Connecticut Audubon Board candidates 2022

Connecticut Audubon members will vote on a slate of officers and on four new members of the Board, at the 2022 Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, October 15, at Deer Pond Farm, Sherman.

Board Chair: Pamela Fraser, Ph.D.
Vice Chair: Sarah Middeleer
Secretary: Gilles Carter
Treasurer: Harshad Kuntey

For the Board of Directors
Andrew Holmes
Robert Lamothe
Elizabeth Ramsey
Kevin B. Ramsey

Nominees for Officers
Pamela Fraser, Ph.D., Chair. Easton. Pam was elected to the Board of Directors in 2018. She graduated from the University of the West Indies with a BSc in Botany, Zoology, and Chemistry and is Professor Emerita, Science Education, at New York University. She is recognized both nationally and internationally for her expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of STEM curricula. Fraser served as a gender expert consultant to the United Nations Gender Working group to formulate plans to stimulate action and research for a more equitable world through science and technology and has written over 20 books, 50 chapters, and articles.

Sarah Middeleer, Vice Chair. Newtown. Sarah was elected to the Board of Directors in 2021. She is a landscape designer with a focus on supporting wildlife, particularly birds and pollinators. She writes about environmentally focused design and she advocates for birders with mobility challenges. She was educated at Wesleyan University, Hunter College and the University of Virginia.

Gilles Carter, Secretary. New Haven. Gilles was elected to the Board in 2019. He spent the first part of his career as an entrepreneur in the food and agriculture business, and then became a films and video producer for PBS and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among other entities. He was educated at the University of Montreal and Princeton University.

Harshad Kuntey, Treasurer. Glastonbury. Harshad is a Diversified Engineering Professional at Pratt & Whitney with a keen interest in volunteering and environmental causes. He was a long-time board member and volunteer for Connecticut Audubon’s Glastonbury Center. Harshad is particularly enthusiastic about trying to attract younger people to the organization.

Nominees for the Board of Directors
Andrew Holmes, MST
Brooklyn, N.Y

EDUCATION SUNY College at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY
Master of Science, Taxation, August 2016
Dean’s List Scholar Fall 2015-Spring 2016
Sacred Heart University, John F. Welch College of Business, Fairfield, CT
Bachelor of Science, Accounting, Finance, May 2015
Dean’s List Scholar Fall 2011-Spring 2014, Spring 2015

EXPERIENCE
HSBC, New York, NY August 2018 – Present
Assistant Vice President – Credit Manager

Analyze and evaluate the credit profile of mid-size companies, with revenue ranging from $20 million to $2.5 billion.
Extensive experience sensitizing management provided projections in order to determine a company’s repayment capacity over a period of multiple years.
Extensive experience in structuring debt borrowings to fit the needs of clients, including cash flow and asset backed lending.
Extensive experience reviewing legal documentation for Credit Agreements.

Deloitte Tax LLP, Jericho, NY
October 2016 – August 2018

Tax Consultant

Assisted in the tax audits of multiple publicly traded companies

Performed substantive testing over tax related accounts including Foreign Tax Credits, ASC 740 Uncertain Tax Positions, Deferred Taxes, Stock Compensation, and APB 23 Continuous Reinvestment Assertions
Extensive experience in revaluation of deferred tax assets as a result of tax reform.
Prepared memo for audit partner summarizing the procedures and findings of the year-end tax audit.
Experienced in the telecommunications, cybersecurity, financial services, aerospace, and pharmaceutical industries.

Prepared Form 990 for Not-for-Profit clients
- Worked with client to ensure compliance with filing requirements
Prepared Forms 5471, 8858, and 8865 as part of International Filing Requirements
- Worked with clients to ensure complaince with the IRS filing requirements for foreign partnerships, c-corps, and disregarded entitites.
Assisted in the preparation of Form 1120
- Prepared extensions and estimated payment calculations for Federal return and various states.
- Communicated with client to discuss tax planning strategies.
- Prepared form 1120 for Federal jurisdiction as well as various states.
Participated in a return review of Form 1065 for multiple entites within a complicated corporate structure
- Communicated with client to address errors and potential tax strategies during the preparation of Form 1065

Deloitte Tax LLP, Jericho, NY
NY Commercial Tax Services Intern
June 2015-August 2015

Prepared Form 990 and several supporting state forms, and processed these forms so they could be filed and sent to the client
Developed skills using Deloitte software, Global FX, and Corptax.

Investment Management Intern with Zolio, Inc.

