Nominees
The following nominees were elected to join the Board of Directors during the October 11th Annual Celebration:
Mavis Gragg, Durham - Mavis is a “death and dirt” attorney and conservation professional with nearly twenty years of experience, dedicated to empowering generational, family real estate owners, particularly heirs’ property owners, with the knowledge and tools to sustain ownership and stewardship of their land. Her work highlights the critical role of heirs’ property in advancing affordable housing, rural and urban planning, climate resiliency, and equitable markets. By integrating strategies inclusive of natural resource conservation, Mavis champions innovative approaches to stabilizing family land ownership while promoting sustainable land use practices. As the CEO of HeirShares, Mavis is leading the development of groundbreaking technology to provide affordable solutions for intergenerational, family-owned real estate ownership. A 2024 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, she previously directed the eight-state Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program and managed The Gragg Law Firm, PLLC. Mavis has chaired the boards of the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Authority and the Triangle Land Conservancy land trust, reflecting her commitment to conservation leadership. In addition to her legal and conservation work, she is an art enthusiast and co-founder of Pop Box Gallery, a zero-commission art gallery in Durham, NC, where she also serves on the Nasher Friends’ Board and the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation Board.
Webb Fuller, Nags Head - Webb Fuller grew up in Ahoskie, North Carolina, and considers himself a lifelong resident of Northeastern North Carolina. He earned a degree in Forestry from NC State, as well as a Master’s in Public Administration. He is also a graduate of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. Fuller began his career as a policy analyst in the Secretary’s Office of the Department of Human Resources during the Holshouser administration. At the age of 26, he left that position to become the county manager for Currituck County. In 1982, he became the city manager of Nags Head, a position he held until his retirement in 2005. After retiring, he served one term on the Nags Head Board of Commissioners. In addition to his professional work, Fuller has served on numerous boards, including the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia for 10 years. He was a member of the North Carolina City and County Management Association and was president in 2021 and 2022. He also serves on the North Carolina Coastal Resources Advisory Council, where he has served twice as chairman and is currently serving as vice chairman. Fuller and his wife, Dorie, have three children and five grandchildren, all of whom reside in Dare County.
Linda Spencer Murchison, Wilmington – Linda is a retired licensed clinical social worker who worked for Lower Cape Fear Hospice for 20 years. During her years at hospice she was also a volunteer chaplain at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. She serves in lay leadership positions at her church in Wilmington. She and her husband Reid have served on numerous nonprofit boards in Wilmington and Wyoming. Linda is a past board chair of the Wyoming Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and currently serves as board chair for the Center of the West in Cody, WY. Linda previously served two 3-year terms on the Coastal Land Trust Board, including two years as President.
William Snyder, Topsail Beach – William Snyder is a professional forester with a Master’s degree in Forest Economics from Virginia Tech. He spent 39 years with International Paper Company until his retirement in 2019. During his employment, he held managerial positions in forest management, wood procurement, land sales and business support. During his career, William also served as Chairman for the Society of American Foresters at state and regional levels, served on various committees for the South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia Forestry Associations, served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee for the Virginia Forestry Association, and was appointed to The Virginia Board of Forestry and the Chesapeake Bay Advisory Committee. William’s first involvement with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust (NCCLT) was in 2002 when he oversaw International Paper Company’s first conservation easement with the NCCLT at Town Creek in Brunswick County. He later negotiated and closed land sales with NCCLT and the Nature Conservancy including Coharie Swamp, Angola Bay, Bear Garden and Juniper Creek. More recently, William was able to facilitate NCCLT’s acquisition of The South End at Topsail Beach. William is currently the Chairman of the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission and the Chairman of the Beach Inlet Sound Committee for Topsail Beach. William and his wife, Vicky, have been married 49 years (as of 2025) and have 3 children and 5 grandchildren.
