The Adkins Arboretum Board of Trustees has welcomed four new members. Jenna Ashley of Annapolis, Nancy Hickey of St. Michaels, Nancy Jane Reed of Centreville and Luther Tucker of Easton joined the Board at its January meeting.
A native of Queen Anne’s County, Ashley has a background in business, economics and nonprofit work. She is a partner in her family’s property management company, Ashley Land Company in Centreville, and is an active volunteer with the SPCA of Anne Arundel County. Hickey retired to St. Michaels following a career with Tiffany & Co. in New York City. She is a member of the Talbot County Garden Club and served as a Governor of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
Reed, a native Talbot Countian, has a longstanding relationship with the Arboretum. She served as president of the Friends of Adkins Arboretum in the Arboretum’s early years, and helped to institute the Arboretum’s first education initiative. She manages her family farm near Centreville and breeds Welsh and part bred ponies. Tucker is also a former Arboretum Board member. He holds a master’s degree in fisheries, has taught aquaculture, and coordinated a fisheries program in Cameroon, West Africa. He is president of the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation in Easton.
When electing new Arboretum Trustees, the Board also voted unanimously to elect Trustee Kathleen Carmean of Ridgely as the first Trustee Emeritus. Carmean has served on the Board since 1997 and most recently served as the Chairperson of the Arboretum’s Campaign to Build a Green Legacy. The $5 million Campaign supports the expansion of an environmentally sensitive Arboretum Center for the 400-acre garden and nature preserve, located adjacent to Tuckahoe State Park near Ridgely. The new facilities will host year-round programs and seasonal events promoting the conservation of the Chesapeake region’s native landscape and the value of sustainable ‘green’ living.
Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve at the headwaters of the Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County. Open year round, the Arboretum offers educational programs for all ages about nature and gardening. Through its Campaign to Build a Green Legacy, the Arboretum will build a new LEED-certified Arboretum Center and entranceway to broaden educational offerings and research initiatives promoting best practices in conservation and land stewardship. For additional information about Arboretum programs, visit www.adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.