Our Board
George L. Ohrstrom II
Chairman, President, and Founder
With a passion for natural resource protection, George started The Downstream Project in 2007 to make a film about the history and problems of the Shenandoah River.
Robert N. Whitescarver
Secretary
Bobby retired from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2011 with 31 years of field experience. He continues his life’s work of restoring watersheds through his private consulting business, Whitescarver Natural Resources Management, LLC.
Follow Bobby at gettingmoreontheground.com
Dr. Tom Wood
Director
Tom is an associate professor and director of the Environmental Studies on the Piedmont program at George Mason University, a senior associate in the Science and Civic Engagement Initiative of the National Science Foundation, and founding director of the Smithsonian Mason Semester.
David Grant, CIC
Treasurer, Director
David is president and owner of Independent Insurance Center located in Leesburg, Virginia. The agency specializes in risk management and insurance for nonprofits and for-profit organizations. Commercial accounts range from local to multi-state exposures. The agency also specializes in personal and farm insurance, employee benefits and individual and business life and long-term care products.
With his wife Terrianne they live in western Loudoun and truly enjoy the quiet and beauty of the outdoors.
William R. (Bill) Howard
Executive Director
(2008 to present)
Bill Howard is the Executive Director of The Downstream Project, which provides creative technology and communication support to conservation groups. Bill is the driving force behind all Downstream projects, supervising a production team of six creative and technical professionals, and is the principal liaison with all project partners. Bill is an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman with over 30 years of experience in web, multimedia, and database development. Bill was a founding board member and past chairman of The Commons (formerly Chesapeake Commons), and is a founding board member of Conservation West Virginia. He lives on the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with his wife, Libby, who is the senior copy editor for Foreign Affairs magazine. He attended the St. Albans School in Washington D.C. and Tulane University (Biology). A charter member and past president of The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown, Bill is very active in the local nonprofit community.
