Our Board

Wendy Cohen (at-large)

Wendy has lived in Holmes Run watershed for almost 30 years. She is a retired Resource Teacher for Gifted from the Arlington Public Schools and a Fairfax Master Naturalist. Upon retiring as a teacher, she worked for a year at Clean Fairfax, heading up its Clean Streams Initiative. She currently participates in stream cleanups, invasive plant management, tree plantings with Fairfax ReLeaf, and educational programs at Hidden Oaks Nature Center. She is the co-chair of the Climate Action Circle at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church and has organized monthly “learn and act” sessions for the Northern VA Jewish community.

Dave Dexter (Alexandria liaison)

Dave, a longtime resident of Alexandria's West End, co-founded the Friends of Dora Kelley Nature Park with his wife, Joyce, in 1998. Under their leadership the Friends group developed a base of more than 40 civic-minded volunteers who collaborate with the City’s Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center on biannual park cleanups, invasive plant removal, tree planting and annual amphibian/wildlife initiatives. After retiring from the Federal Government in 2002, Dave served two six-year terms on Alexandria’s Parks and Recreation Commission and chaired the City’s Base Realignment and Consolidation (BRAC) Advisory Group. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Seminary West Civic Association. For several years he was a volunteer in Fairfax County’s Pets on Wheels program, visiting memory care patients in local area nursing homes and senior day care centers with his German shepherd, Shelby.

Donna Jacobson   (treasurer)

Donna is a Certified Public Accountant with a Masters of Science in Accounting. Donna helped form Friends of Holmes Run as an outgrowth of her role as a civic-minded longtime citizen of Mason District in Fairfax County. Donna is deeply concerned about how land use and zoning decisions in Fairfax County affect both communities and the environment. She has been President of Lafayette Village Community Association in Annandale, VA since 2018.

George Lamb   (secretary)

George lives in Sleepy Hollow and has been a Fairfax environmental activist for many years.  He started as a volunteer with the Sierra Club, then served as Mount Vernon Group Political chair and Virginia Chapter Political Chair.  He was appointed to the Fairfax EQAC by Gerry Connolley in 2008 and continues as an at-large member and author of the Land Use Chapter of the EQAC Annual report.  He served for five years on the Tysons Task Force, helped found the Fairfax League of Conservation Voters, and in 2010 he was appointed as a Director of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District.  He then served 2 terms as an elected Director of NVSWCD, stepping down to an Associate Director role in 2019.  He is thrilled to be associated with the Friends of Holmes Run, although technically his backyard flows into Tripps Run.  Together we can continue to improve our watersheds and conservation practices across Fairfax County.

Sarah McGowan (at-large) 

Sarah became a charter member of Friends of Holmes Run after years of working around the edges to improve her portion of the watershed as a conscientious homeowner, civic association leader, longterm volunteer, Invasive Management Area (IMA) site leader and parks instructor. The first part of her career focused on youth development and volunteerism, including 13 years working with underserved youth and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Many of the projects she organized for youth were environmentally focused and she has a special interest in plants (both edibles and natives). She is a Virginia Master Naturalist and Certified Interpreter, putting those skills to work at such sites as Riverbend Park where she served as a naturalist. Sarah also served on Raymondale Civic Association board, where she chaired the neighborhood's Environmental Stewardship Task Force focusing on protecting neighboring Holmes Run. 

Sarah sees Friends of Holmes Run as an opportunity to get kids excited about the wonderful wetland resources that are in their own backyard, with the hope that some of those kids will become future environmental stewards. Sarah has a degree in Anthropology and an MSW from the University of Notre Dame and Boston College respectively.

Whitney Redding (primary conservator)

Whitney came by her interest in the protection of the Holmes Run watershed as a homeowner who lives next to the Stream Valley and has observed many changes accelerated by the forces of urbanization and climate change over 20 years. Whitney’s vision in co-founding Friends of Holmes Run is to connect local property owners and civic groups who are motivated to protect the Holmes Run watershed but have no real knowledge on how to go about it, with experts who understand the challenges of the watershed on both a micro and macro scale. 

Whitney is the longtime president of Raymondale Civic Association where her focus has been on building community through shared environmental stewardship. She was a member of the countywide working group that created the county's first longterm plan to address climate change in Fairfax County (CECAP) and is in the Climate Resilience working group. Whitney’s professional background includes journalism, crisis communications and public relations for nonprofit organizations. She is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist and a Tree Rescue trainer for FCPA. 

Steven Temme (at-large)

Steve is a landscape designer who has followed his passion for understanding and realizing the essence of place. This takes the form of design in collaboration with natural systems and processes, striving to enhance the inherent qualities present in every space. His design intent finds projects like vacant land recovery and addiction recovery centers by creating immersive sensory experiences. He is a forerunner in the field of sound mapping over landscapes that includes original musical compositions paired with original landscape design. He received his training in design and ecology from The George Washington University.

Steven’s understanding of movement and rhythm of form and line as design principles grew naturally out of his 20-year solo and collaborative career as a professional instrumentalist in fine ensembles such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra and the U.S. Marine Band from stages ranging from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Royal Albert Hall in London. He received his musical training at the renowned Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University and the Cergy Conservatory in Paris, France; formations that deeply inform his physical work in the landscape today.