Meet the Tin Mountain Staff:

Lori Jean Kinsey
Executive Director
lkinsey@tinmountain.org

Lori has worked at Tin Mountain since 1986 and has developed many of the programs currently in place in the schools of the Mt. Washington Valley and Western Maine. She loves to teach and never tires of catching frogs, hiking above tree line, snowshoeing, or working with children, campers, and families. She was recognized with LL Bean’s first “Outdoor Hero” award in 2008. Her special interest areas include wetlands, wildflowers and alpine ecology.

Education: BS, Pennsylvania State University; MST, Antioch New England Graduate School

Ed Barosky
Marketing & Communications
ebarosky@tinmountain.org

Ed grew up in Connecticut and spent most of his time in nature and riding his horse.  At the age of 10 he became a Junior Curator at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center getting to work on a farm with animals and bringing lots of wild critters home on the weekends.  Time in nature for him is one of life’s greatest gifts.  Joining the Tin Mountain team has brought him full circle back to his Junior Curator days now with vast experience.  He brings 25 years of marketing, technology, finance and business development experience supporting the transformation of some of the world’s most valuable and complex organizations.  He has held roles on Wall Street and 20 years in San Francisco/Silicon Valley CA working for JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Time Warner, NBC/Universal, British Telecom and most recently 3 start-ups.  He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where he spent 2 years working for the United States Senate.  He is now the proud 2nd owner of an 1860 farm in the White Mountains where he enjoys spending time with his family, passion for nature, hiking daily with his Standard Poodle and driving one of his vintage cars on the weekends.  A couple of horses for him is on the horizon.  He is Vice President of the Executive Board of Directors of the Freedom Historical Society, volunteer at the Freedom Food Pantry, Member of the Silver Lake Singers and Head Deacon at First Christian Church of Freedom.

Allison Byrd
Research Manager
abyrd@tinmountain.org

As the Research Manager, Allie draws on her diverse background in field biology and research. She has spent many years assisting on field research projects on a variety of taxa, with a focus on birds. Some research highlights included black bear capture in New Jersey, bird monitoring in Olympic National Park, nest searching for red-backed fairy wrens in Australia, and common loon monitoring on the lakes of western Montana. Allie has worked full time for a wildlife non-profit in Maine, in a research lab at Indiana University, and as a renewable energy consultant. She loves hiking, traveling, throwing pottery and spending time with her pup, Dixie.

Education: BS in Wildlife Biology, University of Rhode Island; MS in Ecology & Environmental Science, University of Maine

Nelson Cormier
Facilities Manager
ncormier@tinmountain.org

Nelson has many years of experience in taking care of all sorts of buildings, dams, machines, and trails. He’s the perfect person to maintain our solar powered electric, and thermal heating systems, maintain our many miles of trails and woodlands, and an ace carpenter as can be seen by the many nest boxes he has recently built. In all seasons he keeps Tin Mountain safe and clean! Nelson’s other interests include, kayaking, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and anything outdoors!

Linda Cryan
Business Manager
lcryan@tinmountain.org

Linda brings extensive business management experience to Tin Mountain including accounting and human resource positions in high tech and nonprofit organizations.  She most recently worked for an outsourced bookkeeping and controller firm providing cloud-based remote accounting support to a diverse variety of businesses where she honed her technical skills.  Linda fills her free time with flower gardening, preserving the family harvest, reading and collecting books, skiing and pottery.  She is obsessed with butterflies and all 4 legged creatures including her Nigerian Dwarf goats and American Guinea Hogs.  Linda loves to travel, visit gardens and zoos, and collect arts and crafts.

Education: BS in Management, Accounting concentration, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Phaedra Demers
Education Director
pdemers@tinmountain.org

Phaedra grew up in a small town in central Vermont where a love of the outdoors and nature was instilled in her at an early age. Frog catching and bird watching as a kid naturally translated into a degree in biology and environmental studies, which then led to work on conservation projects of various bird species throughout the US. Through a twist of fate, one of the conservation jobs involved leading environmental education programs, and she has been hooked since teaching at different environmental education and nature centers in Colorado, Wisconsi, Michigan, upstate New York, New Jersey and now at Tin Mountain in New Hampshire. Phaedra fills her free time with hiking, telemark ski-ing, knitting, and general goofiness and tomfoolery with her husband and two sons.

Education: BS in Biology and Environmental Studies, St. Lawrence University

Mike Dufilho
High School Programs Manager
mdufilho@tinmountain.org

Mike grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where he fostered a love for chile relleno and the Spurs.  After attending college in New Orleans, Louisiana, he has worked for environmental education schools from Saco Bay to Neah Bay and the Transverse Range to the southern Blue Ridge Mountains.  He enjoys exploring the lesser traveled paths of the White Mountain National Forest with his wife, two daughters and son.

