About Us

Ken Smith, Executive Director
Prior to joining Audubon in 2001, Mr. Smith served as Assistant Secretary for U.S. Fish Wildlife and Parks. Mr. Smith also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton and Secretary Bruce Babbitt in the U.S. Department of the Interior. As Assistant Secretary, Mr. Smith was responsible for developing policy of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the Interior Department, Mr. Smith was instrumental in establishing several new national wildlife refuges, one of which is the Pond Creek Bottoms National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Arkansas. In 1997, Mr. Smith returned to Arkansas for a year where he served as Director of the Ozark Natural Science Center. From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Smith served Governors Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker as Assistant for Natural and Cultural Resources. Earlier, Mr. Smith established the first office of the Nature Conservancy in Arkansas and served as Program Coordinator for the Natural Heritage Program. Mr. Smith holds a B.S. degree in Biology and Chemistry and an M.S. degree in Biology. He can be reached at kensmith@audubon.org.

Ellen Fennell, Director of Development
Ms. Fennell joined Audubon in 2002, bringing 19 years of experience, working for environmental and agricultural non-profit organizations in the fields of fundraising, program development (community development and income-generation) and public relations. Prior to joining Audubon Arkansas, Ms. Fennell headed her own consulting firm in non-profit board development and fund raising. During her career, Ms. Fennell has served in directorial positions in fundraising, grants writing, public relations and program planning for Heifer International, Winrock International and The Nature Conservancy's Arkansas Field Office. Ms. Fennell holds a B.A. in English from Rhodes College. She can be reached at efennell@audubon.org.

Mary Miller Smith, Director of Education
Ms. Smith joined the Audubon Arkansas team in 2000, and works with students across Arkansas to connect schools and local communities with nature. One of her primary projects is The Common Ground Education Initiative, a partnership between Audubon Arkansas and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, which focuses on project-based learning, field science, leadership, technology, and service learning. Prior to working in Arkansas, she worked in Washington, D.C., where she directed environmental education policy for the National Audubon Society and served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Education. She has worked as an administrator and teacher for over 23 years in Arkansas schools, served as director of Wilderness Writers at the Ozark Natural Science Center and developed Farmstead, an educational restoration of an 1897 home and farm. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English, and a M.Ed. in Gifted and Talented Education. Ms. Smith can be reached at marysmith@audubon.org.

Dan Scheiman, PhD, Director of Bird Conservation
Dr. Scheiman became Audubon Arkansas' Director of Bird Conservation in April of 2005. He was supported by the South Shore Audubon Society when he was a fledgling birder in New York. More recently, he was supported by the Amos W. Butler Audubon Society while completing his Ph.D. in Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. “Now”, says Dr. Scheiman, "It is my turn to give back to the organization that gave me so much." He holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University, and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Scheiman has over ten years of experience conducting bird research. He can be reached at dscheiman@audubon.org.

Kevin Pierson, Director of Conservation
Kevin Pierson is Audubon Arkansas' Director of Conservation. Mr. Pierson manages conservation work across the state with special emphasis on protecting environmental resources in urban and suburban areas. Prior to Audubon, Mr. Pierson was an Associate at an environmental consulting firm and worked for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Kevin graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Masters Degree in Ecology in 1997. Kevin has published work in the areas of endangered species management, water quality, river ecology, and environmental planning. Mr. Pierson can be reached at kpierson@audubon.org.

Johnnie Chamberlin, Assistant Director of Conservation
Mr. Chamberlin joined Audubon Arkansas in September 2005 and works primarily on Audubon's Fourche Creek Watershed Initiative. He returned to Little Rock from Durham, North Carolina. There, he conducted bioremediation research and taught a biotechnology lab while earning his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University. Mr. Chamberlin enjoyed hiking and kayaking around Little Rock before getting paid to do so. He can be reached at jchamberlin@audubon.org.

Brent Kelley, Field Programs Coordinator
Mr. Kelley joined Audubon Arkansas in September 2006. A native Arkansan, Mr. Kelley received his undergraduate degree in Botany from the University of Arkansas in 2001 and his Master’s degree in Forest Entomology in 2006. As Field Programs Coordinator for Audubon, Mr. Kelley coordinates and manages all field projects within the Fourche Creek Watershed Initiative Grant, including stream-bank stabilization projects, reforestation efforts, water quality sampling and analysis, and storm water control projects. In addition, he manages the field portion of the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) in which Audubon partners with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to put non-productive farmland back into its natural forested state. In his spare time, besides playing the guitar and mandolin, Mr. Kelley enjoys canoeing, backpacking, and mountain biking with friends and his Border Collie, Chassis. He can be reached at mkelley@audubon.org.