Meet CJ!
CJ has a multi-decade background in education as a teacher of students in middle school, high school, and college. Departing the education sector for full-time non-profit efforts.
Currently, CJ is Executive Director / President of the Sam Shine Foundation. CJ was introduced to Sam Shine and the Foundation’s vision and mission in 2000. Since then, he has been working with the Foundation in some capacity, continuing to ensure the Foundation’s landscape-level conservation impact continues in perpetuity. CJ appreciates being able to continue informally teaching others through conservation-related programs in an effort to improve the land ethic of a larger citizenry while being a steward of Creation. Having his boots on the ground and hands on the gears of conservation is important to CJ. It’s critical to continue practicing the field tasks of conservation to directly gauge interactions.
CJ enjoys actively experiencing new natural areas with his family, spending time with family and friends, and following sporting events.
Meet Allen!
Allen Pursell is the Director of Forest Programs for the Sam Shine Foundation in New Albany, Indiana. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Forestry from Purdue University and previously worked for over 25 years for The Nature Conservancy in Indiana as Director of Forest Conservation. While there he was responsible for acquiring thousands of acres of land for conservation, and for promoting good forest management practices including the development of the Forest Bank and a “Forestry for the Birds” program for Indiana. He is a member of the advisory council of the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center at Purdue University, on the board of the Central Hardwood Joint Venture (a formal partnership for migratory bird conservation) and has been a guest lecturer at universities and other organizations on the subject of forest and wildlife conservation.
Meet Matt!
Matt’s career began with The Nature Conservancy in 1998 as a seasonal field assistant banding endangered birds and mapping their nesting habitat on the Fort Hood military base in central Texas as part of a joint project between the Conservancy and the Department of Defense. From there, he became the Preserve Manager for the Conservancy’s Texas City Prairie Preserve where he led habitat restoration efforts and worked closely with the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Recovery Team to track the population of this critically endangered species.
Matt came to work for the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 2001 as the North-Central Indiana Land Steward. He became a burn boss and led prescribed fire and invasive species control efforts across more than a dozen Nature Conservancy properties in that part of the state. He also led the on the ground prairie, wetland, and oak savanna restoration efforts at several sites across the northern part of the state. From 2015-2024, Matt served as the Director of Conservation Programs for the Indiana Chapter. In this role, he oversaw the science, land acquisition, and land management work of the Chapter and set much of the strategic conservation direction for a conservation staff of 35 people.
In 2024, Matt was hired by the Sam Shine Foundation as their Conservation Director and Bird Program Lead. In this role he leads a number of strategies related to bird conservation for species that are in decline. He coordinates with partners and researchers working to protect and restore habitat to benefit a number of target species across their range.
Matt is also an avid photographer and the author of Indiana State Parks: A Centennial Celebration, and Endangered and Disappearing Birds of the Midwest. He was recently asked to write the forward for the re-release of the classic work The Birds of Indiana,featuring the life histories of many of the bird species of the state as well as the artwork of William Zimmerman. Matt’s photographs have appeared in several other books and national magazines, including Bird Watcher’s Digest and National Wildlife. His newest book, Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia and the Southeast received the Thomas D. Clark award in 2024.
Matt and his wife Karyn have four children and live in Crawfordsville, Indiana where they enjoy kayaking along Sugar Creek, hiking at Shades State Park, and serving in their local church.
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