Meet Our Team
Our teachers are masters at crafting authentic learning experiences, from meeting with researchers at University of Maryland’s Horn Point oyster hatchery to reviewing upcoming agriculture legislation with Chesapeake Bay Foundation lobbyists in advance of meeting with state Senators.
John Lewis, Head of School
John Lewis has served as Gunston’s Head of School since 2010. During his tenure, he has sought to further enhance the school’s renowned Chesapeake Bay Studies Program, and he has overseen the development and implementation of the school’s first-ever Environmental Strategic Plan. He is also the founder and leader of the Environmental Leadership for Independent School Leaders conference.
Ronnie Vesnaver, Director and Humanities Instructor
Ronnie joins The Watershed Semester and Gunston from the Pennington School in Pennington, NJ where she taught and lived as a residential faculty member for five years. During those five years she taught United States History and Government for both middle school and upper school students.
Ronnie’s passion for the environment and sustainable practices is connected to her love for the water. Ronnie grew up near the water in southeastern Connecticut and was a frequent visitor of the Mystic Seaport Museum. Her time spent at the Seaport sparked an interest in maritime history. In her junior year of college, Ronnie attended the Williams-Mystic American Maritime Semester. During the semester program, Ronnie began to understand just how much maritime history was in fact environmental history. Ronnie has since been inspired to share, teach, and continue to learn about human interactions with the environment.
Ronnie is a graduate of Colby College in Waterville, ME where she majored in American Studies and Art History. In 2020, she earned her Master’s degree in environmental history from Rutgers University-Newark. In the summers of 2014 and 2018, Ronnie crewed for the schooner Mystic Whaler out of New London, CT and continues to make an appearance here and there when the ocean calls.
Mel Skirkanich, Science Instructor
Mel has always wanted to bridge the gap between the science community and everyone else, and education was the perfect way to do that. She firmly believes that in order to get people to care about the environment, we need to help people fall in love with the environment. After all, people protect what they love!
After graduating from Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Conservation, Mel immediately joined the outdoor education field, where seasonal jobs all around the country were the norm. From teaching ecology and recreation classes in Southern California, to catching and releasing native herpetology species in New York, to working with birds of prey in Vermont, Mel has had quite the experience! She eventually settled as a high school teacher, where she found (and confirmed) her favorite age group teaching environmental science and biology to students in Manassas Park, Virginia. While at Manassas Park, she was heavily involved in student leadership opportunities, sponsoring SGA as well as the Allies club and running a leadership program.
Advisory Board Members
Chris Cerino, Vice President Sultana Education Foundation, Mayor of Chestertown, MD
Susan Dillon, former Gunston Board of Trustees Chair, and board member of Women and Girls Fund of the Midshore
Rob Etgen, President, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Greg Farley, Director of University Sustainability, George Mason University
Alan Griffith, Honorary Trustee, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, CBMM Board member emeritus,
Mike Hardesty, Associate Director of Programs and Staff, Center for Environment & Society at Washington College
Joseph A. Janney III, CWS2 Parent
Betsy McCown, Director, Echo Hill Outdoor School
Jill Meyerhoff, Gunston Trustee, Semester School Parent
Nancy Nunn, Assistant Director, Harry Hughes Center for Agroecology
Mara Schmittinger, Gunston Trustee, Semester School Parent
Patrick Shoemaker, Chair, Gunston Board of Trustees
Jim Wright, Gunston Board of Trustees