Education: BA in English Literature, Loyola University, New Orleans; Masters in Environmental Education, California State University, San Bernadino

Nora Dufilho
Program Director
nbeem@tinmountain.org

Nora attributes her love for the outdoors and passion for protecting it splitting her childhood between the coast of Maine and its western mountains. Combining her love for exploration and desire to share her enthusiasm with others, she taught environmental education as far as way as Belize and Washington State. In her current role as program director, Nora enjoys collaborating with various community partners and interacting with the local community.

Education: BA in Biological Sciences, Smith College; MS in Environmental Conservation, University of New Hampshire

Kat Ferguson
Rentals & Volunteer Coordinator, Education staff
kferguson@tinmountain.org

Kat brings fourteen years of experience as an adventure educator to her role at Tin Mountain. She has worked in many programs with children incorporating her training as a wilderness leader. She helped start an outdoor magazine, Wild Northeast, and assists with sales and management. Kat juggles her time as Membership / Volunteer and Outreach with leading afterschool programs, being a counselor at summer camp and filling in for other programs. Her interests include rock climbing, canoeing, compass and map navigation.

Education: Outdoor Leadership Program, Greenfield Community College

Dexter Harding
Teacher/Naturalist
dharding@tinmountain.org

Dexter always wanted to be a Tin Mountain Teacher / Naturalist! He taught for eighteen years at the Jackson Grammar School and now gets to combine his love of teaching, passion for natural history, and a sprinkling of music into his daily work. He was in the Peace Corps in Bolivia for several years, and was the Board Secretary for the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust, now he’s on the Tamworth school board. During his free time you might find him exploring the woods, marshes and mountains, or making music in various local groups. He’s also fluent in Spanish. Recently his nature passion runs to dragonflies, moths and caterpillars.

Education: BS, Biology / Environmental Science, Colby College; Masters of Teaching and Learning, University of Southern Maine

Erin Holmes
Hillclimb Coordinator
EHolmes@tinmountain.org

Erin joined Tin Mountain in late 2021 as the new event coordinator for the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb.  She brings to the position years of experience racing gravel, road, mountain, and cyclocross bikes and serving as the Race Director for one of the largest New England grassroots cyclocross races.  Her passion is to create events that bring people together, whether they are racing for glory or challenging themselves to see if they can do it.   When she’s not planning the Hillclimb, she’s a Professional Engineer working full-time for the State of New Hampshire who loves to bike, trail run, hike, and telemark ski with her family.

Matt Maloney
Teacher/Naturalist
mmaloney@tinmountain.org

Matt loves the inherent curiosity that children have for the natural world. He enjoys encouraging them while teaching. He grew up in nearby Connecticut and spent much of his youth visiting the Mt. Washington area. He has worked teach-ing environmental education programs in the Catskill Forest Preserve, for the Adirondack Mountain Club in Lake Placid, NY, and for the Appalachian Mountain Club as Mountain Classroom Instructor. He also through-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2011, and worked in Ecuador at Jatan Sacha Biological Station. He is an avid birder, skier and paddler.

Education: BA in Communications, University of Connecticut; Masters in Environmental Studies, Antioch College

Heather McKendry
Outreach & Membership Coordinator
hmckendry@tinmountain.org

Heather joins Tin Mountain, bringing years of experience as an outdoor educator, enthusiast and explorer. The White Mountains captured her heart at a very young age and, at the first opportunity, she made the Mount Washington Valley home. Heather guided trips and canopy tours, built challenge courses, directed outdoor programs, became an NH Audubon steward, serves on town and non-profit boards, and is an active member of the community. Her interests vary from hiking, skiing, cycling and running, to architecture, area history and photography. Always eager to learn and share, Heather’s position at Tin Mountain is the perfect fit.

Education: BA Outdoor Education/Behavioral Psychology, University of New Hampshire

Dr. Rick Van de Poll
Interim Research Director
rickvdp@gmail.com

Dr. Van de Poll joined the Research Team at TMCC in 2019 taking on the task of overseeing all of the current projects including the avian and forestry studies, and trout habitat improvement project. He is the principal of Ecosystems Management Consultants, where he spends most of his time doing ecological inventories and environmental reviews. His background also includes being on the faculty of the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch New England Graduate School, and an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire. His interests include mushrooming, finding rare species, conserving old growth forests, and swimming in Squam Lake.

Education: BA Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, MST Antioch New England Graduate School, and a Ph.D. The Union Institute Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dan Stepanauskas
TMCC Consulting Forester
norfor@roadrunner.com

Dan became Tin Mountain’s forester in 2017.  He has run a consulting forestry firm for over 35 years in NH, serving families, land trusts, corporations, and municipalities.   He serves on the Board of Directors and Land Committee for the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust.  He has worked for Scientific Certification Systems on Forest Stewardship Council certification of well-managed forests throughout North America.  Dan enjoys fishing for brook trout, vegetable gardening, wilderness canoeing, and playing guitar.

But the staff is only part of the folks that make Tin Mountain so great.

Click here to meet our Board of Trustees.