Board of Directors

Richard C. Cotton is the Managing Partner of Hawk Pointe Golf Club and Asbury Farms Real Estate Development.  A fourth generation area resident, Richard has spent most of his professional life land planning, serving agricultural organizations and effectuating a balance between economic development and environmental conservation in the community.

Tish is retired from a career in corporate environmental health, safety and sustainability with Fortune 50 companies across aerospace, automotive, chemical, medical, consumer, and pharma manufacturing. This diversity provided a perspective on environmental leadership.

Michael Fox lives in Holland Township with his wife and two daughters just over the hill from the scenic Musconetcong River Valley. He has been with AT&T since 2000 and currently working as a program manager for AT&T's FirstNet program. He has experience in sales, finance and operations.

Sam was born and raised in Hackettstown, NJ and became interested in pursuing a career in environmental science when she sampled the Musconetcong River on a high school field trip. Sam began volunteering with the MWA as a River Watcher in 2019 while a student at Centenary University and fell in love with sorting and identifying macroinvertebrates!

John Petrolino is an attorney licensed in New Jersey and has practiced as in-house counsel in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector for more than 20 years; he is currently the General Counsel at Knipper Health. John lives in New Brunswick where he has served on the planning board and acted as the Chair of the New Brunswick Environmental Commission.

Mary Paist-Goldman is a licensed Professional Engineer specializing in water resources with more than 20 years of experience working in river restoration, wetland restoration, and dam removal.  Mary has been actively involved with the Musconetcong Watershed Association for nearly 15 years through her work from Princeton Hydro, LLC.

Ray is returning to the Musconetcong since first conducting water quality monitoring in 1977 as a student. Samuel Faust, PhD, was a gentleman farmer along the river in Changewater and Ray’s advisor at Cook College. Dr. Faust secured funding to start an aquatic testing lab in the Lebanon Township building.

Claire Fly is a HS junior at the Environmental Sustainability and Engineering Academy. Her love of environmental policy and water conservation began at the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment where she was a delegate representing her high school and in Biscayne Bay Florida.

John is excited to join the MWA Board. He comes to us with a Bachelor of Science in agronomy from Missouri State University and a Master of Science from the University of Missouri. He has worked in federal conservation program delivery and is now offering conservation assistance by private practice, Kluthe Environmental Solutions: to Agricultural and Natural Resource Problems

Bill Leavens actively farmed in the Musconetcong Valley in Asbury in the 1980's.  During that time he developed a growing appreciation of the scenic beauty of the area.  He was one of the early trustees of the Musconetcong Watershed Association.  Through that experience he became ever more concerned about the environmental threats to the river and surrounding area.

Beth Styler Barry is the Director of River Restoration at The Nature Conservancy. She has 18 years’ experience in river restoration, water quality monitoring, community outreach, and project management. Beth co-leads the NJ Statewide Dam Removal Partnership.

Oliver became an early outdoors enthusiast as a boy in England, and after emigrating to New Jersey in 1995, has persued membership active membership in environmental groups such as NJ Audubon, National Audubon Society, New Jersey Mycological Society and Western New Jersey Beekeepers' Association.

Kevin Murphy is an attorney with 25 years experience licensed in four states and currently Vice President and Counsel with one the largest global property and casualty insurance companies.  His legal expertise includes litigation, employment law, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.  Prior to his current role...