Severn Riverkeeper Program Staff
 

Fred Kelly, Severn Riverkeeper           

Fred Kelly is an environmental attorney with over 30 years of experience. He launches the Severn Riverkeeper boat from his home on Saltworks Creek where he resides with wife Nancy.  From the time he was 10, Fred started every season fishing with his father for yellow perch. Then the Severn was loaded with yellow “neds”.   Fred continued the tradition with his son John. Unfortunately, today the fishery has been so damaged by pollution that it is illegal for him to even fish for yellow perch with his grandson.
          Fred began his environmental career as the first attorney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. His defeat of the nuclear power plant proposed for Douglas Point on the Potomac adjacent to the most important striped bass spawning area on the East Coast and the 5 year moratorium are credited with saving the Chesapeake striped bass fishery.
          When Fred became the Severn Riverkeeper, he knew the river was dying. One of his first acts was to get the penalty for critical area violations raised from $500 to $10,000. He also created a “living shoreline” on the Severn River to show that no one needed to use traditional destructive riprap for shoreline protection any more.  Fred wrote the “Citizens Manual for Protecting Chesapeake Bay Wetlands” and argued countless wetland cases over the years. He recently helped publish the “Severn River Watershed Restoration Strategy For Citizen Action.
          Fred is busy fighting the Arrow Cove Development which would destroy one of the last yellow perch spawning areas on the Severn. The case was just heard in Circuit Court, and a decision should be rendered soon.
          Fred patrols the Severn with his golden retriever, Chelsea, and is busy monitoring the quality of the river at 18 testing stations during the summer.  He enjoys hearing from people who care about the Severn.
Allison AlbertAllison Albert Buckalew, Program Director

Program during the summer of 2006 and part time during the rest of the year.  Starting in 2007, Allison has joined the Program full time.  She operated the monitoring program and took on many other duties, including assisting with public relations and fundraising.  Allison has a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of South Carolina and recently completed her Masters in environmental policy from the University of Maryland.

Sara Caldes, Program Coordinator

Sara has worked for the SRK for the past 3 years. She has background in land use planning and in historical preservation. At the beginning of her career she was involved in the commercial revitalization of Wilmington, NC. Locally she worked for an economic development public interest group in DC; as a project manager for a developer doing specialized hotel renovations and historic rehabilitations; and as a yacht broker for the last 7 years. Sara began boating at the age of 7. She and her husband have lived on the Chesapeake (on the South and Severn Rivers) for the last 25 years.
Nate Frankoff has been the Student Representative for the SRK for the past 3 years. He has completed college-level coursework in aquatic research and estuarine ecology through the Smithsonian student-training program. Currently living in the Saefern community, Nate has lived on the Chesapeake his entire life and was boating before he was born. He has a passion for digital animation and editing (please visit the SRK’s myspace page designed by Nate at www.myspace.com/severnriverkeeper)


                      Chesapeake Rivers Association Board of Directors
The Severn Riverkeeper Program is formally managed by the Chesapeake Rivers Association Board of Directors.  This board provides guidance on all aspects of the Severn Riverkeeper operation.  Its members are listed below.

Frederick L. Kelly  (see above)

J. Charles Fox is Director of the Pew Foundation’s Oceans Program and Chairman of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. He is past Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Chuck is a sailor and recently installed a prototype stormwater retention system at his  home on the Severn River.

Pierre Henkart is Chief of the Lymphocyte Cytotoxicity Section, Experimental Immunology Branch of the National Cancer Institute.  After earning his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard and conducting post-doctoral research in marine biochemistry, Pierre came to NIH and Annapolis in the 1970s.  He is a life-long sailor, served on the Severn River Commission, and designed and managed the Severn Riverkeeper water quality monitoring program in 2006.  His interest in photography led to most of the photos in this website.

James B. Sullivan, PhD is an Oceanographer and served in the US Agency for International Development providing environmental protection programs for developing countries. He is presently Chairman of the Energy Markets Group and founded the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Jim served on the oversight committee for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under President Carter and is Vice-President of the Severn River Association. Jim recently authored the “Severn River Watershed Restoration-A Strategy for Citizen Action” under a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. He is often out on the Bay reviewing restoration projects.

David J. Wallace is a professional engineer and past president of the Severn River Association. He has served as chief engineer for numerous habitat restoration projects around the Bay, such as the highly touted Howard’s Branch Restoration and the Drevar Park Living Shoreline Project. David’s aerial photos are often featured in newsprint stories about the Bay. He has published aerial surveys of submerged aquatic vegetation and documented shoreline hardening and wetland projects. David regularly flies over the Chesapeake documenting the changes and providing a perspective of the Bay that the public can only appreciate through aerial photography.

Bob Whitcomb is a lifelong Marylander, earned his MBA from Loyola College of Baltimore, and is a businessman with extensive managerial experience in financial organizations. He has been actively involved in community and environmental affairs for the 30 years he has resided in Anne Arundel County. Bob is a dedicated boater, having cruised much of the Chesapeake Bay during the last 25 years. He founded and is President of the Anne Arundel Waterway Restoration Alliance, serves as Director for the Severn River Association, Treasurer for Rotary’s Books for International Goodwill, and is Treasurer for two other organizations. Bob led the cleanup of the Saltworks Creek Watershed in addition to being a primary fundraiser for the Severn Riverkeeper Program.

Lois A. Wolfe is currently serving as Special Counsel to the Anne Arundel County Office of Child Support Enforcement and was formerly an Assistant County Attorney for the Anne Arundel County Office of Law in the land use division.  Lois has been a resident of Anne Arundel County since 1998 and currently lives along the Severn River.  She is committed to restoring the Severn for the citizens and children of Anne Arundel County.

Howard R. Ernst, PhD is a Professor of Political Science at the US Naval Academy and author of Chesapeake Bay Blues, the most explosive work ever written about the Bay. It exposed the false assertions about efforts to protect and restore the Bay at a time when the increasing dead zones proved Howard right and the established stakeholders wrong. Howard has lectured widely around the Bay and has been covered in virtually every media. He has argued loudly and strongly that our failure to protect the Bay is a lack of political will and resources and that effective action will only come when voters hold politicians accountable for their promises to protect the Bay. Howard is now an “Honorary” Board Member as he is presently working on a new book.

Joseph P. Allwein is a business consultant and has owned several manufacturing businesses in Maryland and California. He is currently Board President of Arundel Habitat for Humanity and has volunteered building affordable housing for the last 3 years. Joe lives in Annapolis and enjoys boating and golf.

Larry T. Hyland was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, received his BS Degree at the University of Baltimore. He has owned and operated several businesses in Annapolis since 1976. Larry is an avid boater and water enthusiast and has spent many hours on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. He has a passionate concern about restoring the quality of the Severn River and to preserve our river for future generations.