With more than 50 years in the hiking trails business, the Keystone Trails Association is fortunate to have accrued a lot of friends and dedicated volunteers.
We're proud to introduce our talented and dedicated staff members, board of directors and representatives who support KTA's work through outreach, program management, advocacy, administration and more. Meet them here until you can meet them on the trail!
Staff
Paul Shaw, Executive Director
ktahike@kta-hike.org
Phone: 717-766-9690
Casey Schneck, Program Administrator
Email: ktaadmin@kta-hike.org
Phone: 717-766-9690
Casey Schneck is the newest addition to the KTA team, as of August 2019. He earned his degree in Community, Environment, and Development at Penn State, and currently resides in Hamburg, PA. At the Keystone Trails Association, Casey is responsible for event planning and execution, volunteer coordination, website development, editing the newsletter, merchandise sales, social networking, growing the member base, and building partnerships to further KTA’s mission.
Board of Directors
President: Kathryn Barker, Carlisle, PA
Kathryn (Katie) Barker's love of the outdoors began with family trips to National Parks and continued at Girl Scout Camps in Wisconsin. She served on the Board of Directors of the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club for 14 years, including five as President, and chaired the Hikes Committee for the 2001 Appalachian Trail Conference held in Shippensburg, PA. She has served on the KTA council for over a decade as Club Representative and on the KTA board as Awards Committee Chair and, most recently, Secretary. She also teaches chemistry at Dickinson College and hikes with her husband Sam and children River and Hannah. Katie serves with KTA in appreciation for two valuable resources: Pennsylvania's beautiful trails and the volunteers who keep them open. She wants to help KTA advocate for hikers and work for the protection of Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
Vice President: Bob Merrill, Jersey Shore, PA
Bob retired from DCNR and the Bureau of Forestry after a 32-year career that included service as the District Forester for Moshannon State Forest. In that capacity, he coordinated the expansion of recreation opportunities in the forest, including the Quehanna Trail System. Bob was also a Program Specialist for the Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. He has been an avid hiker for over 40 years and currently maintains sections of the Quehanna and Allegheny Front Trails. Today, he owns a forestry services consulting business. Bob will bring many years of recreation management experience on public lands to KTA's Board of Directors. As a Board member, Bob has a particular interest in preserving Pennsylvania’s endangered hiking trails.
Treasurer: Rob Altenburg, New Cumberland, PA
Rob is an avid hiker and is director of the PennFuture Energy Center. Based in Harrisburg, he has been with the statewide organization since January 2014. Before coming to PennFuture, he spent nearly 22 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Initially working in the Bureau of Air Quality on computer models and procedures to forecast pollution levels, he then served as an executive policy specialist in the department's policy office advising the governor's office and DEP's executive staff on a variety of environmental and public health issues.
A native of Pennsylvania, Altenburg holds a B.S. in Earth Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, a certificate from Penn State University in Geographic Information Systems, and a J.D. (cum laude) from the Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Secretary: Carl Davis Jr., Shippensburg, PA
Carl spent 39 years in education. He coached wrestling and girls’ gymnastics, coordinated the after school activities, and introduced environmental activities such as orienteering, trail building, and four hikes a year. He retired in 2003 and moved to Wellsboro where he did trail work in the Tioga State Forest and hiked most of the trails in Tioga, Lycoming, and Potter Counties.
His students built the Buck Ridge Trail from Kings Gap to Pine Grove Furnace, the Lamberton and Briar Trails at Mount Holly Nature Preserve, and the Creek Trail in Pine Grove Forest State Park. Carl’s interest in the outdoors began when he was nine and attended a YMCA camp. Years later he was the nature counselor, trail camping counselor, and canoe counselor. He has received numerous awards including the Carlisle YMCA Adult Service Award, George M. Leader Excellence in Education Award, Conservation Education Award from the PA Nature conservancy, Carlisle YMCA Youth Service Award, and KTA’s Certificate of Recognition Award.