The following nominees are slated to be re-elected for a second 3-year term during the October 11th Annual Celebration:
Merrie Jo Alcoke – Merrie Jo is a native and resident of New Bern, NC. She recently served as the Director of the Governor’s Eastern Office. Prior to that time, Merrie Jo was in private practice as an attorney with Ward and Smith, P. A. where she specialized in environmental matters, with a focus on coastal regulatory litigation, state and federal water quality permitting and enforcement, and land use planning. Merrie Jo spent most of her legal career in the N. C. Attorney General's Office where she served as a senior coastal attorney for the N. C. Division of Coastal Management. She has also worked as a certified mediator in N. C. Civil Superior Court. Merrie Jo is active in her community and is a past Coastal Land Trust Board member.
Ann Simpson, Chapel Hill – Ann grew up in rural Eastern NC and now lives in Chapel Hill where she works with moss+ross, a strategic consulting firm focused on nonprofits in the Triangle region. Ann has served in communications and fundraising positions with environmental organizations such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy and as executive director of North Carolina Catch, a nonprofit organization that supports local seafood promotion initiatives. She has also contributed original photography to four UNC Press book collaborations with her husband, Bland, most recently North Carolina: Land of Water, Land of Sky (Fall, 2021). She is a past president of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust Board of Directors and the NC Sea Grant Advisory Board. Ann is excited to serve on the Coastal Land Trust Board and continue to pursue her lifelong passion for protecting the natural landscape of coastal Carolina.
Mary Tillery, Raleigh – Mary is the Regional Manager for NC State Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) serving Central North Carolina, including Alamance, Caswell, Cumberland, Hoke, Montgomery, Orange, Randolph, Richmond and Scotland Counties. Prior to joining IES, Mary worked for Cape Fear Community College in customized training, partnering with NC Works and other economic development organizations to assess the needs of manufacturers and deliver on-site services and training. In addition, Mary has more than ten years of technical sales and support experience in telecommunications. Following her lifelong passion for the North Carolina coast, she is pleased to serve on the Coastal Land Trust Board of Directors.
Continuing Board Members
Lorrie Basnight, Greenville – Lorrie grew up in Chapel Hill but has spent summer days her whole life on the Pamlico River near Washington. Her family’s love of boating and the natural world, combined with many years as a camp counselor and scout, shaped her passion to preserve the coastal environment for future generations. Between 2011 and 2020, Lorrie was on the board of Sound Rivers, Inc., a nonprofit organization that guards the health of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River basins. For three of those years, she served as board president. Since 1995, Lorrie has been a pediatrician on the faculty at the Brody School of Medicine and currently serves as the Executive Director of Eastern Area Health Education Center, working to assure a strong healthcare workforce for rural and underserved areas. Lorrie has boated and camped all over eastern N. C. and enjoys birding, looking for wildlife, and basking in the richness of coastal black waters and swamps.
Bob Emory, New Bern – Bob retired in 2017 after a forty-five year career with Weyerhaeuser Company. He spent the last twenty years of his career as Weyerhaeuser’s Southern Timberlands Environmental Affairs Manager. Since 2018 he has served as a member of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission. He previously served as a member of the Coastal Resources Commission, from 1994 to 2014, including six years as Chairman. During his Coastal Resources Commission tenure he has been appointed by five different Governors of North Carolina. He has also served as Chairman of the North Carolina Forestry Advisory Council and has led the capital campaign to replace the pipe organ at Christ Episcopal Church in New Bern. Bob served prior terms on the Board of Directors for the Coastal Land Trust and served on the Coastal Land Trust’s “Your Land” capital campaign steering committee.
Ken Hines, New Hanover County – Ken has a forestry degree from NCSU and served as a Service Forester with the N. C. Forest Service in Rocky Mount. Ken then earned his MBA in Finance from UNC-CH and became a corporate banker. From 1990 – 2008, Ken was able to combine his forestry and finance backgrounds as the head of the forest products and timberland finance unit at John Hancock in Boston. He then led the Bond and Corporate Finance Group and was the first president of Hancock’s Renewable Energy Group. After retiring in 2013, Ken and his wife Cathy relocated to Wilmington. They are members at CCL and WUMC. Ken has done some consulting and has taught natural resource economics at NC State and Duke Universities. Ken currently serves as the Vice President of the Harrelson Center. Ken has served the Coastal Land Trust on the Strategic Planning and Land Protection Committees.
