President

Meriwether grew up in Norfolk; her love for the Shore started at the age of 3 when her parents purchased “the farm” south of Locustville, with weekends and summer vacations learning to fish for flounder, enjoying the barrier islands, crabbing, and hunting fiddler crabs in the marsh. She majored in biology at Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, and went into the horticulture industry. In 1992 she moved to the Shore permanently and started a wholesale nursery. In 2013 she got her captain’s license and started her current business, Seaside Ecotours, taking family nature tours and birding trips out to our barrier islands.

Why I Support CBES: Since I moved here in 1992, CBES has been a part of my family life. ShoreLine kept me well informed about important issues I might not have read about in the local papers. Over the decades my family have all enjoyed the Between the Waters Bike Tour and the Pig Roasts at Cherry Grove Farm. I was flattered to be invited to join the CBES Board of Directors and have enjoyed all of our meetings, activities, and partnerships.

Vice President

Eleanor grew up in Onancock, where her father was a seafood inspector. His concerns about creeks condemned due to poor water quality and a thriving seafood industry dwindling down to just a handful of oyster houses made a deep impact on Eleanor’s environmental views.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Eleanor spent 4 years living in England with her husband, who served as an Air Force lawyer. Moving back to the Shore, her family settled in a pre-Civil War house in Eastville. She established a small horse farm at her home, which she still runs today, and also had a garden design business. Now the grandmother of two, Eleanor has been happy to serve her small town since the mid-1990s as a town council member.

Why I support CBES: I see CBES as a smaller, local version of say a Sierra Club or Audubon Society. We fiercely defend the Shore.

Secretary

Sally is a lifelong resident of the Eastern Shore, currently residing with her husband, Doug, on the lower seaside of Northampton County.  She has a BS in Biology and General Sciences from JMU, with graduate work at William and Mary and UVA.  For 30 years, Sally taught different sciences in Chesapeake and Northampton County, and has worked with the USDA and with the Eastern Shore Tourism Commission at the Southern Welcome Center.  Besides her role as Secretary, Sally served as CBES Bike Tour Coordinator for 5 years, and serves on the RC&D Board, the Eastern Shore Soil & Water Board, and with Capeville United Methodist Church.  

Why I Support CBES:  Coming from a generational Eastern Shore family and having an Environmental Science background, it is important to me to protect our local natural resources and to preserve farming and fisheries.

Treasurer

Mike and his wife Lee followed his aunt and uncle to the Eastern Shore in March 1972, working with VIMS as a lab technician, researching the possibilities for the commercial propagation of bivalve shellfish. In 1974 he returned to Pennsylvania, working in pesticide research and development at Rohm & Haas Company. He completed a PhD in Marine Biology at North Carolina State University, and returned to the Shore in 1983 to start up a clam culture operation. He served as Managing Director of Cherrystone Aqua-Farms for 27 years, retiring in 2010.

Why I Support CBES: I was impressed with the writing and content of CBES ShoreLine newsletter and became a financial contributor. I’ve long been a CBES Board member and later Treasurer because I wanted to do my part in “making a better Eastern Shore.”

Past President

George grew up in Nassawadox and is happy to return to Virginia after a career that began with the Navy in southern Mississippi and ended with GSK Pharmaceuticals in Durham, NC. There he volunteered as an EMT and became a cycling advocate after volunteering with the East Coast Greenway Alliance. One of George's first jobs was as a lab tech at VIMS, where he worked for a few years before attending grad school. He is a Virginia Master Naturalist, enjoys volunteering at TNC on habitat restoration projects, and is currently chairman of the Eastern Shore Rail Trail Foundation.

Why I Support CBES: CBES was one of the first organizations to promote the Eastern Shore Rail Trail. Having previously experienced a new trail in Durham, I'm confident that our trail will enable a happier, healthier, and more prosperous community.

As avid cyclists, Norman and his wife, Susan, came to know the Eastern Shore with CBES “Between the Waters” ride nearly 20 years ago. In 2007, they built their dream home on Craddock Creek; recently, they installed a 300-foot living shoreline and an oyster reef to protect the shoreline and improve water quality. Norman is a retired upper elementary school/Montessori teacher and a cabinet maker. He also worked as crew chief for Virginia Solar Company in Charlottesville in the late 1970s.

An avid sailor and environmental activist, Norman has enjoyed learning and educating others about the issues affecting the people and the environment of their newly adopted home, especially preserving the fragile habitat of the Chesapeake Bay.

