Board & Staff

Rob Carr resides in Saranac Lake, NY and has close to 15 years of experience in writing, design and planning including: exhibit planning & design, graphic design, program management, facilitation, master site planning, interpretive programming, evaluation, interpretive writing, interpretive programming, grant writing, visitor services management and training. He started Darwin Design in 2015, and now works full-time as a freelance interpretive specialist and designer. His clients include Vail Resorts, The Wild Center, The Adirondack Foundation, St. Lawrence College and many others. Rob’s design and development projects range from ad design and branding to $25 million capital exhibit projects.

Prior to this, Rob worked as the Exhibits and Interpretive Programs Manager at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY, and before that, directed the on-site education at the International Crane Foundation’s world headquarters in Baraboo, WI. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from Susquehanna University and a master’s degree in Environmental Interpretation from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Rob is also a Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG), Trainer (CIT) and Host Trainer (CIHT) through the National Association for Interpretation.

Deborah (Deb) Roddy has lived in the Saranac Lake area for most of her adult life, after coming to the Adirondacks for vacations and summers as a child and attending college at St. Lawrence University. She has raised 3 children here and, during that time, was a stay-at-home mother for 9 years and struggled somewhat to find play groups for socializing and winter-time activities when cabin fever set in. This project speaks to her both personally and professionally. She is a certified special education teacher and has worked with children of all ages who had various disabilities, but primarily with those in Early Intervention and preschool programs.

For the past 10 years, she had been the director of the Adirondack Arc’s Children’s Corner Program, having obtained her education administrator certification in 2009. She has also served on the board of the Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country for many years. Recently retired, she comes to this board firmly committed to the importance of play for children as well as knowledge of developmentally appropriate and inclusive activities.  She has worked closely with many families with young children, running a playgroup for several years, and recognizes the challenges that living in our rural community can bring.

She does love all the opportunities to recreate in the area’s forests and lakes, however, and she and her husband enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, and cross-country skiing.

Katherine (Kat) Haney moved to Saranac Lake in 2005 but has been a lifelong resident of the North Country. She has devoted the last 14 years to students and teachers, first as library media specialist at Petrova Elementary School and more recently as school coordinator for the North Country Healthy Heart Network. Kat believes that supporting our youth is one of the biggest contributions we can make towards society and is very excited to be working to bring more health and educational resources to kids in local communities.

She graduated from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam with a BS in Music Education and holds a Library and Information Science from the University at Buffalo.

In her free time she enjoys reading, jigsaw puzzles, cooking, spending time with her husband, two daughters, and cat and trying to clock as many running miles as possible.

Brandy Hobson is a business manager with over twelve years experience in finance, operations, and Human Resources. A large part of her career was in the non-profit sector including seven years at North Country School.

Brandy is currently the operations and finance manager for the non-profit advocacy group, ANCA, and Treasurer of the Board for Bluseed Studio.

Stacy is a founding Partner of Fitzgerald & Sadove PLLC. She works with families of children with special needs advocating for students to obtain an appropriate public education and necessary related services as well as assist families with specialized estate planning. She received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. from Hamilton College. 

Stacy resides with her husband and three children in Westchester, New York. They spend their summers and many weekends in Saranac Lake, NY where they enjoy playing on the lake and engaging in all types of outdoor activities.

Stacy is an active supporter of the Adirondack Carousel, Adirondack Foundation, and The Wild Center.

Molly Shubert Hann is an associate attorney with Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & McArdle, LLP, in Tupper Lake, New York, practicing in the areas of real estate, estate planning and probate, corporate law, municipal law, and workers’ compensation. Prior to graduating from Vermont Law School in 2012, Molly worked as an environmental educator in the Hudson Valley. Molly is a 2003 graduate of St. Lawrence University.

Molly volunteers her time generously and serves or has served as a board member for various worthy causes including the Barkeater Trails Alliance, the Lake Placid Shore Owners Association, the St. Lawrence University Alumni Executive Council, and the Village of Saranac Lake Planning Board.

Molly resides in Saranac Lake, NY, with her husband and two children, where they enjoy playing outside, including skiing, hiking, camping, paddling, and sailing.