He has hiked the Appalachian Trail in all of West Virginia and Maryland, half of Pennsylvania, and parts of Maine and Vermont. He’s completed the Susquehannock and West Rim Trails, parts of the Mid State, Tuscarora, and Black Forest Trails. Other trails he’s hiked include the “Old Rag” in Virginia, Dolly Sods in West Virginia, and the Paint Brush Canyon in Grand Teton. He and his wife are “High Pointers” who like to hike the highest points in different states. He has completed this feat in the New England states.
Carl has been a KTA member for 22 years and loves hiking (of course), gardening, traveling, cutting firewood, and WWII history.
Carl is married to Bonnie and they have three children. He currently lives in Cumberland County.
We're proud to introduce our talented and dedicated staff members, board of directors and representatives who support KTA's work through outreach, program management, advocacy, administration and more. Meet them here until you can meet them on the trail!
Staff
Paul Shaw, Executive Director
ktahike@kta-hike.org
Phone: 717-766-9690
Casey Schneck, Program Administrator
Email: ktaadmin@kta-hike.org
Phone: 717-766-9690
Casey Schneck is the newest addition to the KTA team, as of August 2019. He earned his degree in Community, Environment, and Development at Penn State, and currently resides in Hamburg, PA. At the Keystone Trails Association, Casey is responsible for event planning and execution, volunteer coordination, website development, editing the newsletter, merchandise sales, social networking, growing the member base, and building partnerships to further KTA’s mission.
Board of Directors
President: Kathryn Barker, Carlisle, PA
Kathryn (Katie) Barker's love of the outdoors began with family trips to National Parks and continued at Girl Scout Camps in Wisconsin. She served on the Board of Directors of the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club for 14 years, including five as President, and chaired the Hikes Committee for the 2001 Appalachian Trail Conference held in Shippensburg, PA. She has served on the KTA council for over a decade as Club Representative and on the KTA board as Awards Committee Chair and, most recently, Secretary. She also teaches chemistry at Dickinson College and hikes with her husband Sam and children River and Hannah. Katie serves with KTA in appreciation for two valuable resources: Pennsylvania's beautiful trails and the volunteers who keep them open. She wants to help KTA advocate for hikers and work for the protection of Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
Vice President: Bob Merrill, Jersey Shore, PA
Bob retired from DCNR and the Bureau of Forestry after a 32-year career that included service as the District Forester for Moshannon State Forest. In that capacity, he coordinated the expansion of recreation opportunities in the forest, including the Quehanna Trail System. Bob was also a Program Specialist for the Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. He has been an avid hiker for over 40 years and currently maintains sections of the Quehanna and Allegheny Front Trails. Today, he owns a forestry services consulting business. Bob will bring many years of recreation management experience on public lands to KTA's Board of Directors. As a Board member, Bob has a particular interest in preserving Pennsylvania’s endangered hiking trails.
Treasurer: Rob Altenburg, New Cumberland, PA
Rob is an avid hiker and is director of the PennFuture Energy Center. Based in Harrisburg, he has been with the statewide organization since January 2014. Before coming to PennFuture, he spent nearly 22 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Initially working in the Bureau of Air Quality on computer models and procedures to forecast pollution levels, he then served as an executive policy specialist in the department's policy office advising the governor's office and DEP's executive staff on a variety of environmental and public health issues.
A native of Pennsylvania, Altenburg holds a B.S. in Earth Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, a certificate from Penn State University in Geographic Information Systems, and a J.D. (cum laude) from the Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Secretary: Carl Davis Jr., Shippensburg, PA
Carl spent 39 years in education. He coached wrestling and girls’ gymnastics, coordinated the after school activities, and introduced environmental activities such as orienteering, trail building, and four hikes a year. He retired in 2003 and moved to Wellsboro where he did trail work in the Tioga State Forest and hiked most of the trails in Tioga, Lycoming, and Potter Counties.
His students built the Buck Ridge Trail from Kings Gap to Pine Grove Furnace, the Lamberton and Briar Trails at Mount Holly Nature Preserve, and the Creek Trail in Pine Grove Forest State Park. Carl’s interest in the outdoors began when he was nine and attended a YMCA camp. Years later he was the nature counselor, trail camping counselor, and canoe counselor. He has received numerous awards including the Carlisle YMCA Adult Service Award, George M. Leader Excellence in Education Award, Conservation Education Award from the PA Nature conservancy, Carlisle YMCA Youth Service Award, and KTA’s Certificate of Recognition Award.
