Our People
UVTA Staff
Russell Hirschler
Executive Director
Russell came to the Upper Valley in 2001, where he was drawn to the amazing quality of life and recreational resources the area offers. He has been the Executive Director of the Upper Valley Trails Alliance since 2008, where he is responsible for the day to day operations as well as the future vision of the organization. He was formerly the Director of Education at Save The Bay in Providence, RI. He also served as the Development Director at the Upper Valley Land Trust in Hanover, NH, and the Development Director/Program Manager at Wolftree, Inc, a science education organization in Portland, OR. Russell received his undergraduate degree in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Planning from Binghamton University and his Masters Degree in Organizational Management from Antioch University, New England. Russell grew up in and around New York City, but found opportunities to explore the mountains of New England, Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana at an early age. Since then he has been traveling and hiking worldwide for the last 30 years. He lives in Lyme, NH, with his wife, two children, and a dog.
Sean Ogle
Trail Programs Director
Sean grew up in Knoxville, TN, and took advantage of the incredible natural resources of the region by hiking, backpacking, and kayaking from a young age. These experiences coupled with an extremely outdoorsy family fostered a connection with the natural world and particularly the southern Appalachian Mountains. After attending the University of Tennessee for Journalism, Sean was able to work in conservation in many places across the country. First, he served on a trail crew with the Student Conservation Association with the Florida Trail Association followed by a position as a leader for the Manchester Conservation Leadership Corps with the SCA New Hampshire Conservation Corps and finally as the project leader for Phoenix Field School in Arizona. He then returned to work with the Florida Trail Association as Field Coordinator in Tallahassee, FL. In 2014, Sean created the Smoky Mountain Corps, a residential conservation and sustainability program based in North Carolina, which runs conservation and leadership training crews for young adults. Sean also served as the Trail Resources Manager for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, overseeing trail programs with Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Randy Richardson
Development Director
Randy has strong ties in the Upper Valley. He grew up in South Woodstock and later served as Headmaster at the Oliverian School in Pike, NH. He received his BA from Hamilton College and MALS degree from Wesleyan University, and has spent most of his professional life in education, first as a teacher and coach and then as an administrator. Before his time at Oliverian, Randy led the Derryfield School in Manchester, NH, and was a consultant at the Breakthrough Collaborative, a national program focused on educational equity. He is fully committed to the UVTA mission and fusing his love of the outdoors and the Upper Valley with his experience as an educational administrator and fund raiser. Randy lives and hikes with his family and dogs in Woodstock.
Ethan Ross
Field Program Manager
Marketing and Community Engagement Director
UVTA Board of Directors
Karen Kaliski
Freelance Writer, UVTA Board Chair
Originally from the Albany, NY area, Karen spent many childhood weekends riding aimlessly around the backroads of Vermont in the backseat of her parents’ car. She inherited their appreciation of small towns and great scenery and set a goal to become a Vermonter herself. That was achieved in 1989 when a marketing position with a small, software start-up brought her to the Upper Valley. That experience led to product management and marketing executive positions inside several local, high tech companies. Since 2005, Karen has consulted with global enterprises including TechTarget, RSA Security, Salesforce.com, and Verizon as well as many national and local companies and organizations. Karen lives in Thetford, VT with her husband, two college-age children, and two cats. She is an avid traveler, hiker and kayaker and works hard on her golf game, to no avail. Karen earned a BA from St. Lawrence University and MPA from the State University of New York.
Chet Clem
President, Lyme Properties, UVTA Board Vice Chair
Chet is President of Lyme Properties, a real estate development company based in West Lebanon, NH that aims to build places people give a damn about, including the trail-and-transit oriented River Park West Leb development. Chet has a BA in Environmental Policy from Bates College where he wrote a thesis on hydroelectric dam relicensing as an opportunity for environmental, economic, and recreational revitalization, and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College where he was the recipient of the Changemaker award from the Lewis Institute for Social Innovation. He was previously Editorial Manager at The Onion, which lends a creative approach to issues at the crossroads of economic development and the environment. He’s also on the board of the Granite Outdoor Alliance, a NH outdoor industry association. Chet is on his second stint as a resident of Norwich, VT, this time with his wife Julie, their twins Gus & Winnie, and a dog named Willie Nelson.
Matt Oscadal
Mascoma Bank, UVTA Board Treasurer
Matt is a native to the Upper Valley where he grew up exploring local trails with his family and camping in the White Mountains. After experiencing the western states for a few years as a young adult, he returned to the East Coast and currently lives in Hartland, VT with his girlfriend, daughter, two dogs, and a cat. He is an avid skier, hiker, and rock climber and has worked with both local and national organizations to maintain our open spaces and keep access free to the public. He works as a Commercial Loan Officer at Mascoma Bank where he also serves on committees supporting the institutions philanthropic efforts. Prior to banking, he worked as an accountant at a private firm in Massachusetts and on staff at a non-profit in Norwich, VT. Matt earned his BA from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.
