals. She has bicycled across America and milked cows, is a distiller of essential oils, a trail runner, a maple syrup maker, an expert stone wall builder, a dedicated gardener and landscape designer.

Before making her home in the heart of the Catskill mountains, Christina honed her love of nature and the botanical world through living in the High Desert, the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains, three unique ecosystems that have deepened her understanding of how location and climate shape our environment.