Contact & Leadership
For general inquiries e-mail: info@conservationfilmfest.org
If you want to send us mail:
American Conservation Film Festival
P.O. Box 889
Shepherdstown, West Virginia 25443
Hilary joined ACFF as festival operations manager in early 2015 and has seen the organization through inspiring years of growth. Her professional background prior to ACFF includes nonprofit development, community outreach and public education. Her work has led her to serve young students, adults with disabilities and seniors. A lifelong interest in environmental and cultural conservation began on a small farm in the West Virginia hills.
To contact: hilary@conservationfilmfest.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DENNIS LIU, PRESIDENT
Dennis has a passion for encouraging people to embrace scientific inquiry and thinking. He’s currently Vice President of Education for the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Half-Earth Project. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dennis directed the production of educational media at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for two decades. As Head of HHMI’s Tangled Bank Studios, he was executive producer and editorial advisor on over a dozen film projects for theatre, broadcast television, Large Screen, and digital media programs. He values the creative drive and teamwork it takes to make great media and believes in the power of film to stir emotions, inspire fresh thinking, and rally action. He’s keenly interested in biodiversity and conservation, and in understanding how people come to love and feel part of nature.
He explored questions of biophilia on a sabbatical at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich last summer. Read more here.
Photo credit: Olivia Liu
MICHELE MCDONNELL, TREASURER
Michele moved to Charles Town in 2022, having lived in Phoenix and New York City most recently. She was excited to find the American Conservation Film Festival after searching for climate and sustainability focused groups in the area. She attended the festival in 2024, and was impressed by the climate stories the festival brings to life. Professionally, Michele made a pivot from a career in financial services and to working with nonprofits as a fractional finance director. She is happy to serve on the ACFF Board as Treasurer and to help to further the important conversation around climate change. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking and exploring with her wife, Evelyn.
DEBORAH TUCKER, SECRETARY
Deborah is a retired marketing executive with a 35-year career in the aerospace, high tech and financial service industries. She moved to Shepherdstown in 2011, when she opened a French bistro as the next chapter of her life. An active member of this special community, she been on its Town Council, Planning Commission and Visitor Center Board. A native Washingtonian, she attended Mount Vernon College with a history degree and Georgetown University with a degree in International Business. She raised her two children in northern Virginia, summering at their cabin on the pristine waters of the Canadian wilderness. She lives in a renovated log cabin with her two Instagram stars, Alfie and JFKitty.
LARRY CUMBO, BOARD MEMBER
Lawrence Cumbo is most widely known for the Emmy-nominated film he made for National Geographic, Search for the Afghan Girl. The headline-making story, chronicling the discovery of Afghan refugee, Sharbat Gula, whose photograph first appeared on the cover of the National Geographic magazine in 1985. In 2000, Cumbo accepted a staff producer position with National Geographic Television and Film. His films for National Geographic have taken him many places around the world, including war-torn Afghanistan, the rim of an active volcano in Guatemala, inside a tornado in Texas, the world’s largest prison in India, and he hiked with two eye surgeons through Maoist Rebel controlled territory in Nepal to the Himalayan Kingdom of Mustang in the Tibetan Plateau for his award-winning film, Miracle Doctors. Other films he made for National Geographic EXPLORER include Arkansas Anaconda, Through These Eyes, BioBlitz!, Special Forces: On the Frontlines, Mothers Behind Bars and One Wild Ride: Yukon to Yellowstone. Today, he lives in the Shenandoah Valley, and continues making documentary films focusing on people and environmental issues so often ignored by mainstream media.
SARAH GULICK, BOARD MEMBER
Sarah is a filmmaker who lives in Jefferson County. She is currently a film producer for the National Park Service. She previously ran a design studio focused on educational and non-profit organizations and taught at a local university. She was a Center for Environmental Filmmaking scholar and has an MFA in Film and Electronic Media from American University. When not on a film shoot, Sarah has assisted with ACFF’s Conservation Filmmaker Workshop. Sarah grew up on a farm in Virginia and enjoys paddling and climbing.
MIKAYLA HAMRICK, BOARD MEMBER
Mikayla is a writer, editor, and climate lobbyist residing in Westminster, Maryland. Having lived in West Virginia for most of her life, a connection to the “wild and wonderful” inspires her interest in community resilience and conservation. Mikayla first attended ACFF as a student at Shepherd University, becoming captivated by powerful filmmaking and visual storytelling. After graduating with a BA in English, she taught in AmeriCorps and now focuses on community development. She is an active member of the Sierra Club and Citizens’ Climate Lobby, engaging in grassroots activism and leading lobby meetings with legislators on Capitol Hill each year. If not writing or reading, you’ll find her practicing yoga, hiking, traveling, cooking, and exploring with her partner and corgi, Avery and Lucy.