Stephanie McCaull
UVTA Board Secretary
Stephanie has a diverse background of experiences, including management consulting, admissions, career counseling and teaching English abroad. She holds a BA in English from Williams College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She started her career in strategy consulting with Mercer Management Consulting in Boston and later worked for The Monitor Group’s marketing consulting practice. She returned to Hanover, NH to work as Associate Director in the Office of Career Counseling at the Tuck School of Business, and then as Associate Director of Admissions.
Additionally, Stephanie has extensive experience volunteering with local nonprofit organizations. She is currently on the board of the Vermont Center for EcoStudies, recently served as Chair of the Board of the Norwich Public Library, and she has served on the boards of The Montessori Children’s School and the Upper Valley Humane Society. Stephanie has also devoted countless hours to the Marion Cross School in Norwich, VT, chairing the PTO and running various school programs.
In her free time Stephanie is passionate about connecting with the natural world, and spends as much time as possible in the woods with her dog Obie. She enjoys hiking trails near and far, trail running, xc skiing, snowshoeing, monitoring peregrine falcons and attempting to identify plants, birds and animal tracks. She lives in Norwich, VT and is always delighted when her husband, Philip, and their two school-aged children, Kate and Drew, join her on the trails
David Bartlett
Winrock Advisors Limited
David Bartlett founded Winrock Advisors Limited in 2013 as a specialized advisory firm focused on arranging private lending facilities and other special situations debt transactions for a global client base. Since 2006 David has also been Director of Pacific Harbor Holdings Limited (PHH), a Hong Kong SFC licensed asset manager, and the Managing Director and Office Head of Pacific Harbor Advisors (HK) Limited, an affiliate of PHH. David has over 20 years of experience in handling financial transactions in global markets. Prior to forming Pacific Harbor, the key principals established and managed Amroc Asia, a TPG / Avenue Capital affiliate – trading, advising and originating stressed and distressed debt transactions. While at Amroc, the team closed over USD1.2 billion in stressed, distressed and high yield transactions for a gross investment return of approximately USD500 million. In addition to the Amroc Investments business, the team sub-advised significant and wellknown managers who were looking for exposure to high yield, stressed and distressed debt in Asia. David was the Executive Director in Amroc Asia’s Hong Kong office from 2002 until 2006, generating transactions in China, Thailand and the Philippines. From 2000 to 2001, David was the COO of HNH Group Limited in Hong Kong. From 1998 to 2000, he was Project Manager of Corporate Banking & Investment Research of Asia Market Intelligence Group in Hong Kong. In 1997, David served for a year as Manager of Indonesian Equity Research at PT Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia in Jakarta, and from 1991 to 1994, he was the Program Manager of Africare based in Burkina Faso working with World Bank grantees and Project Manager at Associates in Rural Development in Burlington, Vermont implementing USAID financings. David was awarded a B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1990 and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 1997.
John "JB" Beyer
Operating Advisor to Tuckerman Capital
JB is a Deal Partner and Operating Advisor to Tuckerman Capital, a private equity firm, where he focuses on portfolio initiatives and new investments related to industrial and environmental sustainability. Previously, JB was a member of the investment team at Tuckerman. Prior to Tuckerman, JB managed corporate strategic initiatives for Backcountry.com, was an investor at Grey Mountain Partners (a private equity fund), and an investment banker at Robert W Baird. JB holds a BS from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, where he concentrated in Accounting and Finance, and received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth where he was an Edward Tuck Scholar. JB is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys spending time outside taking advantage of the many natural resources of the Upper Valley, including hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, trail running, and fly fishing. He can often be found with Abby, the family dog, on the trails around Norwich VT where he lives.
Emily Boren
Vermont Institute of Science
Emily is most often found walking or skiing on the trails near her house in Lyme, NH with her dog. She was first introduced to the Trails Alliance when she volunteered to help construct the organization’s most extensive bridge project to date. Emily has always worked in and around education, currently as the Director of Marketing at VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science) and previously as the Director of Admissions at the Mountain School of Milton Academy. She brings a wealth of experience in community engagement and strategic development to the Board. With a passion for outdoor recreation and commitment to inclusivity, Emily is particularly excited about the all-girls Trail Corps week in the summer and can’t wait to volunteer with them out in the woods again! She and her husband Jay have three young kids in Lyme, and spend their free time hiking, swimming, biking and skiing together all over NH and VT.
Kevin Donohue
Dartmouth Admissions
Kevin grew up on Long Island before coming to Dartmouth College to study Latin, Greek, and linguistics. At Dartmouth, he was heavily involved with the Dartmouth Outing Club, primarily as chair of the hiking and trail maintenance subclub. After graduating and spending a summer building privies and moving rocks as director of the student Trail Crew, he began work as an Admissions Officer at the College, where he reads applications and supervises Tour Guides. In his free time he helps to organize the Norwich Contra Dance, calls contra dances himself, performs in local community theater productions, and cuts grass with his scythe—and, of course, spends a lot of time outdoors in the Upper Valley on two legs or two skis.
