American Conservation Film Festival

Welcome to the American Conservation Film Festival!

Our mission is to promote outstanding films and the arts
that educate and inspire people to become engaged in conservation.

The American Conservation Film Festival is an annual event held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a vibrant arts community 70 miles west of the nation's capital. The ACFF features films from a diverse group of conservation filmmakers from around the world.

As part of our mission, the ACFF:

Provides a venue for diverse range of conservation films that rarely receive a wide showing;
Celebrates conservation film and video in the fun, eclectic atmosphere of historic Shepherdstown, WV;
Showcases independent, historic, publicly funded and Appalachian films;
Offers an education component that complements the film selections and supports those interested in conservation filmmaking.

Our Staff
	Tatiana Petrone, Festival Manager
	Tatiana is currently completing her MFA in Film and Electronic Media at American University in Washington, DC. She has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University at Buffalo. Prior to joining ACFF, she helped to organize the American University Visions Festival and curated the photography exhibit, When the Hypocheck Turns Blue: Our Photographs at the British Ink Art Gallery in Washington, DC. In addition to her work with ACFF, she is an adjunct professor of photography at the University of the District of Columbia.
	Kara Abella , Administrative Assistant
	Kara Abella is currently finishing her undergraduate degree at Shepherd University. She enjoys helping in the community, starting her volunteer work with the Western Maryland Hospital Center, and the YMCA after school program. She has spent the past five years working with Feed the Hungry in the Philippines, helping bring food to families in need. Kara aspires to continue her charity work with children in the years to come.
Our Board of Directors
	Amy Mathews Amos, President
	Amy has 20 years experience working in environnmental science, policy and advocacy for non-profit conservation groups and government agencies. She holds a B.S. in natural resource management from Cornell University and graduate degrees in environmental science and public affairs from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. In 2001 she started her own consulting business, continuing to do research and advocacy work for conservation groups and charitable foundations, and assisting them with program development and strategic planning.
	Catherine Irwin, Vice President, External Affairs
	Catherine is the Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival's Casting the Future Initiative. She was the CATF Managing Director from 1999 to the fall of 2004. Her theater management career includes work as the Director of Development of Arena Stage and Managing Director of the Living Stage Theater Company, Arena Stage's outreach program. She has also worked with the Round House Theatre, the African Continuum Theatre Company, Child's Play in Arizona and the MeadowBrook Theatre in Michigan. Catherine lives in Shepherdstown and is a member of the Rotary Club, having served on their Board as Vice-President and then as President. She was a member of the Leadership WV Class of 2001.
	Charles Dunkerly, Vice President, Fesival Programming
	First connecting to the environment as a West Virginia river guide, Charles is currently a film producer/director for the National Park Service. For the past ten years, he has worked on award-winning interpretive films, on topics as diverse as on the Olympic National Park, Thomas Jefferson, and "prescribed fires."
	Alice Barkus, Vice President, Operations
	Alice has an undergraduate degree from Denison University in Ohio, and a Masters in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Alice and her husband, Neal, are native West Virginians from Charleston. They built a house in Jefferson County eight years ago and are ardent gardeners and the delighted companions to four cats (two from West Virginia, one from Virginia, and one from Italy). Alice is very interested in seeing the ACFF reach its goal of being the foremost conservation film festival in the country.
	Don Henry, Secretary
	Don Henry is professor of physics at Shepherd University and was dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for many years. Since joining Shepherd University he has been Principle Investigator or Director of $570,000 in grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Proteus, a scholarly journal published by Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, and a member of the Board of Directors of Friends of the National Conservation Training Center. Don received his Ph.D. in physics from the Johns Hopkins University.
	Anne Sechler, Treasurer
	Anne is the owner and manager of ALW Productions, a video and design company started in 2005. She travels often for various filming projects including Miss and Teen USA pageants and horse event and sales videos. She is often around Shepherdstown filming the locals and college students for various documentary projects and was the field producer and audio engineer for DreamRiders, a family reality show that followed a father and son's dream of riding from Washington State to New York City on bicycles. She also has joined the National Conservation Training Center as a video editor for upcoming projects. She has a BS degree in Animal Science and a degree in broadcasting from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Anne remembers volunteering as an Inventory Specialist during NCTC's early days and is eager to contribute to the American Conservation Film Festival as a new board member.
	Steve Chase, NCTC Liaison
	Steve Chase is the Chief of Facility Operations and Administration at the National Conservation Training Center of the Fish & Wildlife Service. He also oversees the NCTC Conservation Heritage Program and works on community-related projects. Steve graduated in 1983 from the University of Hartford , with a BA in Mass Communications and Earth Science. He received a Master of Public Administration from the Barney School of Business and Public Administration in 1990. He has served as a Legislative Fellow for the Connecticut State Legislature and was awarded a Presidential Management Internship in 1990.
	Alexander Kemnitzer, Board Member
	Alexander has spent his entire life living along the banks of the Potomac River and the C&O canal. He currently lives in Shepherdstown and is a student at Shepherd University, majoring in Economics.
	David Lillard, Board Member
	David develops interpretive media for parks and heritage sites. He is editor of The Shepherdstown Observer, a monthly magazine serving Jefferson County, WV, and executive editor of Blue Ridge Press, a nationally syndicated column service providing op-ed columns and commentary on environmental issues. He previously served as ACFF president and is one of the festival's founders.
	Mark Madison, Board Member
	Mark Madison is the historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He teaches environmental history to professional conservationists at the National Conservation Training Center . He has previously taught environmental history at Harvard University and the University of Melbourne (Australia). He has degrees in history, biology, and the history of science. For almost three years, as a Peace Corps volunteer, Mark did tropical reforestation in the rain forests of the Philippines.
	Barbara Spicher, Board Member
	Barbara has a background in non-profit arts administration having served as the executive director of the Washington County Arts Council (MD) for 15 years, and as the operations manager for the Shepherd University Department of Music for 4 years. She has participated as a board member for many groups including the Washington County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the Cumberland Valley Chamber Players, and the Shepherd University Friends of Music. She is also a classical flutist and performs regionally with several groups, and teaches music at Hood College, Mercersburg Academy, and through the preparatory division of Shepherd University. Barbara lives in Shepherdstown with her husband, Martin Burke.
	Susan Womeldorf, Board Member
	Susan Womeldorf is a Family Medicine Physician working in the area. She has worked or volunteered as a physician in Malawi, various places in Honduras, and at several domestic clinics as well. Before going to Medical School, she worked as a Seasonal NPS Park Ranger, a Student Conservation Association Park Service Volunteer, and an AmeriCorps Service Member teaching environmental education in northern New Mexico. She feels at home in the desert, on the river, and at sea and after moving all over the country, she has made this little corner of West Virginia her home.