Speakers

Erik Hein

Executive Director, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO)

Erik Hein is the Executive Director of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), the national organization representing the State Historic Preservation Offices in every State, Territory and the District of Columbia before elected federal officials, federal agencies, national non-profits and the public. Before this position, which he has held since 2013, he was the President of Preservation Action, a national grassroots nonprofit organization focused entirely on federal historic preservation policy. Prior to that he held various positions at statewide, local and municipal historic preservation organizations and offices in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

A national leader in historic preservation, he currently also serves on the Boards of several nonprofit organizations including the Preservation Action Foundation, National Preservation Institute, National Preservation Partners Network, Preservation Delaware and the Lewes Historical Society.

In addition to extensive public policy and nonprofit experience, Hein’s background is in communications and architectural history. He studied 19th Century art and architecture at the Victoria University of Manchester, UK, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and a Master’s in American Studies/Historic Preservation from the George Washington University.

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Nakita Reed

Senior Director for Preservation Operations of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Nakita Reed is an architect and preservationist driven by the belief that existing buildings hold the key to addressing both the climate crisis and social inequality. She is Senior Director of Preservation Operations for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she strengthens preservation practice systems, supports strategic partnerships, and advances preservation education. With expertise ranging from National Register properties to Passive House certifications, Nakita helps building owners and developers recognize the potential of what already exists and navigate the real-world pathways to reuse, from performance goals to implementation. Through her work (including prior practice at Quinn Evans), the Tangible Remnants podcast, and board service with leading preservation organizations, she is committed to making sustainable preservation the standard, not the exception. As one of the few Black female architects working at this intersection, Nakita’s perspective informs every aspect of her work from project strategy to public speaking and mentoring the next generation. She believes historic buildings can be both culturally significant and high-performing, and that transforming existing places is essential to a more resilient future.

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Shaw Sprague

Vice President of Government Relations, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Shaw Sprague joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2012 and serves as Vice President of Government Relations, where he is a member of the executive leadership team and directs the organization’s federal advocacy strategy before Congress and the Administration. In this role, he leads a high-performing team and cultivates strategic relationships across government, nonprofit, and private-sector partners to advance a shared preservation agenda.

Shaw has a strong track record of building and managing broad-based coalitions that secure funding for historic preservation programs, strengthen state and federal incentives for building reuse, and elevate the role of preservation in addressing national priorities. His work emphasizes collaboration, aligning diverse stakeholders around policies that protect historic places and ensure their relevance for future generations.

Prior to joining the National Trust, Shaw advanced land conservation initiatives at The Trust for Public Land. He also served on Capitol Hill as a senior advisor to Senator Susan Collins, where he managed a wide-ranging policy portfolio including natural resources, trade, and judiciary issues.

Shaw holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, with a concentration in environmental, municipal, and land use law.

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Shannon Bremer

Shannon Bremer is a Historic Preservation Specialist for the New Jersey Historic Trust. She has overseen numerous grant-funded, preservation projects ranging from preservation plans and construction d...

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Andrea Tingey

Andrea Tingey is a Program Specialist 3 with the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office. Her current responsibilities include coordinating the New Jersey / National Register Program and the Cer...

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Michiel Brouns

Michiel Brouns is a heritage-building specialist, entrepreneur, and author whose work bridges traditional craftsmanship with modern performance standards in both historic glazing and natural paints. T...

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C. Aidita Milsted

Aidita currently serves as Director of Historic Preservation at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) where she is responsible for the implementation and management of Historic Preserv...

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Frank F. Caruso

Frank F. Caruso has served on the Burlington City Historic Preservation Commission since 2016 as and has held the position of Chair since 2023. Mr. Caruso is a local product of Burlington City and gra...

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Olivia VF Chaudhury

Olivia VF Chaudhury was born in New York and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She earned a B.S. Urban and Regional Studies and an M.A. Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University. Her research ...

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Darley Newman

Darley Newman is a creator, author, and explorer known for multiple Emmy Award-winning PBS series and her iHeart podcast. She’s blended world-record feats with bold, quirky adventures—from leaping off...

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Josephine T. Taranto

Josephine T. Taranto holds a dual bachelor’s of arts degree from Salve Regina University (Newport, RI) in Cultural & Historic Preservation and Art History. With a background in art history and a p...

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Steven Smolyn

Steven Smolyn is an architect and preservation consultant specializing in historic design guidelines, architectural surveys, and regulatory review for municipalities throughout New Jersey. He has auth...

