North Fork Audubon Society Board of Directors
Peggy LaubeR
President
Peggy is a longtime NFAS Board member, and also serves on the Board of the New York State Bluebird Society. Co-Founder of Corey Creek Vineyards in Southold, she has had a career in the wine business for nearly 30 years as a producer, importer and distributor. She spends as much time as she can outdoors on the North Fork, studying the habits of birds and River Otters, swimming and sailing in Peconic Bay.
Theresa Dilworth-
Vice President &
Co-Treasurer
Theresa Dilworth, an international tax attorney, has spent her career working for Fortune 100 companies. She has lived in Mattituck for 30 years, first as a weekend resident and currently full-time since the COVID pandemic offered the opportunity to work remotely. A lifelong gardener, she is founder and majority owner of a vineyard in Aquebogue, growing four varieties of wine grapes. She is a Board member and Treasurer of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association and volunteers at CAST- Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation in Southold.
Helen hooke
Co-Treasurer
Helen brings 30 years of financial and administrative experience to the North Fork Audubon Society, from her work at NYC law firms, and Solar One, a leading environmental nonprofit. She has a BA from Smith College, and is Certified as a Non-Profit Accounting Professional by the Financial Management Association. She studied at the Eastman School of Music prior to a lifetime of writing, performing and recording music. She is an original member of The Deadly Nightshade, whose memorabilia and LPs are part of the permanent collection of of the Smithsonian Institution, the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, and the Archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Robin Simmen
Robin Simmen is a landscape designer and environmental educator focused on native plants, sustainablehorticulture, water conservation, and composting. Formerly with Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Cornell Cooperative Extension, she holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a masters degree from Conway School of Landscape Design, and is currently a board member at North Fork Audubon Society.
Ellen Birenbaum
Ellen Birenbaum is a retired physician who lives in Orient. She was the founding medical director of the Robert Mapplethorpe Residential Treatment Facility and was medical director of Ryan Chelsea-Clinton, a community health center in Hell’s Kitchen in NYC. She served on the board of directors of The Alliance for Positive Change, a community-based organization that helps New Yorkers living with HIV and other chronic illnesses. She completed the Master Gardener Training course at Cornell Cooperative Extension Suffolk and began volunteering at North Fork Audubon in 2019.
Mimi fahs
Mimi Fahs is a retired professor and 37-year resident of Orient. Mimi was the founding director of the Health Policy Center at the New School in New York City. She pioneered a policy analysis for the US Congress that established the first Medicare cancer prevention benefit. In addition to the North Fork Audubon Society Board, Mimi serves on the Boards of Sweet Briar College and the Ashokan Foundation. Along with her life-long passion for birds, Mimi enjoys music, playing fiddle in a local string band, the Mudflats.
Paula Marra
Paula Marra is an active member of civil society leading organizations. She created a school for Young Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas (1999), that turned into a public school and policy. She is a happy person, passionate about doing things with others, and love to see communities , people, plants, and family growing.
pmarra@northforkaudubon.org
Colleen mcdonough
Colleen McDonough spent the last two decades leading The ASCAP Foundation, a public charity dedicated to music education. Prior to her work at The ASCAP Foundation, she held leadership positions at the Women’s Sports Foundation, the Public Relations Society of America and as Adjunct Instructor and Assistant Dean at Pace University. Colleen has been part of the North Fork community for close to 40 years. Her budding interest in protecting birds has blossomed into a new role of serving on the board of the North Fork Audubon Society.
Carol edwards
Carol Edwards became devoted to to the 55 acres of Inlet Pond County Park while maintaining the trails and pulling thousands of privet, so joining the board was the next step to helping NFAS in their mission. She lives in the village of Greenport where she is on the Tree Committee and also leads meditation groups.
Andy Senesac
Dr. Andy Senesac has worked for Cornell Cooperative Extension at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center since 1985.He earned M.S. and Ph.D degrees at Cornell University in the field of weed science in horticultural crops. His major areas of research are developing weed management strategies for commercial horticultural crop production, landscape and turf. His program embraces an IPM approach: including investigating herbicide, biological, and cultural means of weed management. More recently, Andy has become involved in trying to meet some of the educational needs of the invasive weed issues that affect both production and natural areas.
Since retiring from full-time employment in 2022, Andy has re-entered the workforce as a part-timer, helping CCE and its stakeholders with weed management information and resources. Andy is very interested in the volunteer work that is being done at NFAS – Inlet Pond County Park and has participated in that in the last couple of years.