Chris Morris resides in Saranac Lake, NY. He is owner of Tell Media, a communications consulting business that works with nonprofits and community organizations across the Adirondack region and throughout the Northeast, including the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, The Heart Network, Adirondack Foundation, the Upper Saranac Foundation, and many more. He also volunteers as a youth cross-country skiing coach at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. Chris spends every second of his free time with his life partner, Kaet, and their four fur babies: Zee, Wyatt, Murky, and Wu-Tang.

Jennifer (Jen) Tissot has lived in Saranac Lake since 1989. She was a Clinical Social Worker LCSW-R in the area for 30 years, 26 of which she worked in the Saranac Lake School district as a School Social Worker, until her retirement in 2019.

She and her husband, Chris, raised their two children in Saranac Lake and often dreamed of establishing a children’s museum in the area. They visited countless museums all over the country and gathered invaluable knowledge along the way.

Meg Cantwell Jackson is a NCIDQ certified Interior Designer and has over seventeen years of experience in Interior design, architectural drafting and building trades combined. Meg studied fine arts SUNY Plattsburgh prior to transferring to the Fashion Institute of Technology where she studied Interior Design and graduated in 2007.

She was born and raised in Saranac Lake, and her family has a long standing history in the area. After college, she and her husband moved to Connecticut where they lived for almost nine years. Previously, Meg worked for design firms focused on residential and retail design, ultimately becoming a project manager for the shoe store, Finish Line, as well as volunteering for Yale’s Peabody museum in the exhibits department.

Both she and her husband returned to the area in 2016 to start a design build firm, Cantwell Jackson Design Build LLC, and raise their two children amongst family and friends.

In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors with her family on the lakes & mountains in the area, as well as continuing her love of drawing and painting.

Chris grew up is Saranac Lake and has spent 18 years working in the trades and related fields — the last 10 years in Facilities Management at Paul Smith’s College and currently, Camp Treetops at North Country School. Chris has a BS from Cortland State University in Communication Studies. He lives in Gabriels with his wife, Carina, and their sons, Ziggy and Tahj. In his free time he enjoys skiing, fishing, mountain biking and reading.

Kaet has spent the past several years working in communications with expertise in social media management, photography, videography, graphic design and website development. Kaet lives in Saranac Lake with her partner, Chris, and their two dogs, Murphy and Zee. She enjoys swimming, paddling, hiking, camping, biking, skiing, gardening, and watching movies.

As Executive Director for 24 years of Great Camp Sagamore, the Vanderbilt wilderness estate in the heart of the Adirondacks, responsibilities included:

• The historic preservation of 27 wood and stone buildings dating from 1897
• Budget preparation and execution
• Grandparent and Grandchildren Camp summer sessions oversight
• Educational program development, oversight and teaching
• Staff recruitment, training, development and management for tours and overnight guest educational program participation including Road Scholar
• Board of Trustee recruitment, training, development
• Volunteer recruitment, training, development
• Membership recruitment, development
• Grant writing and administration
• Event planning and execution
• Fund raising

Two major accomplishments were gaining recognition of Great Camp Sagamore as a National Historic Landmark and securing the Save America’s Treasures prestigious federal preservation grant.

Beverly lives in Saranac Lake and has served on many history, tourism, and ecology not-for-profit boards. Her new granddaughter eagerly looks forward to Play Adk.

Caroline Mastin Welsh is an art historian, curator of art, and Director Emerita of the Adirondack Museum. She is an honors graduate of the Kent School and Wellesley College (Art History). She was awarded a fellowship in museum studies at the Smithsonian Institution and a fellowship in museum leadership at the Getty Leadership Institute. Her work in the museum profession includes positions at the Smithsonian Institution, the New York State Historical Association, and the Albany Institute of History and Art in addition to the Adirondack Museum.

Caroline has extensive experience in all aspects of museum planning, operations and management specializing in art exhibitions and collections management. She has curated history and art exhibitions as well as organized collections projects from assessments to building a 25,000 SF Collections Storage and Study Center. She has organized and hosted scholarly national art symposia in addition to being published widely on the subject of Adirondack art and artists.

Caroline is currently a consultant to museums for exhibit development and collections management, an independent curator for art exhibits, as well as a national peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums. She serves or has served as a trustee or advisor for arts organizations and museums in Pennsylvania and New York State throughout her career.

Caroline was a member of The Century Association in New York City, is listed in Who’s Who in America, and has been or is a member of many professional organizations.