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Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner

Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner founded Historic Building Architects, LLC, Trenton, NJ, an award-winning firm specializing in historic public buildings over 30 years ago. She was trained as a preservation...

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Richard Veit

Richard F. Veit, Ph.D. serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Monmouth University. An experienced academic leader, he previously served as Associate and Interim Dean of Mo...

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Steve Nagiewicz

Stephen Nagiewicz is a certified technical scuba diver, USCG Licensed Ships Master. He is a Fellow and former Executive Director of the Explorers Club, managed the State of New Jersey’s Marine Science...

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Wade Catts

Wade P. Catts is president of South River Heritage Consulting in Newark, Delaware and an adjunct professor at Rowan University. He is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA) specializing in hist...

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Jen Janofsky

Jen Janofsky, Ph.D. is the Giordano Fellow in Public History at Rowan University and Director of Red Bank Battlefield Park. She is the co-director of the Red Bank Archaeology Project which made headli...

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Michael Wierzbicki

Michael Wierzbicki is a Senior Project Officer within the Historic Preservation Department at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). Since joining the NJEDA in 2021, he has been invol...

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Deb Starker

Deborah Farrar Starker is the Executive Director of the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts (METC) in Madison. She also serves as the mayoral appointed Commissioner for Madison’s Downtown Development ...

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Dolly L. Marshall

As a native of Camden with ancestral roots stretching back to the 1840s, Ms. Marshall's family has deep ties throughout South Jersey. Dolly Marshall serves as the city’s Historian and Historic Preser...

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Denise Rompilla, PhD

Denise Rompilla, PhD is an interdisciplinary scholar, curator, and public historian specializing in women’s history, African American history, and historic preservation. Her work centers on archival r...

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Scott Gerlica

Scott Gerlica is a Program Specialist at the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, where he reviews projects for compliance with state and federal historic preservation regulations. His work focuse...

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Mark Nonestied

Mark Nonestied is the Middlesex County Historian and a Division Head with the Middlesex County Division of History and Historic Preservation. He oversees both East Jersey Old Town Village and the Corn...

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Richard W. Hunter

Richard W. Hunter, Ph.D., RPA, is the founder of Trenton-based cultural resources consulting firm, Hunter Research, Inc. He has over 40 years of experience directing historic preservation projects in ...

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Dr. Synatra Smith

Dr. Synatra Smith (Project Manager for the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail, New Jersey Historical Commission) is a cultural anthropologist exploring extended reality (XR) and other digital tools to en...

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Commissioner Marano

Currently serving on the 7th year as a Somerset County Commissioner, Ms. Marano previously served on the Green Brook Township Committee for 6 years including 1 as Mayor. She has served on the Cultural...

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John Boecker, RA

John Boecker is a registered architect and longtime member of the City of Cape May Historic Preservation Commission. He was closely involved in the development and implementation of Cape May’s Histori...

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Rachael Glashan Rupisan

Rachael Glashan Rupisan is a nonprofit executive and strategic leader working at the intersection of gender equity, art, culture, history, and civic engagement. As Executive Director of the Alice Paul...

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Angelica Diggs

Angelica Diggs is an experienced nonprofit professional specializing in history museums and archives. She began as Executive Director of the Montclair History Center in August 2022, and previously wor...

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Margaret M. Hickey, AIA

Margaret M. Hickey, AIA, serves as Principal Historic Preservation Specialist at Connolly & Hickey Historical Architects, an architecture firm based in Cranford, New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor o...

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Joe Macasek

Joe Macasek is President of the Canal Society of New Jersey and former President of the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology. He is an appointed member of the Morris County Herita...

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Ted Ritter

Ted Ritter is the External Affairs Manager for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. He represents the NJTPA at official meetings, conferences, and special events; develops creative vide...

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Mark A. Turdo

Mark A. Turdo has been a living history interpreter since he was twelve years old. Since then, he has interpreted the lives of soldiers, farmers, and missionaries at historic sites throughout the east...

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Ronald P. Rinaldi

Ronald P. Rinaldi is a historian and educator who has worked and studied American history for 50 years. He holds a B.A. degree from George Washington University in American Studies, an M.A. from Duke ...

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Larry Kidder

William L. (Larry) Kidder received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania and is a retired high school history teacher who taught for forty years in both...

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Glenn Ceponis

Mr. Ceponis is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Historic Trust overseeing the Trust’s mission of advancing historic preservation throughout New Jersey through its education, tourism, stewardsh...

