Mila Plavsic, PhD

Executive director 

Mila grew up in Maine and Vermont, moving to Falmouth in 2007 after living in Washington, D.C. and overseas. Much of her work has focused on species conservation and habitat management in the Western Hemisphere (including New England) and in sub-Saharan Africa. She has degrees in conservation science from UVM, the Yale School of the Environment, and Cambridge University (UK). Mila served as a Presidential Management Fellow and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, working on both domestic and international conservation issues. She then pursued her doctorate as a Fulbright student and Gates Scholar, studying fire ecology in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. After a number of years teaching at the college level (and serving on the FLT Board), she has returned to her roots in applied conservation as the Executive Director of FLT. Her passions are connecting people to the natural world and conserving biodiversity in all its wondrous forms. Mila lives in West Falmouth with her husband and two children, where they enjoy getting out on the trails to hike, bike, and ski. On rainy spring nights, they can be found helping salamanders to cross the road.

whitney bushey

Stewardship manager

Whitney is from Smithfield, ME, and has worn out several pairs of hiking boots working for conservation organizations in the Northeast US for the past nine years. She graduated from the University of Maine Orono with a degree in Wildlife Ecology in 2013 and earned a certificate in grant writing from the University of Southern Maine in 2015. She spent two terms of service with the Maine Conservation Corps, building trails around the state, and one summer as a park naturalist at Mt. Blue State Park. Whitney worked several field seasons with the Nature Conservancy of Maine and Southern New Hampshire, then accepted a full-time position in East Chatham, New York managing 4,700 acres of publicly accessible conservation land for the Columbia Land Conservancy for the past five years. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring her conservation career back home and serve the diverse communities that live and work on Maine's lands and waters.

Whitney is passionate about managing wildlife habitats and accessible trail building to ensure everyone can have a relationship with their local landscape. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, roller derby, snowboarding, fishing, and sailing.

Rebekah Bucci

Administrative Director

Rebekah, a lifelong resident of Falmouth, has been involved with the Falmouth Land Trust in different capacities. Years ago, she was a board member in charge of membership, and most recently as administrative help in the FLT office. She feels fortunate to be involved in this capacity because she feels strongly about FLT’s mission. Rebekah spends her spare time jogging the roads of Falmouth and hiking FLT trails with her husband.

Rebecca Dugan

Education and Outreach Coordinator

Rebecca grew up in the Garden State but came to Maine for college and never left! After graduating with a degree in environmental studies from Bates College, Rebecca spent 10+ years growing veggies with kids and coordinating farm to school programming at a food access nonprofit in Lewiston. As the Education and Outreach Coordinator at FLT, Rebecca helps plan environmental education opportunities for kids and community members and promotes the work of the land trust. When she’s not working, Rebecca loves hiking with her dog, running local trails, and eating lots of ice cream.

Sarah Payne

maine conservation corps environmental steward

Sarah is originally from Atlanta, Georgia but came to Maine in the summer of 2022 to do a season of trail work and quickly fell in love with the natural beauty of Maine. After graduating from Furman University with a degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences, she went on to pursue her passion for the outdoors by working with local environmental conservancy nonprofit organizations in Atlanta. Sarah is currently working towards a certificate in GIS from the University of Southern Maine and is excited to get to know more of Maine's land and water systems through a summer with Falmouth Land Trust. One of Sarah's biggest passions is ensuring that the outdoors feels welcoming and accessible to everyone.