Portfolio Manager
September 2013-November 2013

Managed a $1,000,000 portfolio (fictitious), with an emphasis on maximizing return on investments
Gained valuable analytical skills in the valuation a company, which resulted in the development of strong trading strategies

St. John’s Episcopal Church and Cemetery, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Accountant
May 2012-August 2014

Reconciled investment accounts for the church and cemetery, valued at over $16 million dollars, allowing them to continue to work with Bessemer Trust
Reviewed financial statements dealing with renovations for the church and donations from parishioners, and kept organized records of the statements

Hunt Enterprises, McDonald’s, Stony Brook, NY
Crew Trainer
April 2007-August 2014

Supervised shifts and train employees for $2.5 million dollar operation, maximizing the potential of the employees, providing customers with good service times and high quality products, resulting in increased customer retention

ACTIVITIES
Deloitte National Leadership Conference, Participant, July 2014
Discover KPMG, Participant, May 2014
Grow with Grant Thornton, Participant, July 2014
Accounting Club, President, March 2014-present, Member, September 2012-2015
Sacred Heart Division I Fencing Program, Athlete, 2011-2015
Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Member, Fall 2012-Spring 2014

HONORS & AWARDS
SNEIIA, Outstanding Auditing Student Award Recipient, 2015

BlumShapiro Scholarship Recipient, 2014
Sacred Heart Men’s Fencing, Captain, March 2013-2015
Sacred Heart Men’s Fencing, NCAA All-American, 2014

Robert Lamothe
Hamden, CT

“Pa Voye Ròch Dèyè Ti Zwazo”

I was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1955 into a well-established middle-class family. I am the second of six children and also the second one that my parents sent to study and live in the United States as they endeavored to flee the oppressive Duvalier regime. I did not speak English when I arrived in autumn 1967 to begin my new life in West Haven, CT. Everything here was different than what I had known to that point in my life: new culture, new people, new climate, new language, new customs, and even a new attitude towards birds. In addition to the foundation I had received during my childhood in Haiti, having to navigate life in this new country helped mold me into the person I am today and a worthy candidate for board membership in the the Connecticut Audubon Society .

Insulated by our parents from the harsh realities of life in Haiti, my siblings and I had happy childhoods. School came first, and every night our parents helped us with our homework. We spent the school year in Port-au-Prince and the end of the year vacation at our home in the mountains of Fermathe. I attended Petit Séminaire College Saint Martial, the best elementary and secondary school in the country, and my parents expected me to be the best student in my classes as they had done with my older sister. I rarely disappointed them or myself. They had instilled in all of us a thirst for learning and for achieving at a high level, and at a very young age, I took ownership of my education. This early formation helped me to succeed at every level of education here: Saint Lawrence School, Notre Dame High School, Yale University and Columbia University. Moreover, it helped determine my 30 year career as an educator.

All my life, I have benefited from the best available education. It started in Haiti and continued in this country. I graduated from Notre Dame High School of West Haven in 1973 and enrolled at Yale University. I graduated from Yale in 1977 with a degree in architecture. After Yale, I taught school for a few years before enrolling at the Columbia University School of Architecture in 1982 and earning an MArch degree in 1985. For the next five years I worked at three architectural firms in New Haven: Architects Environmental Collaborative International, Newman Architects, and Kosinski Associates. In the early 1990’s, a major downturn in the economy caused a majority of the architectural firms in the country to drastically downsize. There was very little construction, and I became unemployed. Eventually, I returned to education and was hired at Norwalk Community College where I spent thirty years teaching English, French and Math before retiring this year. During my early tenure at Norwalk Community College, I began a doctoral program at Teachers College – Columbia University which I abandoned after a couple of years.

I have three major hobbies: photography, music, and dance. I love bird and nature photography; I play harmonica and sing in the Bob Lamothe Blues Band, and I am a ballroom dancer. I discovered the blues while in high school and started playing the harmonica while in college. Now that I am retired, I will have time to perform more with my band, and record the many songs that I have written. Dancing is a major part of Haitian, French and American cultures, so I have danced all my life. As for photography, my father shared his love of photography with me and ignited mine when he bought me my first camera during a visit to the US in 1968. Retirement will also allow me to finish the book on the birds of Haiti that I had planned to write while at Yale.

