2026 Annual Meeting
Nomination Slate
Carrie Deegan (2nd term)
Carrie has been a resident of New London since 2008, when she moved from the Champlain Valley of Vermont to work at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. At the Forest Society she has worked in conservation land stewardship and community engagement, developing volunteer and community science programs to help protect, manage, and better understand New Hampshire’s forests. Carrie received her MSc from the University of British Columbia, where she received a Fulbright scholarship to study geospatial patterns of grizzly bear mortality in and surrounding Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks in Alberta and Montana. Following that, she has worked for The Nature Conservancy (NY), Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District (VT) and as an environmental planner for the Town of Williston, VT.
Carrie enjoys exploring New Hampshire and the Lake Sunapee region, and loves raising her 2 children here. She and her husband Andy can often be found birding or kayaking local lakes, ponds and rivers. Foraging for wild mushrooms, identifying moths, and growing incredibly spicy peppers to make hot sauce are some of her passions.
Robert Martin (2nd Term)
Born and raised in Louisiana, Robert went to graduate schools in Princeton and Cambridge, and began a teaching career in New Haven, CT as a professor of practical theology. His final appointment was as Dean of a seminary in Washington DC. After retirement, Robert and his wife, Carol Thrane, discovered the paradise called Sunapee and quickly bought a house on the New London side of the lake in 2017. They delight in the area’s serene beauty, plentiful activities, and wonderful friends.
Robert’s family heritage in the forestry/timber industry has instilled in him a love of nature, a passionate commitment to ecological sustainability, and a responsibility to preserve and improve Sunapee’s environmental quality for future generations. He is especially keen to influence religious communities to become more environmentally committed. Robert serves on the LSPA membership committee.
Carol and Robert are involved in other environmental organizations in NH and elsewhere. They have two daughters: Aubrey lives in Boston and Madison lives in L.A. Robert’s favorite activities: water and snow skiing, culinary explorations, sunset cocktails, fun with friends, enjoying nature.
Jim Owers (2nd Term)
Jim is a retired lawyer who lives on Star Island in Sunapee in the summer and Concord, New Hampshire the rest of the year. He is a 1969 graduate of Beloit College and a 1979 Graduate of Cornell Law School. Between college and law school he was an officer in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid. He worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service and the State of Alaska. After law school he clerked for the Alaska Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 1982 he joined the Concord law firm of Sulloway and Hollis where he practiced law for the next 35 years focusing on litigation.
He has been active in land and watershed protection as a member of the Concord Conservation Commission for over 25 years and a 9-year board member of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust. He remains a member of Ausbon Sargent’s Lands Committee.
Jim is married to Leslie Ludtke, also a retired lawyer, and has a daughter Zoe and grandsons Liam and Miles who are all extremely fond of Lake Sunapee. Jim is an avid cyclist and Nordic skier.
Annual Meeting Speaker - Jeff Schloss
“Long-term Collaborative Lake Monitoring: What we have learned about NH Lakes”
Jeff is currently an Extension Water Quality Specialist and Professor of Aquatic Ecology- emeritus at the University of New Hampshire after serving as the Associate Director of the UNH Center for Freshwater Biology, Co-Director of the NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program and Natural Resources Program Leader for UNH Extension.
After putting in 35 years at UNH, he took a position as an Associate Research Professor at the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources at UVM where he was Acting Program Leader for the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Program to help them transition-in a new Director.
Jeff was recently honored (March 2025) with a lifetime achievement award from the National Water Quality Monitoring Council “for his exceptional perseverance, positive spirit, and significant contributions to water resources protection”.
Prior to his appointment at UNH, and during, Jeff has collaborated, consulted and conducted research for the National Institute of Health, National Park Service, Naval Research Lab, Smithsonian Institution, US EPA, US Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Department of Ag, NOAA, US Forest Service, and NASA.
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