Wilderness Center names next executive director

The Wilderness Center announced it has named Jeanne M. Gural as its next executive director, effective Nov. 18. Gural will be responsible for direction of TWC’s education, conservation and community programs, reporting to the board of directors.

Gural joins TWC from the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, New Jersey, where she served as executive director since 2009. Situated on 171 wooded acres on the edge of the New Jersey Pinelands, Cedar Run includes the Woodford Nature Center, an outdoor Wildlife Housing Area with more than 60 native residents and a Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital.

“Jeanne Gural is an outstanding education, conservation and operational leader,” said Richard J. Shernit, TWC board president, “and she brings a wealth of experience and energy to the TWC executive director role. We are proud of what TWC has accomplished since its founding 55 years ago, and we are confident that Jeanne will make important contributions to our continued growth and success in the coming years.”

Gural will lead the expansion of TWC programs to a wider and more diverse audience throughout Wayne, Holmes, Stark and Tuscarawas counties while also seeking outreach opportunities through community partnerships. Under her direction TWC will enhance the health of the Killbuck and Sugarcreek watersheds through conservation easement agreements with landowners and increase community access to natural lands through the acquisition of ecologically significant properties.

Gural will oversee the completion of ecological restoration projects on multiple TWC properties, improving the health of those ecosystems, the wildlife living there and the surrounding communities. Additionally she will guide the continued growth of the Foxfield Preserve conservation burial ground and TWC Consulting Forestry. Through these TWC initiatives, Gural will influence a shift to more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices throughout Ohio and beyond.

“The Wilderness Center is known as a forward-thinking, high-impact organization, and I am thrilled and honored for the opportunity to join the team,” Gural said. “Connecting others to the natural world and protecting those resources for future generations can be challenging, inspiring and life-changing for all involved. I look forward to working with the staff, board, volunteers and members as we explore together what TWC’s role can be in our shared community. There is a lot to learn, and that is exciting.”

Prior to joining Cedar Run, Gural served as director of preserves and facilities at The Nature Conservancy and as habitat restoration program manager at Rutgers University. Gural holds a Bachelor of Science degree in organismal biology and biological anthropology from Pitzer College in Claremont, California and has completed graduate work in ecology, plant identification, wildlife ecology and habitat restoration.