Hannah Holt, Wilmington – Hannah is strongly committed to the mission of land preservation and stewardship. She recently retired from Holt C-Stores, her family business of 33 years. She served as Director of Operations and as Secretary/Treasurer for the company’s three operating entities managing financial statements, future development, mergers and acquisitions, and stockholder relations. She has served on numerous local boards including the Coastal Land Trust Board of Directors with one stint as President. Hannah founded and has been the driving force behind the Holt C-Store Golf Tournament which has raised over $1M since 2013, benefiting both the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust and UNCW. Hannah’s long association with UNCW includes serving two terms on the UNCW Foundation Board and, in 2012, the establishment of the Holt Oil Fellowship in Public Administration dedicated to the memory of her late father, Charles B. C. Holt. Hannah has also served on the Airlie Gardens Foundation Board and she and her wife, Stephanie, were major donors for the Butterfly House at Airlie. Hannah earned her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1987.
Michael Murchison, Wilmington – Michael was one of the founding Board members of the Coastal Land Trust and has served the Land Trust in a number of capacities in the past, including as its President. He has a longstanding passion for and commitment to land conservation, as well as its cousin, historic preservation. A graduate of Amherst College and Cornell Law School, he has enjoyed a lengthy career as an attorney specializing in litigation, labor and employment and health care matters with the firm of Murchison, Taylor & Gibson, PLLC and, prior to that, as an attorney in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Historic Wilmington Foundation, the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees and the N.C. Center for Nonprofits. Michael and his wife, Barbara Sullivan, a noted garden author, live in a historic house in Wilmington, N.C. Michael is excited to return to the Coastal Land Trust Board and to be a part of its extraordinary work.
Yoshi Newman, Greenville – Yoshi is a Certified Nature and Forest Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. NFT is a practice that originated in Japan known as shinrin-yoku, which translates into forest bathing or taking in the atmosphere of the forest. A growing body of research indicates numerous health benefits associated with NFT. She has conducted walks with female veterans at Pamlico Rose Institute of Sustainable Communities in Washington, N. C. and works with Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network to serve with a team of amazing people around the world focused on exploring the relationship between nature and emotions. Yoshi has volunteered to assist with numerous Coastal Land Trust events prior to joining the Board of Directors.
Nick Parker, Wilmington – Nick has been with Live Oak Bank, a niche bank specializing in small business lending, for nine years. Nick currently serves as Vice President on the RV Park and Campsite Lending Team. He received his undergraduate degree from UNCW in Finance and Marketing and received his MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill. Nick currently chairs the Finance Committee and sits on the DEI Committee at the Coastal Land Trust. Nick is married to his wife Kendall, and they have a Golden Retriever named Teak.
Chad Pearson, CPF, Wilmington – Chad leads the Decision Point Wealth Management group in providing wealth management and succession strategies for small business owners and their families. He began his finance career with Merrill Lynch in NYC in 1992, after attending UNC-Chapel Hill’s Business School and the University of Manchester, UK. Chad has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) since 2004, and became a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) in 2018. Chad currently serves on the board of First Tee. He is a past board member of the Landfall Foundation Board and the NHRMC Foundation Board. He has served on the Coastal Land Trust’s Finance Committee for ten years.
