Andy McDowell, vice president of field operations at Western Reserve Land Conservancy (Ohio’s largest land trust), has been appointed to the state of Ohio’s Farmland Preservation Advisory Board at the Ohio Department of Agriculture. He will serve a three-year term. At Western Reserve Land Conservancy McDowell provides direction and leadership of the Land Conservancy’s efforts in 12 counties.

 McDowell, 53, has worked at the land conservancy since 2006, overseeing conservation easements, land restoration and farmland preservation primarily in the organization’s western service area.

He graduated from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania with a degree in environmental education and began his career as a Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks naturalist. While at Slippery Rock he worked as an adjunct instructor, teaching courses on forestry and wildlife management. He later transitioned to the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, where he served as vice president of exhibits and building operations.

McDowell grew up working on his family’s farm in western Pennsylvania, which has helped him establish solid relationships with farmers across northern Ohio.