The Board of Directors is the Nature Trust’s legal authority and is responsible for the organization’s effective governance to ensure its sustainable operations and fulfilment of its mission. A Board member acts in a position of trust for the community.  Each board member has a legal, moral, and fiduciary responsibility to participate in the board function so that the board fulfills its responsibilities and discharges its duties.  Board members believe in and are committed to our mission, and act responsibly and prudently as its stewards.

Learn more about the specific responsibilities and areas of expertise of our Board members.

Our Board of Directors

Chris Wilson

Chair

Bio coming soon!

Meg Cuming

Vice-Chair

Meg is currently employed with the Province of Nova Scotia as a Director in the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage. As a volunteer, she sits on the Nova Scotia Sea School Risk Management Committee and the Board of the Acadia Minor Hockey Association. In the past, Meg has served on the board of L’Arche Homefires, Recreation Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association Board.

Meg lives in Greenwich with her husband Jon, her son Holden, her dog Rosebud and her cat Swan. In her spare time you can usually find her walking, hiking or snowshoeing in the woods.

Richard Landzaat

Treasurer

Richard’s two passions are Real Estate and Accounting. Richard completed his CA designation in 1993 and has been a senior financial officer for several corporations. Most recently, he has been providing owner-managed businesses with strategic advice on a full-time basis through his accounting practice in Dartmouth.   In addition to accounting, Richard holds a real estate salespersons license and actively helps clients find their next commercial investment property.  Owning a large tract of land near Saltsprings NS, Richard understands the need to protect the fragile ecosystems these lands hold.  Richard is an avid runner, competing in numerous half and full marathons, and lives in Dartmouth with his wife Heather.

Paul Comeau

Paul retired as a partner of Grant Thornton in Yarmouth, having been a CPA in public practice for 40 years and one of the only Acadian partners in Nova Scotia.
He has formerly served on the board of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and has previously been a councilor of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia, President of the Yarmouth YMCA, President of the Rotary Club of Yarmouth, President of the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation and Director with Canada Post Corporation, among others.
He has 3 children and 4 grandchildren and enjoys hunting, fishing and camping – especially in Kejimkujik National Park (both Jeremy’s Bay campground and out back camping). He loves tramping and hiking in the woods, as well as the ocean.

Emily Hunter

Emily is an associate with Patterson Law in Truro with a litigation and environmental law practice. Before becoming a lawyer, Emily completed a degree in International Relations at Mount Allison University and studied law at Dalhousie University. Emily is also a board member of the Living Earth Council, an environmental organization in Truro that focuses on community-based environmental initiatives such as active transportation and renewable energy. In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, or at the gym.

Sean Kelly

Sean has over 30 years of experience in program development and management, strategic planning, inclusive leadership, communications, and adult education. Currently a strategic consultant, he has worked for organizations including Clean Nova Scotia Foundation, Cuso International, the Lester Pearson Institute for International Development, and the Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia.

He has been published in Canadian and international magazines and newspapers, and has also produced radio documentaries heard on the CBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and National Public Radio in the US. Sean is a father, wilderness camper, and avid film photographer.

Adrienne Leahey

Adrienne joined the Nova Scotia Nature Trust board in 2023. She’s worked in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, most recently in Chief Operating Officer roles. After a number of years in Europe and the United States, she’s thrilled to be home and serving to preserve it. She’s an experienced backwoods camper and whitewater canoeist, now likely to be found exploring and foraging in the woods of Cumberland County. Adrienne and her family call Pugwash home.

Barb Mason

Barb’s lifelong love for the outdoors traces its roots to her childhood, which was spent swimming, exploring, and camping across Canada and the United States. Her passion for the outdoors took Barb backpacking and hiking in dozens of countries and ultimately led her to call Nova Scotia home, where she enjoys every opportunity to appreciate the province’s spectacular wildlands.  Barb has three decades of experience in volunteer not-for-profit leadership roles, including most recently as a Director with the Muskoka Conservancy. She earned a degree in journalism and worked in finance administration for much of her career. Barb is now retired and lives with her husband near Lunenburg.  When not walking in the woods with her favourite four-legged friend, Barb can be found reading, practicing yoga, or perfecting her seafood chowder recipe.

Sean Meister

Sean grew up on a 200-year-old farm in rural Nova Scotia where a passion for nature was sparked early on. Professionally, he is a communications and international business professional with a passion for building digital communities of fellow Nova Scotia advocates around the globe.

After living and working across Canada for 10 years, Sean returned to Nova Scotia in 2017 and fell back in love with the natural spaces that made him homesick for all those years.

Sean is an avid hiker, a (very) amateur photographer, and most importantly, a proud father to a nature loving little girl.

Joshua Tabh

Joshua is a Wenner-Gren postdoctoral fellow at Lund University in Sweden and is deeply interested in how climate change and land use practices are interacting to shape the appearance, resilience, and evolutionary trajectory of birds across the globe. Joshua completed his doctorate at Trent University in Ontario, where he served as a scientific advisory member for the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team (spearheaded by Wildlife Preservation Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada), developed statistical workshops for ecologists and conservationists in both government and academia, and advocated for use of non-invasive technologies when monitoring animal welfare. He and his family live on the edge of the beautiful Mabou Highlands where they enjoy hiking, birdwatching, and foraging.

Emeritus Board Members

Henry W. Fuller

Henry became a board member of the Nova Scotia Nature Trust in August 1998 at the urgings of Matin Rudy Haase. During 22 years as a board member Henry participated in the three  Expedition of the Earth Campaigns that raised funds for the NSNT. In December 2018 Henry donated the 167 acre Birch Point Property at the entrance of the Washabuck River on the Bras d’Or Lakes to the NSNT. This property has been designated “The Martin Rudy Haase Conservation Lands” and also a “Nature Reserve” under the Nova Scotia Special Places Act. Recently, Henry and extended family members collaborated with the York Land Trust to create the 225-acre Fuller Forest in York, ME. This is the largest property acquisition made to date by the YLT joining up with other conserved properties that make up 1,000 acres of protected land straddling the towns of Kittery and York, Maine.

Dale Smith

Although having retired a number of years ago as the founding director of Nova Scotia’s Protected Areas Program, Dale has remained interested and engaged in a wide variety of related public policy and planning initiatives. Following his return to Nova Scotia from Ontario where he attended university and began his career, Dale played a direct and active role in essentially all facets of provincial parks and protected areas planning during his tenure with the provincial civil service.  As a volunteer with the Nature Trust, he served three terms as president and has chaired the Conservation Committee (and its predecessor, the Properties Committee) since 2004. Dale attended Lakehead, Guelph, Waterloo and Dalhousie universities, where he studied geography, land use planning and public administration. He is originally from Smithville, a rural community near Mabou on Cape Breton Island, and now resides in HRM.

 

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