LINDA DYKSTRA HYLANDER - president

Linda Dykstra Hylander retired from the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill in 2013 and joined her family at their farm near Fries in Spring Valley/Southwest Virginia. At UNC, Linda was a Kenan Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience as well as Dean of the Graduate School. While at UNC, Linda led a research laboratory examining the behavioral effects of drugs, and trained numerous undergraduate and graduate students within her laboratory. She continues to co-direct a postdoctoral program at UNC that promotes research-based approaches to science education. As a teacher and mentor, she was an enthusiastic proponent of hands-on, experiential approaches to learning, a commitment that she shares with BRDC.

Linda received her BA from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and her masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. She was introduced to the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains when she and her husband drove through this area almost 50 years ago on their way to considering academic positions in North Carolina. Linda’s husband, Bill Hylander, retired from Duke University in 2006 as Professor of Anatomy and former director of the Duke Lemur Center. He is an avid fly fisherman, committed to conserving water quality and wildlife habitats on their farm and throughout the area.

Gavin Blevins - Vice President

Gavin was born and raised in Chilhowie, VA, and currently resides in his hometown. He received a Bachelors of Science degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2013. Gavin is both a
Certified Planning Commissioner and Certified Floodplain Administrator, certified by Center for Public Administration & Policy. He has served as Regional Planner at Mount Rogers Planning District Commission since January 2014, Town Manager of Damascus since November 2014, and Senior Planner at Mount Rogers Planning District Commission since February 2017.

Gavin coached Track & Field for Northwood High School for 3 years, Cross County for Chilhowie High School for 4 years, and is an avid enthusiast for trail running, hiking, and just about anything else outdoors. Gavin is also a fan of sports cars and crooked roads. Recently, he was given the 2017 Community Ambassador award from the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission.

Beverley Fermor - Secretary

Bev grew up on a fruit farm in England. She obtained her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Bristol University and moved to the USA in 1998 when she was recruited to Duke University Medical Center. She obtained her own funding to lead a research group investigating the effects of mechanical load on bone and cartilage using in vitro models. She had a particular interest in the interactions of oxygen and inflammation. Bev now lives in Volney with her husband Ken Kreuzer. They have spent time re-opening the old logging trails in their woods making them accessible for hiking and horseback riding. They like observing the changes in the woods with each season and becoming more aware of all the critters, plants, birds and mushrooms alongside them. Bev has been involved with many non-profit organizations and likes to quilt, as well as spend time with their rescue dogs and ponies.

Deborah Greif - Treasurer

Deb became interested in environmental issues in high school in New Jersey. As a teacher at Grayson County High School, she has been instrumental in fostering the ECO Club, a valuable resource for various BRDC programs. Deb lives in Grayson County, serves as Treasurer and book keeper for BRDC, and   remains involved in environmental and recycling causes, trail maintenance for the Appalachian Trail, and has participated in workshops sponsored by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Trails to Every Classroom program.  Her abiding passion is working with and for kids.

Keith Andrews

Keith earned a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Master’s degree from Western Michigan University. He also holds endorsements and certification in Continuous Improvement and Process Reengineering.
He has held various administrative roles in public education, adjunct faculty positions at Virginia State University, facilitator for community leadership development initiatives, and co-creator/leader of several community think-tank initiatives. Keith’s business experience has included various leadership roles: Vice President for a global publicly traded company, creator of a corporate university, owner and lead consultant of a private consulting firm, and currently is a consultant and adjunct instructor at UNCC. He has over thirty-five years of experience in instructional design and technical training, experiential learning, human resources management, and organizational planning. 

Brenda Bonk

Brenda was born in Hawthorne, California and raised in Gardner, Massachusetts. Upon graduation from Gardner High School she attended Providence College in Rhode Island and graduated in 1986 with a major in humanities and a minor in business administration. She was a distinguished Military Graduate and commissioned as Second Lieutenant in 1986. Brenda brings to BRDC an international experience in civil affairs through her years of service as a Personnel Officer in the US Army and subsequent climb in rank to Lieutenant Colonel. Her duty assignments included the likes of Germany, Korea, California, North Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts and Colorado. After transitioning to army reserves, Brenda continued to serve the public through a myriad of volunteer efforts including: American Projects Chair in in Seoul, South Korea; as a docent at the Fox Creek and Bear Creek Nature Centers in Colorado Springs, CO; through Run and Read program in Kingston Ontario; as a Brigade Spouse Educator and President of the Spouses Club at Fort Sill, OK; as President of the Athletic Boosters Club in McLean, VA; and as Farmer's Market Master at the McLean Farmers Market in Fairfax County, VA.