Why I Support CBES: I love CBES nonpartisan advocacy and the work that CBES has consistently done over the years, including the insightful, well researched writing from ShoreLine.

Sue and her husband, Bill, moved to Harborton in 2006, after growing up in New Hampshire and living in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. She holds a BS in Biology from Colby College in Maine (with a junior year at the University of Edinburgh) and an MS in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan. She spent her career as a writer for scientific and medical publishers and the pharmaceutical industry.

Since her retirement, Sue has served with CBES (as Board member, staff writer for ShoreLine, and coordinator for the annual Candidate Forums); Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Waste Watchers of the Eastern Shore; and the Eastern Shore of Virginia Ground Water Committee. She is a birder, kayaker, and master naturalist.

Why I Support CBES: CBES is a key advocate for this special place, working to preserve our environment and way of life for over 30 years, by building consensus and community, pushing for open and transparent government, and relying on hard science and data.

Barbara was born and raised on the Eastern Shore. As a child, she accompanied her shellfish biologist/inspector father as he performed routine water samples on all the Shore’s creeks and inspected local crab and oyster houses. Barbara has been slurping oysters from the half shell since she could walk.

She is a graduate of Broadwater Academy, the University of Virginia, and the Washington Montessori Institute. She was the founding Directress of the Montessori Children’s House of the Eastern Shore, and then taught Kindergarten and First Grade at Pungoteague Elementary School and Early Intervention and Prevention Services Education at the Eastern Shore Community Services Board. She is now a part-time Early Intervention Reading Instructor at Pungoteague.

Barbara and her husband raised their son first in Melfa and then in her childhood home in Onancock. Every evening, she walks all around her beloved hometown and then writes about her walk and observations on her blog.

Why I Support CBES: I joined CBES because I treasures the bounty of the land and waters of the Eastern Shore and want to ensure their preservation.

Jennifer moved to the Shore in 1983, when her father began his career in aquaculture. After graduating from Northampton High School, she received a Bachelor’s in music with a minor in business from James Madison University. After living in South Florida, Virginia Beach, and Southern California, she returned to the Shore in 2015, and now has made a permanent home in Eastville. After a 16-year career as a court reporter, Jennifer now works as a remote stenographic CART captioner, providing live, real-time captions for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Why I Support CBES: I’m excited to follow in my father’s footsteps as a CBES Director and to help protect this special place we call home.

Gary was born and raised in Northampton County. He became a conservationist at an early age, seeking to provide balance in the competition for resources between nature and humans, and between now and the future. Gary joined CBES as a senior in High School after speaking at a CBES meeting on the status of vocational education in Northampton Schools. He received a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech, after which he worked as the main estimator and project manager for Bayshore Concrete Products in Cape Charles for 20 years. He now works remotely in Onancock for a New Jersey company that manufactures concrete bridge beams.

Why I Support CBES: I thank CBES for getting me into the wonderful world of bicycles – a great hobby to meet people, enjoy the Shore up close and personal, and as an excuse to buy more bike parts.

Arthur grew up on the Eastern Shore, graduating from Broadwater Academy before getting his degree from Swarthmore College, and then an MBA from the University of Chicago. His family is one of the early families on the Shore, and many places have some Upshur family connection for him. He has a background in business management, working in a variety of corporate roles around the world for Groupe Danone before returning to the Shore in 2008 and starting Copper Cricket Farm in Machipongo. He also works part-time for the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust as their Stewardship Manager. Arthur is a long-time supporter and a Past President of CBES.

Why I Support CBES: I have always had the belief that the best policy and planning comes from thoughtful and informed discussion. CBES has always been dedicated to civil discourse and creating the conditions for honest, open, transparent conversations. None of these values seem to be “in fashion” in our political world today but are critically important to solve problems. CBES is one of the only organizations that focuses on Eastern Shore issues exclusively and I think serves such a valued role for our community.

Over several years of visiting the Shore from her native Charlottesville, Margaret fell so in love with the people she met and the relentless natural beauty of the salt marsh that she decided to move here full time in 2009. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville in Indiana. During her early years on the peninsula, Margaret worked seasonally between ecotourism and conservation, strengthening that connection she felt with people and place. She has worked full-time with The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve since 2015, where she holds the title of Community Engagement Specialist. Through her community engagement and educational work, Margaret has the pleasure of connecting local people of all ages with the ecological wonders of the area and the benefits of a nature-based lifestyle.

Why I Support CBES: Information is power, and CBES works hard to empower our Shore citizens by providing venues for balanced information-sharing, ranging from ShoreLine to community forum and beyond.