Board Members

 

Ryan Snide is a Griswold, CT resident who is a self employed Plumbing and Heating Service Professional with a life long passion for the outdoors. Raised in the Pachaug Forest and is the inception of becoming President of Friends of Pachaug Forest. Within the last year, Ryan joined Connecticut Forest and Park Association as a Trail Manager for the Quinabaug Trail, in Pachaug Forest. He also works with the various other trail building groups in the state.  Ryan is a strong community advocate with a positive attitude, that works to inspire others. "If we all did things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

Contact: RSnide83@yahoo.com

 

Vice President Bob Panko is a lifelong outdoorsman. Recreationally he has been a backpacker, mountaineer, hunter, fisherman, boating enthusiast, photographer, birdwatcher and general naturalist especially interested in botany and geology. Professionally Bob worked for 36 years as a US National Park Service employee; 25 years as a law enforcement and emergency services Ranger and 11 years as a wildland Fire Management Officer. While working throughout the US, he was a federally commissioned law enforcement officer, a criminal investigator, an advanced emergency medical technician, a technical search and rescue team leader and a wildland fire manager. Eventually Bob became a nationally certified Incident Commander and he managed very large wildfires and emergency responses nationwide. Although retired, Bob still does wildland fire management consulting, emergency and wildland fire management training and is a member of the New York State Incident Management Team. Bob also serves as an elected member of the Voluntown Inland Wetlands and Watercourses and the Planning and Zoning Commissions

 

Bob received his BS in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Connecticut in 1976. His love of Pachaug State Forest goes back to family visits to Voluntown in the late 1960’s, when his family from New Jersey would make summer visits. Eventually his parents moved to Voluntown. In retirement Bob and his wife Jennifer now own and reside in the family home there.

Contact: kvq_uc@yahoo.com

 

Erica Pelish-Sundstrom grew up in Southeastern Connecticut. She resides in Griswold with her husband, Ryan, and two children, Nick and Emma. Erica and Ryan attended a hike with Friends of Pachaug Forest and, since they enjoy spending time in the Forest, were drawn to the group's dedication to the forest as well as the sense of community.

Erica received her BSW from Providence College and her MSW from Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently a school social worker at Putnam Elementary School. Erica is also a yoga teacher, receiving her Children's Certification in 2017 and her 200 hour Certification in 2018. Erica loves being outside and particularly enjoys hiking and kayaking.  

Contact: pelstrom72@hotmail.com

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Amber Galindo is a Sterling, CT resident with her husband Luis and daughters Camila and Gianna.  She leads two Girl Scout troops for her daughters and is an avid hiker and novice backpacker and forager. 

Amber received her BS in Marketing from the University of Rhode Island and her MBA from Bryant University.  She currently works in technology at Fidelity Investments in Smithfield, RI.

She also enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, and cooking.

Contact: adg6283@gmail.com

 

Jen Panko grew up “down south” in Huntington, CT, retiring to Voluntown after a 37-year career with the National Park Service with assignments around the country at Mt. Rainier National Park, Everglades NP, Gateway National Recreation Area, Shenandoah NP and Fire Island National Seashore. Jen attended UConn (where she met her husband of 45 years, Bob) and graduated with a B.S. in Education. Jen enjoys birdwatching and hiking and hopes to one day become much more proficient at disembarking a kayak, having afforded Bob many moments of amusement up to this point in time.

Margaret is a retired school teacher living in Griswold. She became interested in Friends of Pachaug Forest after signing a petition protesting the gun range. She is deeply committed to preserving green spaces and believes in the adage “think globally, act locally.” FoPF was a good fit with her ideals and she continued to be involved in their activities. She is proud and delighted to help out as a board member. 

After 37 years as a public school teacher, she now spends her time wandering along the local trails or crafting items by repurposing flea market and junk yard finds.

Contact: fayalso@gmail.com

 

"We have one home, Earth, and we must protect it and take care of one another". As a volunteer for FoPF, Allison supports connection efforts on behalf of Friends of Pachaug Forest. She enjoys providing opportunities to learn about nature and gives remembrances of the land that has long been stewarded by the Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan, Eastern Pequot, and Nipmuc tribal nations. She participated in the Naturalist program through the Goodwin Forest and aspires to set a path for equitable environmental educational opportunities for youth. Among other service learning experiences in her educational journey, she studied in Costa Rica at the Instituto de Monteverde. Surrounded by the Cloud Forest, she learned about the vibrant and diverse species and realized the connection and migration of the song birds of Pachaug Forest were also within the Cloud Forest of Costa Rica. Indeed, we are all connected. Allison passionately serves to achieve health equity, social justice and environmental justice.

Contact allison.fopf@outlook.com

 

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Read Sharon's story and how she got involved with the Civilian Conservation Corps

Contact: viadella.l@att.net