Please join us in welcoming Shaun Fenlon to the WPC team! Shaun comes to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, where he served as the Director of Land Acquisition and Planning. Previously, Shaun was Acting Director of the Rural Legacy Program and served as Senior Counsel at the Department of Natural Resources. Now, as Vice President for Conservation Programs at WPC, Shaun will provide oversight to our Natural Heritage, Conservation Science, Watershed Conservation and Laurel Highlands programs. Shaun is filling a WPC post that has been vacant since January 2008.

“I am eager to begin working for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy," said Shaun. "It was always my career goal to join a top nonprofit organization that protects and restores our natural heritage while connecting people to the natural world. With its uniquely broad range of programs, from its conservation programs to the renowned Fallingwater, I think the Conservancy is more than I could have hoped for. I look forward to adding to an already remarkable organization.”

Shaun has extensive experience working with conservation programs and organizations similar to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. In his career, he has advised state bodies that oversee zoning overlays for tidal regions, and he has worked in cooperation with the staff of the Park Service, Forest Service and Wildlife and Heritage Service. Shaun played an integral role in changing how the state of Maryland determines its own priority conservation regions. While working with the governor of Maryland and with the state’s Department of Natural Resources, Shaun successfully implemented the reorientation of the state's land acquisitions toward ecological protection, and developed an objective ranking system for grant applications.

Shaun also has experience managing grant programs for community parks, and has worked closely with staff of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to administer GIS data. He’s acted as both the governor's representative to the Maryland Environmental Trust and the representative for the Department of Natural Resources while appearing before the Board of Public Works. This board is a public body that includes high-ranking state officials such as the governor, treasurer and comptroller, whose combined actions approve contracts, land acquisitions and large-scale environmental projects.