Staff & Volunteers

MCA’s workload is tackled by two staff members and an outreach coordinator, a talented board of directors and skilled and dedicated volunteers. Our Board and volunteers give generously of their expertise and time. Working together as a team, MCA has been able to take on the many challenges that face the Agricultural Reserve and at the same time work to promote it through education and legislative initiative. MCA is also registered to provide student service learning hours to middle and high school students. Contact us to find out more!

Caroline Taylor
Executive Director
Caroline, who has the great fortune to live with her family within the Reserve in historic Sugarland Forest, has worked on environmental and agricultural issues for much of her professional career. Her first exposure to environmental litigation came while employed at Covington and Burling. She then worked with a talented group of lawyers and advocates at National Wildlife Federation on a wide range of cases and issues including: Spotted Owl, Key Deer, Exxon oil spill, food policy, forest preservation and, water resources. Yet her passion has always been local issues including protection of the Ag Reserve’s natural resources and working lands. Caroline comes from a long line of farmers and ranchers, from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Idaho. Growing Legacy, Caroline’s second film project, aims to both educate and inspire the many, the diverse- those who through the simple act of eating, as Wendell Berry wisely notes, practice agriculture.

Kristina Bostick
Senior Conservation Associate
Kristina grew up in Montgomery County (hiking Sugarloaf every year on her birthday) and has returned after a number of years in North Carolina where she earned her Masters in Public Administration and worked on numerous environmental issues, including stormwater mitigation and greening local governments. Kristina values all the ways the Ag Reserve benefits our region but nothing beats the excitement of a weekly CSA box or the first peaches of summer, all grown right here!

Gene Kingsbury
Board C0- President
Gene is the owner and operator of Kingsbury’s Orchard, located in Dickerson, Maryland. He is a fifth generation farmer, working the property that his family purchased in 1907. His family has been growing fruit on the farm since the 1930’s. While managed for many years as both a dairy farm and peach orchard, Gene now focuses totally on fruit production. He has expanded the business to include apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines and pears. Today, he is growing more than 50 varieties of white and yellow peaches, along with about 20 varieties of apples.
Gene also worked a second career with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He spent more than 20 years in the FAA’s Office of International Aviation prior to retiring in 2011 to devote his full attention to the family farm. He holds a Masters Degree in International Economics from the American University.
Gene and his wife, Julie, currently live near the farm with their awesome Aussie, “Maggie,” who serves as the official mascot for Kingsbury’s Orchard.

Jim O'Connell
Board Co-President
Jim has a life-long commitment to land conservation. He has served as a trustee of Maryland Environmental Trust since 2006. He is President of the Sugarloaf Countryside Conservancy, a local land trust for the Western Ag Reserve and a life member of Trout Unlimited and a member of the Izaak Walton League of America. Jim is a senior partner in O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue LLP in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the University of Maryland and Georgetown Law School. Following service as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, he joined the firm, where he has been involved in all aspects of the firm's practice for more than thirty years. Jim lives in the Reserve with his wife Maureen and his 1 year old Lab, Spencer pictured here.

Jean Findlay
Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer
Without question, Jean’s steady and patient hand at all things financial has been quite invaluable to our efficiency over many years. Dealing with the myriad details and requirements of a staffed non-profit is a challenge- luckily we have our TT- "Treasured Treasurer" to keep track of it all.

Josh Goldman
Communications Intern
Throughout middle school, high school and studies in engineering at UMD, Josh has been generous with time and talent as MCA's Communications Intern. He has provided IT support, issue advocacy, drafting and editing, photography and more. Currently he is putting the finishing touches on the online Explore Guide that he built- a map based resource for consumers, adventurers and commercial buyers seeking local commerce and adventure. Built from the ground up, the guide will provide the platform for local farms and venues to update their own information - keeping the resource evergreen.
Josh received the 2016 MCA Volunteer of the Year Award, commenting that he believes that the benefits of volunteerism should be experienced by all.

Pia Iolster
Volunteer Consultant
Pia has been living in Montgomery County for over twenty years. Her love for the outdoors stems from her childhood in Argentina where she spent her summers on a family farm. She has an M.S. in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland and a degree in Biology (M.S. equivalent) from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pia has worked for over eleven years in the non-profit sector on conservation and sustainable agriculture in developing countries. She is now looking to become involved in local issues to have more of a ‘hands on’ work experience and is very excited to be able to collaborate with MCA on Agritourism issues. Pia currently lives in Bethesda, MD with her family and two dogs.

Nicole Motzer
Research Fellow
Nicole is a newcomer to Montgomery County and is currently finishing up a PhD in Geography at the University of Maryland. She discovered her passion for agriculture and its potential as a community building tool during her time at the University of Florida and has followed this interest ever since. She stumbled upon MCA while searching for winter CSAs online and quickly knew this was an organization after her own heart. Following several years in academia, Nicole is incredibly excited to be able to work hands-on with MCA and help further the goals of the Ag Reserve and its wonderful community. Nicole has jumped right into getting the Farm Explore Guide updated for 2017 as well as several other projects.

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