JAMESTOWN – Anton “Twan” Leenders has been named the fifth president and chief executive officer of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History by its board of trustees. For 17 years, Dr. Leenders has actively pursued conservation research, education, field projects and program management in the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea and The Netherlands, of which he is a native.
Currently a resident of Connecticut, Dr. Leenders has been involved with research and collection management of the Vertebrate Zoology collections at Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. He was assistant professor of biology at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., and most recently served as conservation biologist for the Connecticut Audubon Society.
Dr. Leenders is married to the former Caroline (Casey) Redington, and they are the parents of two children, Madeleine, 6, and Jason, 3. Casey Redington is the daughter of Caran and Dick Redington of Ashville. The Leenders family will move to Chautauqua County in mid-summer as Dr. Leenders begins his duties at RTPI at the end of July.
Leave a Reply