Her personal fitness motto is "keep moving" and it shows. Her active and dedicated efforts fuel BRDC's mission forward. Brenda's goal oriented approach allowed her to complete the Fichtelgebirge March in Germany, the Berlin Marathon, the Pikes Peak ascent, and section hike the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail. Beyond being dedicated to public service Brenda is married to John Fant and they have two sons: Jack and Peter. 

Steven Hopp

Steven Hopp is broadly trained in the life sciences, and received his Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from Indiana University. He moved to SW VA in 1984 to teach at Emory and Henry College, and has been tied to this region ever since. He taught Ornithology courses at the University of Arizona from 1994 to 2004 at which time he moved back to Virginia full time. He teaches courses in wildlife management and sustainable agriculture in the Environmental Studies program at Emory and Henry.

Dr Hopp has studied different species of Vireos for over 25 years. His main interest is in their vocal behavior, but he has broadly studied their natural history including life history strategies, breeding ecology and behavior on their wintering grounds. More recently, Dr Hopp has become interested in Sustainable Agriculture, and is co-author of the national best-selling book, Animal Vegetable Miracle, with his wife, Barbara Kingsolver. He is founder and director of The Meadowview Farmers’ Guild, a community development project devoted to promoting local products, with an emphasis on agriculture. Part of this project is the Harvest Table Restaurant, a nationally recognized farm-to-table restaurant. He serves on the board of Appalachian Sustainable Development and joined the board of the Blue Ridge Discovery Center in 2018. He lives in Meadowview, VA on a mostly wooded farm with Icelandic Sheep and Dexter Cattle.

Tom Graham

Besides being a certified Master Naturalist, Tom is an active community leader, avid mountain biker, and a financial advisor for Davenport in Marion, VA. 

John Nemeth

Dr. Nemeth has had a distinguished career in academia and the private sector. His experience, spanning over four decades, has included research and education in the classroom and laboratory, university research administration and development, as well as executive positions with major environmental consulting firms including LAW Environmental and CH2MHill. During his 15 years at Georgia Tech, Dr. Nemeth was Director of the Environmental Science and Technology Laboratory with a staff of over 100. In 1998, he became to vice president of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), the largest science and technology based university consortium in the US.

He retired from ORAU in 2009, then October of 2015, Nemeth was invited out of retirement to become CEO and Executive Director of the 100,000-member Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society. He was honored to serve in that capacity through June of 2017, and currently serve on several boards including the National Association of Academies of Science and the American Junior Academy of Science.

He is the president of Education and Research Consulting. He is active in many other organizations such as AAAS, National Association of Environmental Professionals, the Scientists and Engineers for America, and he was a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Under-represented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Pipeline, and served as a Fellow to The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute.

Blake Edwards

Blake has served as the CFO of Skyline National Bank since 1999 and as Senior Executive Vice President since 2013. Prior to that, he worked with a public accounting firm where his primary focus was providing audit and advisory services to community banks and municipal, not-for profit, manufacturing, and healthcare organizations. In addition to serving on the BRDC Board, Blake is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Duke Life Point Twin County Regional Healthcare and is on the Government Relations Committee of the Virginia Bankers Association. He is a graduate of Radford University and has attended AICPA's School of Banking at the University of Virginia and the Graduate School of Bank Investments and Financial Management at the University of South Carolina. Blake has been a long time champion of BRDC and brings a regional network of connections along with vast fiscal experience.

Dr. Rick Van Noy

 Dr. Rick Van Noy serves as Professor in the department English at Radford University. He teaches courses in the environmental humanities, creative nonfiction, professional writing, and American literature. Rick is an accomplished author, penning the recent Sudden Spring: Stories of Adaptation in a Climate Changed South (2019), along with one of BRDC’s founding inspirations: A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature Through the Seasons (2008).

Dr. Van Noy is a a long time participant in the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally and was our 2019 Summer featured speaker.

Steve Lindeman

Steve recently retired from The Nature Conservancy of Virginia’s Clinch Valley Program in Abingdon, Virginia after twenty-three years. He was responsible for the start-up and day-to-day operations of the Conservation Forestry Program which now includes approximately 22,000 acres of permanently protected, actively managed forests. His last position was as the Land Protection Program Manager, charged with land acquisition, conservation easements, and conservation buyer sales on lands within the program area. His community-based conservation work included serving on the Clinch River Valley Initiative board of directors and as Vice Chair of the High Knob Enhancement Corporation Board. He worked as an industrial forester in the Southeast in wood procurement and land management and prior to working for the Conservancy was the land manager at Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, FL. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry & Wildlife from Virginia Tech in 1983, and Master of Forestry and Master of Environmental Management degrees from Duke Universities’ Nicholas School of the Environment in 1994. Steve and his wife Chris live, garden, and hunt in Hayters Gap in Washington County, VA.