The Mt. Lebanon Nature Conservancy Board is currently composed of volunteer members who organize and attend all our events. All are unpaid volunteers and serve for three year terms.
If you would like to become a part of the Board, please contact us at lebonature@gmail.com.
angie phares - president
Angie has lived in Mt. Lebanon since 2010 and has been involved with the MTL Nature Conservancy since her arrival. You’ll usually find her knee deep in bittersweet or walking her dogs in the parks. As a kid, Angie always gravitated toward the natural spaces, especially wooded areas and still find her ‘reset’ on the trails. In real life, Angie works part time at the VA as part of a research team investigating the impact of lifestyle changes on chronic disease. Her background is as a physician assistant, health coach and yoga instructor. She has one wonderful husband, two fantastic adult children and two high energy dogs.
bethany mcgee - treasurer
Bethany McGee has been a mechanical engineer who is now raising two elementary aged kids. She is a Pennsylvania native who is happy to have moved to Mt. Lebanon in 2017 after 4 years in Berkeley, CA and 11 years in Columbia, MD. She and her husband Tim became more interested in environmental matters during their years in Berkeley and have continued ever since. She has become involved with the MLNC Board to keep the green spaces in Mt. Lebanon lovely places to do some trail running & enjoy nature with her family.
sarada Sangameswaran - VP Programs
Sarada moved to Mt Lebanon with her family in 2016, and immediately fell in love with this community, with its walkable schools and tree lined streets. She holds a Masters in Ecology, and has worked in environmental consulting as well as environmental education. Most recently, she was Education Director at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, where she developed and taught hands-on programs for all ages and helped design interactive exhibits and spaces. She is passionate about increasing access to nature for everyone, especially for young people.
RON BLOCK - Vice president of projects
Ron and his wife Maritza moved to Mt Lebanon in 1998 and raised 2 daughters. He earned a Master’s Degree in Landscape Design from Chatham University in 2006, and joined the Conservancy Board that year. He has also served on the Mt Lebanon Historic Preservation Board and is currently serving his second term on the Parks Advisory Board. As the Conservancy’s project coordinator, he has assisted nearly 40 Boy and Girl Scouts in achieving their Eagle Rankings and Silver Awards with projects in the parks including trails, stairs, and bridges, making the parks more useful for all. He might be the first person to walk all of the parks’ trails while pushing a wheelbarrow.
Alexis Smith - secretary
Lex has been a Mt Lebanon resident for most of her life. She grew up here, spent two years in the Peace Corps working as an educator and learning about many agricultural practices and methods. She returned home with a passion for the outdoors- and moved back to Mt. Lebanon where she resides with her husband and three young children. Her passions include hiking all of the trails with her kids (Bird park is a favorite!!), gardening, and community volunteering.
Moira Aulbach
Moira moved to Mt. Lebanon in 2007 from the North Hills and has been volunteering with various environmental and human services organizations for many years. Moira earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and a Masters in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University. She spends a lot of her time running, walking, biking, gardening and hiking in the woods with friends, family and her dog, Jodi. In 2019, she received her Master Gardener certification from Phipps and was able to channel her love of plants and the outdoors in a positive way. She is married to Ron and has one son.
Stephanie Bonifield
Stephanie is a science and technology writer with a passion for the outdoors. A lifelong Pittsburgh resident, she moved to Mt. Lebanon in 2022 and soon after started volunteering with the MNLC. Stephanie earned a degree in Communication Arts from Grove City College in 2021. She previously volunteered as a Student Space Ambassador for The Mars Generation and now spends her time writing, hiking, and sharing her love for nature and Mt. Lebanon's parks.
Trina Brown
Trina has been an avid gardener since her first pack of morning glory seeds at age 10. When she and her wife and daughter moved into their Mt. Lebanon home in 2016 their first priority was to transform their back yard from a sparse lawn and dead shrubs into a garden oasis. Soon after, Trina became passionate about native plants. In just over a year she converted over 1,800 square feet of turf grass to native gardens and added over 500 native plants and documents this process on Instagram and Facebook via The Allegheny Understory. Her goal is to spread awareness of the need to support native wildlife by creating native habitat in our yards, our parks, and our public spaces. She incorporates this goal in her professional life as a Certified Financial Planner(R) practitioner by specializing in Sustainable and Responsible Investing. She holds masters degrees from Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, and Ohio University,
Laura flannery
Laura was born and raised in Ireland. She has always been a lover of nature, wildlife and the outdoors. She spent much of her youth camping, boating, fishing and hiking, as well as gardening on a family plot on the West Cork coastline. She still enjoys many of the same pursuits today, including vegetable gardening and expanding her cottage garden with a mix of roses, annuals, native perennials & edible plants. She earned a BSc Computer Science in UCC. She and her husband Chris welcomed their first child while living in Germany, their second in New Jersey and their third in Pittsburgh. She can regularly be found walking the trails of our suburban woodlands with her family, friends & dog Bailey.
