Directors
The Directors of The Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper have a broad range of scientific, business, recreational, and educational expertise and managerial experience. They appoint, oversee, and provide direction to the Shorekeeper, and help plan and focus activities that will achieve the organization’s objectives. Following is a list of current directors and advisors and a summary of their relevant backgrounds.
Bill Burnham has been a fulltime freelance writer for over a decade, and is the co-author of six books and hundreds of magazine articles specializing in outdoor adventures and travel off-the-beaten-track. He is a director of the Onancock Civic and Business Association, and a kayak guide with Southeast Expeditions.
Ernest “Chip” Dodson, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer,Virginia Tech before enrolling in the Virginia Pilot Apprenticeship Program. He is a pilot in the Virginia Pilot Association in the Port of Hampton Roads, and is a hunter, fisherman, and conservationist.
Eugene R. Hampton is a graduate of Oregon State University, where he received a Masters in Geology. Trained as a groundwater hydrologist, he spent his career in the U. S. Geological Survey. In retirement, he is a dedicated gardener and serves on several committees that deal with conservation issues.
Brooks Howell
has a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. He has worked in flood plain regulation, the design and development of air and water pollution control systems for power plants, and in planning the expansion and environmental upgrading of electric power grids. He is an enthusiastic fisherman and kayaker, spending more than 100 days per year on the water.
F. M. "Pat" Lusk, Jr. attended the University of Richmond and graduated from the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy. His career has included work with a pharmaceutical company in research and development and international regulatory affairs, as well as twenty-one years of pharmacy ownership. Pat presently serves on the board of directors of Epic Pharmacies and the session of Holmes Presbyterian Church. A past chairman of Northampton Conservation Voters, Pat enjoys many different outdoor activities.
Heather Terry Lusk attended Virginia Tech and received her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. Formerly practicing securities law in New York, she has recently returned to the Shore to grow clams and oysters for her family's aquaculture company, H. M. Terry Co., Inc.
John T. Ordeman, President, a graduate of Williams College, has graduate degrees from Columbia University and Johns Hopkins. His professional career spanned forty years as an English teacher and headmaster of several independent schools, and he has authored half a dozen books and numerous articles on American sporting artists. In retirement, he is an active volunteer serving as board chairman of the Eastern Shore's Own Arts Center and Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore.
Michael Peirson, Ph.D.,
received his bachelor’s degree from Delaware Valley College and a doctorate in marine biology from North Carolina State University. He recently retired as manager of Cherrystone Aquafarms, one of the largest producers of cultured clams in the country.
George Reiger received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree from Columbia University. For the past forty years, he has earned his living as a freelance writer, having over a dozen books and a thousand magazine articles to his credit. He is presently the conservation editor emeritus of Field & Stream, and a federal commissioner for the Interstate Commission for the Potomac River Basin.
George J. Savage, Jr., attended the University of Virginia and graduated from the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy. His professional career was spent as a pharmacist in a family-owned business in Cape Charles. He was formerly President of the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper. In retirement he is an avid outdoorsman and very interested in conservation-related public affairs
Ken Schultz is an emigre from upstate New York, where he served on the regional fish and wildlife management board and several environmental advisory committees, authored a comprehensive management plan, was a town councilman, and was a recipient of his county's conservationist of the year award. A graduate of Fordham University and a career journalist, he spent 31 years as an editor-writer for Field & Stream, and is the author of eighteen books.
Advisors
Mark W. Luckenbach, Ph.D., attended the University of North Carolina and received his doctorate from the University of South Carolina. He is a Professor of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary and is the longtime Director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Laboratory in Wachapreague. He conducts research on coastal marine ecology, aquaculture, and land-use/water quality issues on the Eastern Shore, and is committed to fostering and supporting research in the barrier island, coastal lagoon, and marsh system along Virginia's coast.
Victor Schmidt is a graduate of the Department of Wildlife Ecology of the University of Maine. His professional career was spent with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game as a project leader, and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he served in various capacities throughout the country, culminating as Deputy Director in Washington, D.C.. He has been an effective volunteer involved with the creation of several conservation-oriented non-profit organizations.
