by: Jane Ahrens
photo credit: Ely Cervantes

The Board of Trustees of Fishers Island’s H.L. Ferguson Museum announced on December 23 that Elizabeth McCance has been unanimously elected as the President of the Museum, effective immediately. She graciously accepted her new position.

The Museum’s Director Pierce Rafferty noted, “Penni Sharp had indicated to me several weeks before she died that she thought that Elizabeth would be a good choice as her successor. Elizabeth’s education and experience in the environmental field was of great interest and very important to the Museum’s mission. Strikingly, the Executive Committee came to the same conclusion and unanimously agreed that Elizabeth had the experience and interests to admirably fill the position. We all welcome Elizabeth and wish her well.”

Elizabeth joined the H.L.F. Museum Board in 2006. She has served on various committees including heading the leadership gifts effort to finish the Museum’s second floor space, which is under construction this winter.

In accepting her new role Elizabeth wrote, “I am very honored to be selected for this important position. It will be difficult to follow Penni’s remarkable leadership, but I look forward to working with the Board to help the Museum flourish in all its mission areas.”

Dr. McCance’s higher education began at Yale University where she earned her B.S. in Biology in 1989. She continued her studies as a graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park where she received a M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development in 1992. In 2004 Elizabeth completed her Ph.D. at the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth joined Chicago Wilderness in 1996 as the Science and Land Management Teams Coordinator where she led the science and land management teams through a process to develop a regional recovery plan for biodiversity. In 2002 she was named their Director of Conservation. Chicago Wilderness is a consortium of more than 150 organizations (non-profit, government agencies, and for-profit) working together to conserve and protect the natural areas in the greater Chicago region. Her work primarily involved strategic planning, managing the network, and managing collaborative projects.

Prior to joining Chicago Wilderness, Elizabeth worked for the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Species Survival Commission, where she helped to administer an international network of 8,000 volunteers.

As a Project Manager for Criterion Ventures, a company that specializes in launching social ventures, Elizabeth worked on a project to help prevent people from going into debt trying to pay the uncovered costs of healthcare. She also worked on a business incubator in Miami that helped develop non-profits in the area.

Elizabeth was formerly adjunct faculty at Sacred Heart University, where she taught both master’s students and undergraduates. Courses ranged from environmental management to field ecology. She is now a full-time assistant professor at Norwalk Community College teaching environmental science and general biology. She is also starting a degree program in environmental management at Norwalk Community College.

A Board member of The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut since 2013, Elizabeth is a resident of Westport, CT and enjoys her summers at Fishers Island with her two young daughters.