Board and Staff

Thirteen individuals from numerous watershed towns currently serve on the MRWC Board of Directors, as of January 2024:

David Brule (President) of Erving/Millers Falls is the president of the Nolumbeka Project, Inc., and serves as a commissioner on the Erving Conservation Commission, the Montague Historical Commission and the Erving Historical Commission. he is also chairman of the Nehantic Tribal Council, and project coordinator of the NPS Battlefield Protection Program for the study of 1676 Battle of Great Falls/Peskeompskut.

Rice Flanders (Vice President) of Orange chairs the Orange Housing Authority, and is a member of the Orange Energy Committee.

JoAnne Burdin (Treasurer) of Templeton Is a member of the Templeton Community Preservation Committee.

David Small (Secretary) of Athol is President of the Athol Bird and Nature Club. He was the Assistant Regional Director at Quabbin Reservoir/Ware River Watersheds for DCR DWSP before retiring in 2013. He is currently chair of the Athol Planning Board and serves on Athol’s Open Space and Conservation Commissions. He is a member of the Mass Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program’s Advisory Committee.

Kathy-Ann Becker (Wendell) currently serves as the Town Crier. She is a member of Trout Unlimited and the Atlantic Salmon Association, and an avid fly fisher.

Guy Corbosiero (Winchendon) is Vice Chair of the Winchendon Planning Board and President of the Winchendon Springs Lake Association. He also serves on the town’s Board of Health and Charter and Bylaw Review Committee, and is a board member of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission

Channel Fleck of Phillipston

John Henshaw (Templeton) is active locally and a longtime supporter of the Millers River Watershed Council and Athol Bird and Nature Club.

Tom Kellner (Royalston) is Chair of the Royalston Zoning Board of Appeals, and on the faculty of Anna Maria College and the Worcester Art Museum.

John O’Keefe (Orange) is the former Coordinator of the Fisher Museum at Harvard Forest in Petersham. He serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, The Conway School of Landscape Design, and the Friends of Spannocchia.

Paul Rezendes (Athol) is an acclaimed author, photographer, and videographer specializing in North American nature/scenic landscapes and seascapes, and as an expert animal tracker, founded and operated a nature school for 20 years in the North Quabbin Region. He is also a licensed drone pilot, and has lived on the Millers River in a remote section of Athol for 45 years.

Paulette M. Roy (Athol) is the Art/Executive Director of the photography business she operates with husband Paul Rezendes and co-founder of their nature school. She is co-author of Wetlands: The Web of Life, has written many magazine photo essays, and has lived on the Millers River with Paul for 40 years.

Tom Waidlich of Montague

Ivan Ussach, MRWC’s part-time director, has led the Watershed Council since 2005. He is also director of the Warwick (MA) Free Public Library. Ivan received a M.P.H. degree from the Columbia University School of Public Health, after which he worked for several New York City agencies as an environmental toxicologist before co-founding the Rainforest Alliance and creating its Smart Wood Program. He was also a founding member of the Forest Stewardship Council.