Suzanne Dudley-Schon
Oasis in the Overwhelm LLC
Founder of Oasis in the Overwhelm LLC, Suzanne is a life and leadership coach who uses a unique blend of modalities to reduce stress and catalyze personal and professional growth. She holds a BS in Psychology from Duke University, extensive coaching certifications, and is a published author and poet.
Attending summer camp as a young girl in the Upper Valley fostered Suzanne’s lifelong love of the outdoors and connection to nature that continues to provide peace, inspiration, and perspective. She is excited to support an organization that creates such opportunities for people of all ages to enjoy local trails and build relationships with the natural world, recognizing it’ s going to take us all working together to take care of the earth.
She brings over two decades of nonprofit board experience to UVTA, currently serving as VP of the Montshire Corporation after six years as a trustee of the museum, and spent 24 years on the board of Waypoint (Child and Family Services).
She lives in Hanover with her husband and is immensely proud of her two adult children and three stepchildren, all of whom love being outside. When not on the trails, she enjoys creative writing, yoga, and the occasional acting project.
Jon Hampton
Boston Consulting Group
Jon grew up hiking and camping in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and immediately felt at home in the Upper Valley when he arrived for college. Since moving back to the Upper Valley, he can often be found with his family exploring new trails and swimming holes in the summer and skiing and skating in the winter.
Jon is a Managing Director & Partner at the Boston Consulting Group where he advises technology and industrial clients on commercial growth topics. Prior to BCG, Jon worked on Gates Foundation and USAID-funded economic development agribusiness projects in East Africa as well as in technology investment banking and growth equity investing. Jon received his BA from Dartmouth College and his MBA from The Yale School of Management.
Bob Hedges
Retired Financial Services Executive
Bob grew up in New England, loving the bright autumn foliage, the Boston Red Sox, and the White Mountains. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1980, Bob pursued a successful four-decade career in financial services. Bob’s career included both globe-trotting assignments in Europe, Asia, and Australia as well as leadership of Fleet Bank’s (now Bank of America’s) retail banking business across New England and the Northeast US. In 2025, Bob retired from the global payments company, Visa, where since 2018 as Chief Data Officer, he led their global Data & AI efforts. Bob currently serves as a Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Initiative for the Digital Economy.
Bob reconnected with the Upper Valley in 2000 with the purchase of their family home in Orford, NH. He is an avid outdoors enthusiast and mountain explorer, and enjoys spending time hiking the iconic landscapes of the Upper Valley. Bob also serves on the Orford Conservation Commission, championing efforts to conserve land, build and maintain hiking trails, and promote community recreational activities in Orford’s outdoors. Bob is keenly interested in the link between land conservation, recreational activities, and economic development. Having climbed all 48 4,000-footers in the White Mountains, Bob’s new hiking goal is to successfully climb 2,909-foot Mount Cube in Orford 100 times with his wife, Christie. With their three adult children and spouses, all hikers as well, climbing Mount Cube 100 times has become a family project. Bob today lives full-time in Orford where he regularly hikes the trails around Stonehouse Mountain. Bob received his BA from Dartmouth College and MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.
Kyle James, MD
Emergency Medicine, Dartmouth Health
Kyle spent a decade wandering the trails and powder fields of the Rocky Mountains before getting his medical degree at University of Washington in Seattle and moving to the Upper Valley for residency training in Emergency Medicine at Dartmouth Health. Since finishing training, a great lifestyle and proximity to family have kept him in the Upper Valley where he lives in Norwich with his wife, Becky and two sons Remy and Eli. When he isn’t working, he spends his time running, skiing, biking, and perfecting his espresso game. Erin Salcone, MD
Pediatric Ophthalmology, Dartmouth Health
Augustus 'Gus' Southworth
Gus has been practicing law since 1973 and recently retired as a partner from Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey’s litigation group, which was named a “highly recommended” Connecticut litigation team in Benchmark Litigation’s Guide To Leading Business Litigation Firms and Attorneys. He practices in state and federal court in the areas of commercial and personal injury defense litigation, including medical litigation; representation of health care providers and hospitals in malpractice litigation; representation of physicians and hospitals in administrative proceedings, and regulatory and non-professional liability matters, including litigation and representation of private educational institutions. He grew up on a small family farm in Western Connecticut in the 1950s and 1960s and graduated from Dartmouth in 1966. He previously served on the Board Flander’s Nature Center, Woodbury, Connecticut. After spending part of every summer in the area, Gus now lives with his wife, Susan Moorman, at their family house full time on Crystal Lake in Enfield where he continues to pursue his interests of hiking throughout New England, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, biking, rowing his single shell on Crystal Lake and Connecticut River, and maintaining our 30 acres woods on the lake.