He has hiked the Appalachian Trail in all of West Virginia and Maryland, half of Pennsylvania, and parts of Maine and Vermont. He’s completed the Susquehannock and West Rim Trails, parts of the Mid State, Tuscarora, and Black Forest Trails. Other trails he’s hiked include the “Old Rag” in Virginia, Dolly Sods in West Virginia, and the Paint Brush Canyon in Grand Teton. He and his wife are “High Pointers” who like to hike the highest points in different states. He has completed this feat in the New England states.
Carl has been a KTA member for 22 years and loves hiking (of course), gardening, traveling, cutting firewood, and WWII history.
Carl is married to Bonnie and they have three children. He currently lives in Cumberland County.
Jack Hauler, Malvern, PA
Jack is an optometrist in Malvern PA. In recent years, his outdoor interests have evolved from running and trail running to hiking and backpacking. As an avid hiker and backpacker, he “found” KTA and has been a frequent participant in slackpack and hiking weekend events. Jack brings extensive volunteer Board experience to KTA; most recently, he served on the Board of his local library, where he provided leadership in fundraising and advocacy efforts. He is the founder of the Optometric Service Group, providing voluntary optometric services to developing and underserved countries. As a KTA Board member, Jack has a particular interest in expanding KTA membership to include, among others, young people and trail runners.
Ben Cramer, State College, PA
Ben Cramer has hiked more than 4,000 miles on Pennsylvania hiking trails and has completed many of the state’s major backpacking trails multiple times. He has been a lifetime member of KTA since 2000 and served as editor for the KTA book Pennsylvania Hiking Trails, 13th Edition in 2008. He has since written four point-by-point trail guidebooks: Guide to the Allegheny Front Trail (2014), Guide to the Quehanna Trail (2015), Guide to the Elk Trail (2015), and Hiking the Susquehannock Trail (2017). He recently embarked on a project to write the first-ever guidebook for the Donut Hole Trail. Cramer is also a volunteer maintainer on various segments of the Allegheny Front Trail, Quehanna Trail, and Susquehannock Trail System, and in 2016 he spearheaded an effort to rehabilitate and reopen the dilapidated North Link and South Link Trails in Potter County. He lives in State College and teaches at Penn State University, where one of his research specialties is the environmental impacts of advanced telecommunications networks.
Wayne Gross, Canadensis, PA
Cynthia Krom, Lancaster, PA
Cynthia Krom loves being outdoors. She is currently president of the Lancaster Hiking Club, and hikes mostly in SE Pennsylvania. With the KTA she has completed the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and lead a slack pack on the Black Forest Trail, as well as a number of day hikes. She's currently working to finish the Mason-Dixon, and has only a few miles left on the AT in the state.
Cynthia hikes around the world - the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (both the Northern Route and the Primitivo), the Tour du Mont Blanc in France, Italy, and Switzerland, the Cotswold Way in England, the Salkantay Trek in Peru, and several trails in Patagonia. Kayaking, biking, and skiing are also favorite activities, especially when COVID hampers travel.
Cynthia coordinates most of the trail maintenance on the Conestoga Trail, and has managed Checkpoint #1 for the KTA Trail Challenge for several years. In order to pay the bills and enable her outdoor obsessions, Cynthia has been a full-time accounting professor for 31 years.
Karen Lutz, Boiling Springs, PA
Karen’s love of the outdoors began at the age of two spending summers with family at Shawnee State Park. She served as the president of her high school outing club. During her college years she worked as a counselor at Girl Scout Camp Lycogis, as the trip director at a private camp in Maine, and director of a Youth Conservation Corps program at an NPS historic site in Cresson, PA. She has hiked and backpacked thousands of miles both on PA trails and in many National Parks. She is an A.T. 2000 miler, and a life member of both ATC and KTA.
Karen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education from Lock Haven State College and a Master’s in Parks and Recreation from Penn State. She retired from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in 2018, concluding a successful 30 year career as the director of ATC’s mid-Atlantic Region.
