Elizabeth grew up on an island in New York City and enjoyed spending time in the summers at her grandmother’s home on Muscongus Harbor in Bristol. She has a PhD in Microbiology and worked for five years in Switzerland before moving to Maine in 1992 to take a job at IDEXX labs developing tests for drinking water and food testing. She subsequently shifted to academia to teach at Southern Maine Community College where she started the Biotechnology program.
Elizabeth has extensive board service having served as board chair for both Portland Trails and the Appalachian Mountain Club. She is a former board member of the Biotechnology Association of Maine (BioME), the Conservation Law Foundation, and the Northern Forest Center. She was appointed by the governor to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection and served two terms from 2005-2013.
Elizabeth is a Registered Maine Guide and enjoys many other outdoor pursuits, including sea kayaking, cross-country skiing, hiking and cycling. She has guided trips for several organizations including L.L. Bean, Maine Audubon, and the WoodenBoat School. In 2021, she was the first to complete the “Pemaquid Peninsula Preserve Challenge,” hiking all 35 public walking trails on the Pemaquid peninsula.