Richard Heyse
Richard retired after a career in engineering and finance that included being the CFO for several large public companies. He and his family moved to Mt Lebanon in 2009. Richard has a passion for forestry and has been involved as a volunteer in forestry and meadow restoration work for over 25 years in Tennessee, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has been a board member for the Pittsburgh Scout Council, Phipps Conservatory and is a current board member of the Pittsburgh Botanical Garden. He also has served on the Mt Lebanon Parks Advisory Board since 2016.
elaine kramer
Elaine Kramer is a certified community planner who believes parks and green space are essential elements of any community's infrastructure. She earned a journalism degree from Northwestern University in 1979 and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Chatham University. Since completing this middle-age career change degree in 2014, she has worked in landscape design, park planning and design, and community planning at Pashek+MTR, a North Side consulting and professional services firm. Elaine has lived in Mt. Lebanon since 2004.She has volunteered with CASA (court appointed special advocates), as a writing coach at Jefferson Middle School, and as a member of the municipal Parks Advisory Board.
Sarah Levinthal
Sarah is a stay at home mom with three active kids. She is a PA Master Naturalist and keeps up this credential by volunteering in the community and participating in continuing education. A Mt Lebanon native, Sarah attended Allegheny College and majored in Psychology and then earned her MSW at the University of Michigan. Within the Mt Lebanon Nature Conservancy, she co-coordinates School in the Park. She and her family can often be seen outside, especially in our local parks and on our trails.
Sandy moorhead
Sandy moved to Woodhaven Drive in 2007 with her husband Bill (a lifelong Mt. Lebanon resident) and three wonderful step-children. After college at W&J, Sandy became an entrepreneur and owned and managed a successful health and racquet club. Sandy comes from a family of farmers (spending her summers growing up on the farm) which instilled in her a deep respect and appreciation for our green spaces and an understanding of the stewardship and hard work required to preserve and enhance them. Sandy credits her mother and mentor for her profound love of gardening and the outdoors. Sandy can often be spotted walking the neighborhood with Bill and their dog, Evie, admiring her neighbors’ beautiful gardens or digging in her own flower beds at home.
Steve Posti
Steve Posti is a long time resident of Mt. Lebanon and has a career in market research. His interests in sustainability, environmental education and public green spaces as well as his love of being outdoors are reasons why he's a MLNC volunteer and board member. Steve also enjoys cooking and cycling. He and his wife Josephine have two college age children. Steve also serves as a volunteer firefighter with MLFD.
John Rombold
Although he travels frequently for his job in Construction Management, John Rombold and his wife Jackie have enjoyed calling Mt. Lebanon home for the last 13 years. They have 2 children who have attended Mt. Lebanon High School. While pursuing his Master’s Degree in Parks and Conservation Management, John interned with the Conservancy, and has continued to be an active volunteer. He enjoys running, hiking, and finding new urban parks to explore.
Tom Schevtchuk
Tom Schevtchuk has served on the MLNC board in a variety of capacities since 2004. Originally from Indiana by way of New Jersey; he has lived in Mt. Lebanon for 20+ years. His academic training is in history, environmental studies and public finance. Tom’s day job is as a municipal consultant focusing on water and wastewater finance for a large environmental engineering firm. Tom is married to Kimberly who has also been active in the community in environmental issues. Their son is a mechanical engineer in aerospace in California. All are suckers for stray cats and dogs; the dogs being great motivators to enjoy Mt. Lebanon’s excellent passive use parks.
Ezra Moon - Junior board member
Ezra was born in Pittsburgh, but raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2018, his family returned to Pittsburgh, this time settling in Mt. Lebanon, where they lived beside Bird Park for four years. As a child, his passion for birdwatching and fascination with anything moving always encouraged him to get outside, and taught him to look closely at and value the natural beauty surrounding him. Growing up between the Rocky Mountains and eastern forests, Ezra has always dreamed of working with nature in some capacity. In the future, he hopes to study environmental science and find a career preserving and restoring ecosystems around the world.
VIOLET SLAGLE
Violet is a junior at Mt. Lebanon High School. She is serving her second term as Vice President of her graduating class, with a focus on community service. She is also a founder of the Upcycling Club which repurposes unwanted materials. She enjoys hiking, traveling, and taking her dog for walks in Twin Hills. She is passionate about educating her peers and preserving Mt. Lebanon's natural beauty for the next generation.