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Marjorie Cavalier

Marjorie Cavalier is a resident of Red Bank and member of the Historic Preservation Commission. She led the subcommittee which developed the recently adopted Red Bank Historic Design Guidelines. ...

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Bill Marsch

Development Specialist with the Princeton Battlefield Society responsible for programming, operations, fundraising, and marketing. Primary annual programs include Experience the Battle of Princeton, ...

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Melanie Bump

Melanie Bump, Curator of Collections and Exhibits for the Morris County Park Commission (MCPC), oversees the interpretation of the MCPC's over 50,000 artifacts and curates exhibits for historic sites,...

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Christina Burris

Christina Burris has run the Architectural Conservation Laboratory at Historic Building Architects for more than 13 years. She also works as a project manager, performs conditions assessments, materia...

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Peter Galloway

Peter Galloway is a Clemson University graduate and Georgia-based preservationist with more than a decade of experience in historic preservation. He has led the restoration of numerous significant pro...

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Dominique M. Hawkins, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP

Dominique M. Hawkins, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP In 1995, Dominique established Preservation Design Partnership as a planning and design practice focusing exclusively on offering high-quality professional s...

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Kate Marcopul

Kate Marcopul is currently the NJ Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and the Manager of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office (NJHPO) where she oversees the programs of the NJHPO. The NJ...

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Francesca Costa

Francesca Costa is a Public Historian at the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey where she oversees the Interpretive Ranger Program, and the park website. Other duties include assisting with park ...

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Eric Nelsen

Eric Nelsen was hired as a seasonal employee at the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey in 1992. He earned a degree in English from Montclair State University in 1997, and the next year became a f...

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Chris Testa

Chris Testa is the civilian manager of the Hazard Mitigation Unit, which is housed within the Recovery Bureau of the New Jersey State Police. Chris coordinates Hazard Mitigation Planning at the local ...

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Cheryl Hargrove

Author, Instructor, and 40-year travel industry veteran, Hargrove is best known as the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s first Director of Heritage Tourism. During her tenure, Hargrove develo...

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Elizabeth Dowd

Elizabeth Dowd began her career in the 1990s in the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office as an Environmental Review Specialist and as a Preservation Planner in Greenville, NC. Upon return...

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Amy Curry

Amy Curry is the executive director of Morris County Historical Society (MCHS), a non-profit organization that owns and operates Acorn Hall. Since January, 2012, she has grown MCHS into a leading stat...

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Anne Motto

Anne Motto is F.M. Kirby Curator of Collections at Morris County Historical Society (MCHS) and serves as one of two senior staff in the organization. She joined MCHS in 2019 and as a result of her ach...

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Kathleen L. John Alder

Kathleen L. John Alder is an Associate Professor and a registered landscape architect with over twenty years of professional experience. She holds undergraduate degrees from Oberlin College and Rutger...

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Peter Viteretto

Peter Viteretto, Principal, PLA, FASLA, leads the Heritage Landscapes LLC office in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he has been directly involved in award-winning national and international landscape reha...

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Bruce Crawford

A graduate of Bucknell and Rutgers University School of Landscape Architecture, Bruce Crawford founded his own landscape design firm, Garden Architecture Inc., in 1983. While still managing his reside...

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Kathleen Humphreys

Kathleen “Katie” Humphreys has been the Registrar for the Morris County Park Commission (MCPC) since 2017, managing its historic artifact, image, and archival collections. She began her public history...

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Dr. Wanda Lundy

Rev. Dr. Wanda M Lundy - An ordained Presbyterian (USA) minister with 39 years of experience in pastoral, institutional, and academic ministry. She serves as adjunct faculty at Union Theological Semin...

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Will Krakower

Will Krakower is the Resource Interpretive Specialist at Princeton Battlefield State Park, acting as the chief historian and site manager since 2018. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA a...

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Rebecca Fitzgerald

Rebecca Fitzgerald serves as the Administrator of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s State Park Service, overseeing the management and operations of 39 state parks, 11 state fores...

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Anthony Angiolini

Anthony currently serves as the Chairman of the Montville Township Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), President of the Montville Township Historical Society, Trustee of the Boonton Historical Soc...

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Sister Noreen Neary

Having spent thirty-three years teaching chemistry and physics to young women, in 2012 Sister Noreen Neary accepted the position as the Director of Archives for the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabe...

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Margaret Kirby

Over the years Margaret Kirby has taught in three academies sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth. Additionally. she has served in two parishes as the Director of Religious Education ...

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