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Our People

Meet Our Team

Emily Warner
Emily Warner, Executive Director

Emily Warner

Executive Director

Born and raised in West Virginia, Emily came to the Trust with fifteen years of land and water conservation experience. She served ten years with Potomac Conservancy, five years as the Senior Director of Land Conservation, where she helped landowners navigate the conservation easement process to protect thousands of acres in West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands and Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

Emily has also worked for The Nature Conservancy (Colorado), Hampshire County Farmland Protection Board (West Virginia), Chesapeake Bay Foundation (Pennsylvania), Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the Restoration Ecology Lab of Colorado State University.

Emily holds a Master of Natural Resources Stewardship degree from Colorado State University and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Allegheny College.

About her position, Emily says, “I’m thrilled to be protecting the land — and with it the creeks and crayfish, hay bales and barns, and forests, foxes and family stories –that I’ve loved since childhood. I’m excited to be part of this passionate, productive organization with an impressive record, solid strategic plan, and long history of understanding that land, water, and people are inseparably linked. I look forward to working with area landowners and our nonprofit, agency, and small business partners.”

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Marika Suval, Deputy Director

Marika Suval

Deputy Director

Marika brings a background in conservation planning, adaptive management, and communications to her role as deputy director. As a CCNet certified coach, she supported project teams and stakeholder groups in improving conservation outcomes through effective planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. She co-led the team that developed Conservation Essentials, a course that guides practitioners around the world to achieve their conservation goals using the Conservation Standards. She also serves as instructor of the course, offered through the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Prior to earning an MS in Environmental Conservation from UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Marika was a producer for Wisconsin Public Radio, a documentary filmmaker, and the founder of an environmental communications company that specialized in public engagement campaigns promoting sustainability. Especially rewarding were initiatives that empowered young people to reclaim urban green spaces.

When not working, she’s often found exploring wild places with her husband John, their cat Knox, and boxer pup Maggie, avid hikers all.

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Todd Brajkovich, Conservation Manager

Todd Brajkovich

Conservation Manager

Todd joined as Conservation Manager in February 2021. He brings nearly 30 years of experience in natural resources protection and conservation. He was most recently the Conservation District Manager for Perry County Pennsylvania, where he was instrumental in the preservation of more than 10,000 acres of land using public and private conservation easements. He was also the Coordinator for the County Farmland Preservation program and has expertise in nutrient management, soil erosion and stormwater control. Todd was one of the first Board members of the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy and served on the land protection committee for 20 years.

Todd and his wife Jane have been residents of Hampshire County since 2017.