My fascination with birds started at an early age. I spent a lot of time in our backyard observing the chickens, pigeons, and doves we kept as pets. These years of observation not only taught me about the behavior of these birds, but more importantly, they have taught me the importance of observation as a major component to good nature photography. Of all the birds that interested me in Haiti, none caught my attention more than the hawks that glided effortlessly above in the sky spreading fear among the chicken, and the hummingbirds that darted in and out of the flowers in our gardens. To this day, raptors and hummingbirds remain the birds I photograph the most.

“Pa voye ròch dèyè ti zwazo” is a saying in Créole that means “Don’t throw rocks at the birds.” I was nine or ten years old when I first saw these words written on a sign posted on the house of American pastor Wallace Turnbull in the mountains of Fermathe where we spent our vacations. That saying made no sense to me at the time. What else other than throwing rocks were kids supposed to do when they saw a bird? Only a foreigner (yon blan) would have such a crazy view on birds. The fact remained that very rarely were kids able to hit the birds with rocks thrown by hand or hurled by slingshot. However, that changed abruptly in my little entourage when one of my friends in Fermathe received a BB gun for his birthday and went on a rampage killing every little bird he encountered. He proudly showed us his new toy and informed us that he was going hunting. After a half hour of hunting through the farms and residences of the area, he came back with a multicolored bunch of dead little birds tied like fish on a stringer. I remember feeling very sad for these dead little birds and realizing for the first time that killing them was wrong. This was not the last time he killed birds in Fermathe for the fun of hunting and just because he could. I cringe today when I think about the number of birds that kids with BB guns and adults with rifles have killed in Haiti in the last 50 years. Perhaps, unlike me, they never benefited from or heeded the words of Pastor Turnbull, nor did they learn from living in a country that tries to protect its birds. When one couples the unchecked killing of birds with the rampant deforestation of the country for firewood, one can understand why there are so few birds left in Haiti today. Fortunately, education remains the best solution to the problem, so whenever I give a talk in Haiti about birds and nature, I stress the need to embrace more friendly and protective attitudes towards the birds and the environment. I talk about the need to let go of the old superstitions about evil that have led to the decimation of the owls of the country, and I explain the importance of birds of prey to a healthy ecosystem. And whenever I see kids shooting at birds with slingshots, I tell them, “Pa voye ròch dèyè ti zwazo,” and share with them the timeless wisdom of that saying from Pasteur Wallace.

It was not until I had lived a couple of years in the US that Pastor Turnbull’s confusing words on that memorable sign began to make sense to me. When I first arrived here, I commented to my sister about all the new birds I saw, and she quickly warned me not to throw rocks at birds because here in this country unlike in Haiti, there were laws that forbade it, and the police would arrest anyone who did so and killed a bird. My deep fear of the police guaranteed that she did not have to remind me twice. Over the years, I have learned that despite laws against killing birds, and even when we exclude those raised and killed for food by the poultry industry, millions of birds get killed yearly in the US. Some perish at the hands of kids with BB guns and adults with shotguns, some because of the destruction of the environment, others because of the use of glass in architecture in ways that disregard its deadly effect on our avian populations, but even more perish yearly because of domestic and stray cats. We need to find effective ways to reduce that high number. Protecting the birds allows us and future generations to have birds to enjoy.

Advocating for our avian friends is vital for their survival. To that end, the work of the Audubon Society is critical, and that is why I would like to become a member of the board. The young boy who was awed by the majesty and grace of the “Malfini” (hawks), the acrobatics of the tiny “Zwazo Mouch” (hummingbirds), the antics of the colorful “Ti Tchit” (warblers), and who was confused by the words of an American pastor, is today the adult, educator and photographer who is still amazed by these birds and talks about safeguarding all birds whenever he does a presentation in the US or in Haiti.

It will be an honor for me to join the Connecticut Audubon Society and continue this important work.

Elizabeth Ramsey
Manhattan, Fairfield

Work Experience
Project Manager
Columbia University Facilities, New York, NY, May 2006 – Present

Client liaison to the AVP of Operations, managing the Exterior’s Portfolio budget for the Academic Campus ranging from $3-$9M yearly. Attend executive level meetings to discuss the portfolio and the projects’ impact to the campus. Collaborate with stakeholders, communicate with other departments, and manage expectations.

Plan and manage multiple exterior construction projects that range in size and cost from $100K to $15M. Recent restoration project was awarded the Lucy G. Moses Preservation award. Projects include surveying and specification of exterior work including masonry repairs, waterproofing, site work, masonry cleaning, and selection of historically appropriate exterior elements. Work addresses items identified in FISP (LL11 reports), ADA Committee Requests, DOB violations and reported conditions throughout the Morningside Campus. Responsible for budget and scheduling of all phases, including collaboration with university clients, writing RFPs, coordinating consultants and secondary trades, composing tenant postings, reviewing replacement materials and mockups, and inspecting ongoing repair and restoration work.

