Staff

Brian Buzby, Executive Director
brian[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 100
Brian Buzby is Executive Director of the North Carolina Conservation Network. Since joining the NC Conservation Network as the initial staff person in 1999, he has directed the organization’s growth to include ten full-time staff working to bring together a network of over 120 North Carolina environmental, community, and environmental justice organizations as well as over 13,000 citizens to protect North Carolina’s air, water, and quality of life. He sits on the Board of Directors of the NC Center for Public Policy Research. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the State Environmental Leadership Program, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits and numerous nonprofits. Brian received his BA in Environmental Policy from Ithaca College and a certificate degree in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. He was also a 2006 American Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund. In his free time, Brian enjoys spending time with his children and playing music.

Dan Conrad, Legislative Counsel
dan[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 107
Dan Conrad joined the NC Conservation Network in May 2009. Mr. Conrad holds a law degree with honors (2009) and a BA with highest honors in Economics (2001), both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also is a member of the North Carolina State Bar. Before joining the NC Conservation Network, he worked full time in the summer and part time while in law school for the NC General Assembly Research Division (2007-2009) working primarily on environmental legislation. He also worked as a legal intern at the Natural Resources Defense Council (2008) and the US Department of Justice (2008.) Prior to law school he worked as an economic analyst for a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. and thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.

Mindy Hiteshue, Business Manager
mindy[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 102
Ms. Hiteshue joined the NC Conservation Network full time in January of 2002 but has been working with the NC Conservation Network since May of 2000. Ms. Hiteshue graduated from NC State University (NCSU) in December of 2001 with a BA in Spanish Language and Literature and a certification in Business Spanish. She is currently working on her certificate degree in Nonprofit Management from Duke University, serves as Board Chair for Toxic Free North Carolina, and has done volunteer work with other organizations including the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation and El Pueblo.

Brittany Iery, Public Alert Organizer
brittany[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 108
Brittany Iery joined the NC Conservation Network’s staff in August 2010. She received her BA in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in December of 2006. Prior to coming to the NC Conservation Network, she spent two years with the New River Foundation as their Outreach Director under the highly successful Project Rainmakers program. While in college Brittany was an intern with Cape Fear River Watch where she planned an environmental education summer camp for youth and worked with fellow students to create a proposal on the effects of C8 contamination from a local manufacturing plant.

Grady McCallie, Policy Director
grady[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 101
Grady McCallie started as the NC Conservation Network's Policy Analyst in December 2000. Mr. McCallie holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley (1993), and a BA in History and Economics from Yale University (1990). Before joining the NC Conservation Network, he worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (1994) in Annapolis and the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, D.C. (1994-2000), as a wetlands policy analyst and lobbyist. He has also worked and written on agricultural conservation, water quality, and water quantity issues.

Stephanie Schweickert, Affiliate Organizer
stephanie[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 103
Stephanie Schweickert joined NC Conservation Network’s staff in August 2011. She received a degree in sociology from Ohio University in 2007, where she also studied history and received a certificate in the Global Leadership Center program. Prior to joining NC Conservation Network, Stephanie served a summer AmeriCorps term at a shelter for the rural homeless and worked as the Outreach Coordinator at the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation, as part of Project Rainmakers. Stephanie also volunteers for local organizations and tutors refugee families in English.

Nicole Stewart, Development Director
nicole[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 105
Ms. Stewart began working with the NC Conservation Network in September of 2003. Ms. Stewart graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) in May of 2003 with a BA in Environmental Studies. While at UNCW, Ms. Stewart held a leadership role in the Environmental Concerns Organization and the Student Government Association. Ms. Stewart recently served on the Board of the North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections and currently serves on the Board of the beehive collective, a giving circle in downtown Raleigh.

Peter Walz, Organizing Director
peter[at]ncconservationnetwork.org, 919.857.4699 x 106
Peter Walz joined the NC Conservation Network’s staff in December 2005. He received his degree in International Studies from Miami (Ohio) University in 1996. Prior to coming to the NC Conservation Network he spent almost seven years as a community organizer with Democracy North Carolina, organizing for campaign finance and voting rights issues in the state. He also spent two years working with at-risk youth as a counselor-teacher in an Eckerd Youth Alternatives wilderness camp in Surry County, North Carolina.

Greg Lytle, News Digest Editor
newsdigest[at]ncconservationnetwork.org