MARY LOGAN HOXTON, BOARD MEMBER
Mary Logan, a native of Virginia Beach, moved to New York City after earning a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. Shortly after, she and her husband decided to move back to his hometown in Jefferson County to settle in a quieter and more scenic place. Mary Logan has a master’s degree in social work from West Virginia University and is a licensed independent clinical social worker. She has worked as a community development specialist in substance abuse prevention and as a social worker at the VA Medical Center. Most of her career has been at The Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center, where she worked for 16 years as a therapist to survivors of domestic abuse and other trauma related issues. She currently resides in Shepherdstown with her husband and enjoys spending time with her family and her pug, Muffin.
AMBER KODGES, BOARD MEMBER
Amber is a long-time resident of Jefferson County and has been fortunate to work as a filmmaker for the National Park Service for over 20 years, producing films for NPS units nationwide. She received her BFA in photography from Shepherd College (before it became a university) where, as a student, she was a photographer for the student paper and the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF). Upon graduation, she worked as an AV production contractor at NCTC before joining NPS in 2001. Amber lives in Shepherdstown with her son, who is attending WVU. She enjoys gardening, photography, kayaking, and exploring the natural resources this beautiful region has to offer.
MADGE MORNINGSTAR, BOARD MEMBER
Madge Morningstar is an independent grants consultant who specializes in assisting smaller colleges and universities to obtain National Science Foundation funding for innovative research and institutional capacity-building projects. She is the former Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Shepherd University and has worked in non-profit fundraising and programming since 2010. Madge strongly believes that the most vital and urgent project of her generation is to raise community awareness and change public policies related to environmental conservation. She feels especially connected to the American Conservation Film Festival because it is so frequently held on International Women’s Day, which is also her birthday.
PIA PELTOLA, BOARD MEMBER
Pia Peltola has been part of the Shepherdstown community since 1997, and has attended ACFF every year pretty much from its inception. Pia is delighted to serve on the ACFF Board of Directors and do her share to steward the festival forward. Pia earned a Ph.D. in sociology from University of Maryland, College Park, and has focused most of her research career on K-12 education-related topics. Currently, she works at the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Pia was born and raised in Finland. Her love of nature stems from the summers she spent on a tiny dairy farm milking cows, growing vegetables, swimming in lakes, and picking berries and mushrooms in the forest behind the house.
HENRY “HANK” WILLARD, BOARD MEMBER
Following a 35-year career as an office and industrial real estate developer and broker serving Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, non-profits and national law firms in facility site search, selection and acquisition in both the Washington-Baltimore and Southern California markets he began a second career in commercial aviation management after returning to the East Coast in 2001, residing in Shepherdstown. Several years ago, he launched “Agronomy Air” an aerial surveying service using advanced drone-deployed sensors to acquire data and provide a range of analytical products in support of precision agricultural and conservation efforts. Hank has served as a board member or trustee of nonprofits with national reach and has volunteered his time for a range of local civic groups and held local elected office.
STELLA VAN HILST, JUNIOR BOARD MEMBER
Stella van Hilst is a middle schooler at Shepherdstown Middle School. She first started attending the American Conservation Film Festival when she was just six years old. Some of the films made a lasting impression. In addition to watching films, she enjoys swimming, F1 car racing, writing, and being outside in nature. She appreciates all animals large and small, especially chickens, and her favorite school subjects are science and social studies. Stella’s mission at ACFF is to get more youth involved in and excited about conservation.
Past ACFF Board Members
Keith Alexander, Lauren Ames, Amy Mathews Amos, Elise Baach, Mary Wells Ball, Alice Barkus, Janna Bond, Mark Burgess, Sue Caperton, Steve Chase, Lawrence Cumbo, Chuck Dunkerly, Jeff Feldman, Alex Goetz, John Grabowska, Jeff Groff, Jeffrey Gustafson, Praise Hall, Thomas Harding, Alix Hazel, Don Henry, Michael Hobert, Chris Hoelzl, Catherine Irwin, Judy Katz-Leavy, Alex Kemnitzer, Karen Kinnett, Dave Kirkwood, Edward Leavy, David Lillard, Mark Madison, Farzad Mahootian, Bill McShea, Rachel Dorsey McGowen, John McGrath, Stan Mopsik, Wendy Mopsik, Sue Pellish, Stephen Pettler, Dave Pugh, Anne Sechler, Vanessa Serrao, Thomas “Topper” Sherwood, Michael Spensley, Nick Snow, Barbara Spicher, Carolyn Thomas, Dan Trezise, Susan Walter, Ann Watson, Lisa Welch, Susan Womeldorf, Lynn Yellott