Presented to the graduate students of the Historic Preservation Program, the function of the Exterior’s Group, both in the classroom and at job sites. Creating a relationship with the GSAPP program for future collaboration.

Conservator
Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation, New York, NY, September 2001 – September 2003

Worked on the design and construction phases of restoration projects. Responsibilities included: performing conditions surveys and on-site testing of historic fabric, laboratory analysis of building materials, research of architectural and construction history, preparation of repair recommendations and Historic Structures Reports, construction supervision and quality control.

Project Manager and Crew Supervisor, Monuments Conservation City Parks Foundation, New York, NY, June 1997 – September 2001

Served as head field Supervisor, managing teams of up to six members working on multiple sites simultaneously. As Supervisor ensured proper conservation of outdoor bronze and stone monuments, managed project schedules and staffing, and recruited and trained graduate school interns. Performed conditions surveys, researched conservation methods and materials for bronze and masonry, and created inventory of over 125 monument fragments.

Operations Manager of North America & Store Manager of the US Flagship Store
Links of London, New York, NY, October 2003 – May 2006

As Operations Manager, trained all US and Canadian employees on the use of the till and retail system from sales to reports, and improved inventory systems for all North American stores. As Store Manager, managed a team of full-time and part-time employees, oversaw the daily targets and tasks for the company’s US flagship store. Increased sales at the store by 40% the first year and 15% the following year by creating events and promotions to attract customers.

Professional Activities
Lecturer
Various Locations, New York, NY, December 1999 – November 2000

Lectured on monument conservation projects carried out by the City Parks Foundation Monuments Conservation Program, including two as a guest speaker for the FIT Conservation Program and one to a visiting conservation class from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts on site at The Soldiers and Sailor Memorial Arch.

Monumental Bronze Sculptor Apprentice
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY, 1991 – 1995

Learned skills in mold making, intense anatomy studies, the process of lost-wax bronze casting, patination, and creating personal bronze sculpture while apprenticing under sculptor Greg Wyatt.

Education
Columbia University, Master of Science, May 2010, Landscape Design Major
Fashion Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Fine Arts, May 1997, Restoration and Conservation Major Fine Arts Restoration Summer Program in Florence, Italy, June – July 1996

Kevin B. Ramsey
Manhattan, Fairfield

Experience
Technical Manager
American Sugar Refining, Inc.
August 2006 – Present
Manage the Corporate Quality laboratory in providing technical and analytical services for the Company, to sales, customers, and manufacturing
Coordinate and provide training programs and technical presentations for customers, staff, and sales force

Acts as a technical resource and advisor to company affiliates, subsidiaries, and academia on all products produced by ASR Group

Participates in the preparation and maintenance of product formulations and documentation (e.g. specification, nutritional, etc.)

Conducts internal food safety/quality assurance audits at all manufacturing locations (HACCP, GMP’s, pest control, product recall, production codes, finished product review/release, calibration of critical instruments, etc.) including internal and external facility sites

Assists in the development of food safety and food quality standards for ASR production sites

Assist Research and Development in both new products or product line extensions from laboratory through plant scale-up trials. Assists location startup and production QA/QC oversight at all domestic contract manufacturing locations

Director of Technical Services/ Technical Director/Specialty Sweeteners
CHR. Hansen, Inc. (American Sugar Refining, Inc.) August 2003 – August 2006

Manage all RDA functions in both new product development and existing product line extensions resulting in the introduction of an average of seven new products per year

Manage the laboratories in four different facilities providing technical services and analytical services for the Specialty Sweetener Group
Develop and provide technical presentations and training programs for customers, staff, and sales force

Direct all customer issues related to product quality and prepare the appropriate customer responses to help minimize product returns saving 200,000 USD annually

Construct the preparation and maintenance of all formulations and specifications for liquid molasses grain conversion, and dry sweetener products

Directed the testing of Specialty Sweetener products in an application laboratory and formulated the recipes for use by the marketing group resulting if five industry brochures

Travel to supervise the implementation of all new product plant trials at CHR Hansen and contract manufacturer facilities

Created multiple Organic grain conversion products through enzymatic conversion to maintain CHR Hansen as a market leader in the Natural Foods Market

Education
Bachelor of Science in Food Science
Rutgers University, Cook College, New Brunswick, New Jersey