CER engages a team with expertise and a passion for ecological restoration, research, education and policy.

Photo credit: Nita Settina

Meet the Team

Barry Glassman
Executive Director

Nita Settina
Program Manager

Meet the Board Members

  • Sara Caldes

    CHAIRPERSON

  • Dennis Whigham

    SECRETARY

  • Kevin Smith

    TREASURER

  • Andrew H. Baldwin

    MEMBER

Biographies

Barry Glassman

Throughout his 40 years in public service, Barry has been recognized for outstanding leadership as a Harford County Councilman, State Delegate and State Senator, and Harford County Executive from 2014 to 2022. His record as a fiscal conservative includes promoting rural values and steadfast protection of Harford County’s land and water resources. He has served in appointed positions on the Board of the Maryland Economic Development Corporation and has twice been named chair of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council Board of Directors. He was elected president of the Maryland Association of Counties in 2019. Barry lives in Darlington with his wife, Debi. They recently celebrated the birth of their grandson, Brooks, the first child of their son, Jordan and his wife, Kristin. Barry graduated from Washington College and was awarded the prestigious Henry Catlin 1894 Medal for outstanding scholarship, character, leadership and citizenship.

Sara Caldes

Sara has been the Severn Riverkeeper since 2018 and worked as the Riverkeeper Restoration Manager since 2004. She brings extensive experience in land use planning and restoration project management. Her work has included 12 major restoration projects, including award-winning stormwater, living shoreline and urban stream restoration. She has also secured grants to fund the study of living shoreline and Regenerative Stream Channel (RSC) projects to advance best practices for ecosystem restoration. Prior to her role as the Riverkeeper, Sara held nonprofit, government and private sector positions in Wilmington, N.C. and Washington D.C. in historic preservation and commercial revitalization. She began boating at the age of seven and has lived on the Chesapeake Bay on the South and Severn Rivers with her husband Roger and son Nate for 40 years. They especially enjoy cruising aboard their Southern Cross sailboat. Sara earned her B.A. in American Studies and History from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Andrew Baldwin

Dr. Andrew H. Baldwin is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. His research and teaching focus is on plant and ecosystem ecology of natural and restored wetlands. He is interested in both coastal and inland wetlands, with the goal of understanding links between plant regeneration, carbon and nitrogen cycling, and global change factors, particularly sea-level rise, temperature, eutrophication and invasive species. He teaches classes on wetland ecology and restoration, and is a Fellow and past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Dr. Baldwin graduated from Tufts University with B.S. degrees in Biology (Botany) and Engineering (Environmental) and obtained a Ph.D. in Botany at Louisiana State University.

Nita Settina

Nita worked for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for 28 years in various leadership positions including 15 years as the Superintendent of State Parks, where she managed 76 State Parks and 21 million visitors annually. As the first woman to lead the park system, she expanded the State Parks to 141,000 acres, opening eight new State Parks, including the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park. She was awarded the Admiral of the Chesapeake for her work to preserve and restore wildlife habitat and wetland, shoreline and streams on public lands. Her accomplishments include launching the Conservation Jobs Corps for Baltimore City youth in 2008 and the Veterans Conservation Corps for military veterans. She received her B.A. from Penn State University and a Masters in Parks & Recreation Resource Management from Frostburg State University. Nita lives in Annapolis with her husband, Mike, and loves spending time in nature, mountain biking, paddling, birding and camping.

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Dennis Whigham

Dennis is a Distinguished Emeritus Scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the Founding Director of the North American Orchid Conservation Center. The ecology of plants has been his primary interest and his research has led to studies of woodland herbs and forests in the tropics, temperate and boreal zones. In recent years, studies of interactions between orchids and fungi have resulted in new and exciting directions. Whigham’s recent research projects focus on the role of wetlands associated with juvenile salmon habitat in Alaska headwater streams; the rarest terrestrial orchid in eastern North America; and an invasive wetland species that is rapidly expanding across the country. Whigham graduated from Wabash College and obtained a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He joined the Smithsonian in 1977. Whigham and his collaborators have published more than 275 articles in journals and have co-edited 10 books

Kevin Smith

Kevin is the Executive Director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. Ecological restoration has been at the core of Kevin’s work for over 40 years. In 1980, he began his career as a field biologist with the Wildfowl Trust of North America in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. Work led him back to Maryland where he worked for over 30 years at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to restore and enhance natural systems and maximize habitat and water quality. In 2019, Kevin retired from DNR and joined the Maryland Coastal Bays Program where he and his staff monitor, protect and restore the bays behind Ocean City and Assateague Island. He is currently focused on the restoration of island and tidal marsh habitats to reverse the decline in coastal bird populations. Kevin lives in a quiet village along the Miles River where he enjoys fishing, reading, and spending time with family and friends among the mature oak and pine forests of the mid-shore. Kevin received his B.S. at the University of Maryland in College Park.

Photo credit: Nita Settina