President* John Christian Phifer is Executive Director of Larkspur Conservation and a member of the Tennessee Funeral Directors Association, the National Home Funeral Alliance and a founding member of Conservation Burial Alliance. He received his mortuary science and funeral arts degree from John A. Gupton College in Nashville, TN, home funeral guide training through Final Passages, and end-of-life doula certification through the Conscious Dying Institute. He has worked in small town settings and in large metropolitan funeral homes and cemeteries, but finds himself most at home in the woods.
Vice President* Heidi Hannapel is a conservation burial consultant with Landmatters located in Durham, NC. Heidi is a compassionate facilitator who values collaborative projects. She has designed workshops and resources for growing stronger nonprofit organizations focused on best practices, community engagement, and standards for long-term sustainability. Heidi works with conservation burial partners and land trusts on burial site assessment, community relations and partnerships, project planning and development. She is a founding member of the Conservation Burial Alliance and co-founder of Bluestem Conservation Cemetery.
Secretary* Jodie Buller has been the Cemetery Director at White Eagle Memorial Preserve since 2013, after training as a structural integration bodyworker and a decade doing community radio and food systems outreach work. She was on the steering committee for the Portland, Oregon festival Death:OK in 2015, helped to develop Funeral Resources and Education websites for Oregon and Washington State, and is a founding member of the CBA. When at White Eagle at Ekone Ranch, she lives and works in a community of multiple humans and animals - the rest of the time she lives in a wee cabin in the woods in the Skagit Valley.
Treasurer* Laura Starkey is the founder and Executive Director of Heartwood Preserve Conservation Cemetery and former Director of Conservation Lands for woodlands on the Starkey Ranch. A third-generation Floridian, Laura began Heartwood on a corner of her family’s former cattle ranch as a way to protect an intact, longleaf pine flatwoods ecosystem while providing a meaningful, earth-friendly option for human burial. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Music and a Master’s in Applied Linguistics, has trained as a community organizer, is a Certified Prescribed Burn Manager, and is a founding member of the Conservation Burial Alliance.
Director Bethany Foshee grew up in the urban landscape of Houston, Texas, and her earliest experiences in nature included exploring the city’s channeled bayous, vacant lots, and utility easements. While these settings might not sound picturesque or even truly ‘natural,’ these environments shaped her passion for providing all people with the opportunity to connect to nature. Bethany's extensive experience managing conservation programs for Houston’s environmental nonprofits includes overseeing outreach and stewardship programs for the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, centered on the 19,000-acre Katy Prairie Preserve. She is also the project manager for the Conservancy’s efforts to launch Texas’ first Conservation Cemetery. Bethany holds a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and a Master of Science in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University. She is also a licensed, green funeral director.
Director* Freddie Johnson is one of the founders of Conservation Burial Inc. (CBI), the non-profit organization that manages Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery (PCCC). He served as CBI's Board President for three years prior to being CBI’s Executive Director from 2011-2021. He helped found the non-profit Conservation Burial Alliance (CBA) in 2016 and presently serves on that Board of Directors. Freddie has been deeply engaged with the home funeral and natural burial movement since 2006 and has given hundreds of presentations about burial and funerary history, caring for our own dead, and conservation burial grounds.
DIrector Emily Uhrig is a project coordinator with the University of Maine’s Center for Research on Sustainable Forests. She specializes in communications, logistics, and managing collaborative networks of partners, mainly for projects related to conservation and climate-smart forestry. Her background includes time spent in academic research and teaching as well as freelance science communication. She holds a BS in biology, a PhD in zoology, and an MBA in general management. Growing up in forested foothills of western Oregon, Emily has always had keen interests in nature and environmental stewardship.
Director* Jeff Masten is a conservation burial consultant with Landmatters. Jeff works with private partners and land trusts on site assessment, land and risk analyses, project development, financing models and funding opportunities for conservation acquisitions and conservation burial projects. With over 20 years in the field, Jeff’s expertise is in building partnerships, and creating and leading cutting-edge conservation programs. Introduced to conservation burial in 2006, Jeff has supported the development of conservation burial projects in North Carolina and throughout the country. He is a founding member of the CBA and a co-founder of Bluestem Conservation Cemetery.
Director Becky Hoffbauer is co-founder and co-chair of Back to Ground Conservation Cemetery in her home state of
Iowa. A lifelong nature enthusiast and death-curious soul and artist, she finds that all the significant events–
especially deaths– of her life have brought her to this role. As a start-up Conservation Cemetery development
leader she highly values the shared community that CBA has contributed to her knowledge base and wisdom
pool. Normalizing death and dying, and expanding vital understanding of Conservation Burial are her highest
goals. She has been a Reiki practitioner for nearly thirty years, a Master for half of that and Death Midwife /
Doula since 2o21– trained and certified by Earth Traditions and Going With Grace. Among her hopes for her
cemetery are additionally creating a network community of End of Life workers to provide ceremony and home funeral guidance and training to guests and their families, and a community of regional artists and artisans to create and offer locally handmade deathwares.
Iowa. A lifelong nature enthusiast and death-curious soul and artist, she finds that all the significant events–
especially deaths– of her life have brought her to this role. As a start-up Conservation Cemetery development
leader she highly values the shared community that CBA has contributed to her knowledge base and wisdom
pool. Normalizing death and dying, and expanding vital understanding of Conservation Burial are her highest
goals. She has been a Reiki practitioner for nearly thirty years, a Master for half of that and Death Midwife /
Doula since 2o21– trained and certified by Earth Traditions and Going With Grace. Among her hopes for her
cemetery are additionally creating a network community of End of Life workers to provide ceremony and home funeral guidance and training to guests and their families, and a community of regional artists and artisans to create and offer locally handmade deathwares.
Director Stephanie Bonney was born and raised in New England. She has a degree in psychology from Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After briefly attending mortuary school and apprenticing at a funeral home, she became the first female superintendent of Vermont’s only independent crematory (and 60-acre cemetery). In this role, Stephanie connected with countless individuals who were unsure of where to turn for support in caring for their own in death; providing an enriching experience for those facing death care decisions has been her primary focus ever since. Stephanie currently manages Panorama Natural Burial in Earlysville, Virginia, a natural burial cemetery focused on conservation, education, and building community.
* Indicates CBA co-founder
* Indicates CBA co-founder
Founders Emeritus
Sara Brink, Foxfield Preserve, OH
Dr. Billy Campbell, Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, SC
Kimberley Campbell, Ramsey Creek Preserve, SC
Lee Webster, Green Burial Council International (former President and Vice Chair for Education), National Home Funeral Alliance (former President and Vice President), National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (co-founder, treasurer, and director), NHPCO Doula Council (co-founder), and NH Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy (Director). Inception - 2022
Cassie Barrett, Carolina Memorial Sanctuary, NC
David Ponoroff, Larkspur Conservation, TN
David Ponoroff, Larkspur Conservation, TN
Board service is a privilege, your organization is a gift,
and public service is core to the betterment of our society."
— Joan Garry