Representatives at Large
Joyce Appel, East Brady, PA
Diane Buscarini, Gouldsboro, PA
Jim Catozzi, Newton, PA
Gary Decker, State College, PA
Cecil Dobbins, Akron, OH
Linda Enders Roxberry, Shillington, PA
Henry Frank, Philadelphia, PA
Vicki Porto, Carlisle, PA
Tom Schmick, Montoursville, PA
Jennifer Ulmer, Millville, PA
Mary Ladish, Dallas, PA
Jack is an optometrist in Malvern PA. In recent years, his outdoor interests have evolved from running and trail running to hiking and backpacking. As an avid hiker and backpacker, he “found” KTA and has been a frequent participant in slackpack and hiking weekend events. Jack brings extensive volunteer Board experience to KTA; most recently, he served on the Board of his local library, where he provided leadership in fundraising and advocacy efforts. He is the founder of the Optometric Service Group, providing voluntary optometric services to developing and underserved countries. As a KTA Board member, Jack has a particular interest in expanding KTA membership to include, among others, young people and trail runners.
Ben Cramer, State College, PA
Ben Cramer has hiked more than 4,000 miles on Pennsylvania hiking trails and has completed many of the state’s major backpacking trails multiple times. He has been a lifetime member of KTA since 2000 and served as editor for the KTA book Pennsylvania Hiking Trails, 13th Edition in 2008. He has since written four point-by-point trail guidebooks: Guide to the Allegheny Front Trail (2014), Guide to the Quehanna Trail (2015), Guide to the Elk Trail (2015), and Hiking the Susquehannock Trail (2017). He recently embarked on a project to write the first-ever guidebook for the Donut Hole Trail. Cramer is also a volunteer maintainer on various segments of the Allegheny Front Trail, Quehanna Trail, and Susquehannock Trail System, and in 2016 he spearheaded an effort to rehabilitate and reopen the dilapidated North Link and South Link Trails in Potter County. He lives in State College and teaches at Penn State University, where one of his research specialties is the environmental impacts of advanced telecommunications networks.
Wayne Gross, Canadensis, PA
Cynthia Krom, Lancaster, PA
Cynthia Krom loves being outdoors. She is currently president of the Lancaster Hiking Club, and hikes mostly in SE Pennsylvania. With the KTA she has completed the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and lead a slack pack on the Black Forest Trail, as well as a number of day hikes. She's currently working to finish the Mason-Dixon, and has only a few miles left on the AT in the state.
Cynthia hikes around the world - the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (both the Northern Route and the Primitivo), the Tour du Mont Blanc in France, Italy, and Switzerland, the Cotswold Way in England, the Salkantay Trek in Peru, and several trails in Patagonia. Kayaking, biking, and skiing are also favorite activities, especially when COVID hampers travel.
Cynthia coordinates most of the trail maintenance on the Conestoga Trail, and has managed Checkpoint #1 for the KTA Trail Challenge for several years. In order to pay the bills and enable her outdoor obsessions, Cynthia has been a full-time accounting professor for 31 years.
Karen Lutz, Boiling Springs, PA
Karen’s love of the outdoors began at the age of two spending summers with family at Shawnee State Park. She served as the president of her high school outing club. During her college years she worked as a counselor at Girl Scout Camp Lycogis, as the trip director at a private camp in Maine, and director of a Youth Conservation Corps program at an NPS historic site in Cresson, PA. She has hiked and backpacked thousands of miles both on PA trails and in many National Parks. She is an A.T. 2000 miler, and a life member of both ATC and KTA.
Karen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education from Lock Haven State College and a Master’s in Parks and Recreation from Penn State. She retired from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in 2018, concluding a successful 30 year career as the director of ATC’s mid-Atlantic Region.
Representatives at Large
Joyce Appel, East Brady, PA
Diane Buscarini, Gouldsboro, PA
Jim Catozzi, Newton, PA
Gary Decker, State College, PA
Cecil Dobbins, Akron, OH
Linda Enders Roxberry, Shillington, PA
Henry Frank, Philadelphia, PA
Vicki Porto, Carlisle, PA
Tom Schmick, Montoursville, PA
Jennifer Ulmer, Millville, PA
Mary Ladish, Dallas, PA