Bill Rich, Ocracoke - Bill was born in Bethlehem PA in 1949, and his dad packed up and moved Bill and his brothers to Hyde County, N. C. when Bill was 12. The family purchased a nice hunk of Hyde County's black organic soil, drained it by gravity (no pumps), cleared it (in 1963, Bill got his first promotion from the root gang to driving the tractor), and the family eventually grew corn, soybeans, cattle, and hogs. Bill’s dad had a dream "FROM THE SUN TO THE STOMACH", and the family started a small chain of fast-food restaurants (four) called Farm Boys. They grew beef and pork and processed it all right on the farm. Bill completed his undergraduate degree at UNC-CH in 1972 and helped his brothers open The Rich Company in Washington, N. C. They specialized in selling and managing farmland in Northeastern N. C. and were totally in the middle of assembling First Colony Farms for Malcolm McLean (Bill’s brother Cy managed that) and were all over the European invasion in the 1970s selling Open Ground Farms to Italian investors and both selling and managing Japanese owned Shima America. Bill and his brothers took on the management of the 35,000-acre Mattamuskeet Farms for John Hancock Insurance and also teamed up with a German partner for the management of several German and one Austrian farm (Lux). There have been many ventures between then and now including Bill being the Hyde County manager for five plus years. Bill loves eastern N. C. and especially Hyde County. Bill and his wife Jennifer have been residents of Ocracoke Island for the last 18 years, and they both are great supporters of the Coastal Land Trust and all that it does.
Stan Riggs, Greenville – Dr. Stanley R. Riggs has been on faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University for 54 years; he served as distinguished Professor of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and as an East Carolina University Distinguished Research Professor (2000 to 2021). In 2022, Stan was the recipient of the Governor’s “North Carolina Award in Science” for significant contributions to the “Land of the Longleaf Pine”. In 2021, he was awarded the 2021 Francis Parker Shepard Medal for “Excellence in Marine Geology” in honor of the “founder of American Marine Geology” by the International Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM). Dr. Riggs received his B.S. degree from Beloit College (1960), M.A. degree from Dartmouth College (1962), and Ph.D. from the University of Montana (1967). Stan was awarded the Oliver Max Gardner Award for the University of North Carolina system faculty member who “made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race” (1983), has been a member (1978-1983) and Co-Director of the International Geologic Correlation Program 156 on Marine Mineral Resources (1984-1992), was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Senior Research Fellowship in Marine Science by the Australian Minister for Science (1986), and co-designed and co-directed a USGS-funded, multi-institutional, cooperative study on the origin and evolutionary history of the complex, world-class North Carolina coastal-marine system. He served on the NC Governor’s Committee on Marine Natural Resources (1970s), NC Mining Commission-Environmental Position (1979-1989), NC Coastal Management Commission’s Science Panel (1997-2016), and the NC Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change (2005-2011). From 2012-present, he established and directed North Carolina’s Land of Water (NC LOW), a nonprofit organization focused on implementing coastal-marine science in the public domain. Stan has spread the word on coastal dynamics and climate change through myriad book publications, hundreds of public lectures, workshops, reports and television documentaries.
Brian Rubino, Kitty Hawk – Brian resides in Kitty Hawk, Dare County, NC with his family. He received a BS and MS in geology from East Carolina University in 1997 and 2001 and is a Professional Geologist in N. C. (#1933). Brian’s professional career has primarily included private sector interdisciplinary environmental consulting with an emphasis on coastal natural resources. He has enjoyed working on coastal restoration projects where his role has involved management of stakeholder teams that include members of the general public, resource and regulatory agencies, local government, legislators and conservation groups.
Cheryl Bradley Smith, Pine Knoll Shores – Cheryl is National Accounts Manager at Armstrong World Industries. Her business career includes stints as Vice President for Strategic Planning at Hatteras Yachts and Director for Client and Market Development at NCSU’s Industry Expansion Partnership. She is Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Committee for the Town of Pine Knoll Shores and is active in the National Charity League having served as its President. She is a member of the state-wide Youth & Government Advisory Board, also serves on the Parent Advisory Committee, and is President of the Academic Booster Club at West Carteret High School. Cheryl has served two previous stints on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, most recently stepping down from the Board after concluding her second successive term in September 2023, as required by the organization’s bylaws. Additionally, Cheryl founded the Coastal Land Trust’s “Cycle for the Coast” bike ride and has served as a party host. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in marketing and accounting and received her MBA from Wake Forest.
Board of Directors – Bios Pro Forma FY2025-2026 09.10.25
