The Pinelands Commission's 15-member board consists of seven members who are appointed by the New Jersey Governor, one member appointed by each of the seven Pinelands counties, and one member appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The gubernatorial appointees are subject to the review and consent of the NJ Senate. 

Commission members serve staggered, three-year terms and are uncompensated for their service.  Commissioners devote significant personal time to their Pinelands duties. The full Commission meets monthly. Additionally, like many legislative bodies, the Commission is divided into various committees that also meet monthly. There are also regular public meetings ranging from public hearings on specific development projects and regulatory issues to forums and panel discussions on topical issues. Each of these responsibilities may require many hours of review and preparation, meetings with other agencies and stakeholders and consultation with Pinelands staff. Here are biographical sketches for the 15 Commissioners: 

Laura E. Matos, Chair

Ms. Matos joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in January 2022. She is a native of the Pinelands, having grown up in Medford Lakes, and is a seasoned professional with an extensive career in government, public affairs, and strategic communications. Ms. Matos is a Partner at MAD Global Strategy Group, a national public affairs consulting firm. She maintains an in-depth understanding of government processes and their intersections with the private sector, along with the importance of public education and advocacy efforts in affecting policy change. For a decade before joining MAD, Ms. Matos was New Jersey General Manager and Managing Director of a national public affairs firm. She worked in the New Jersey Governor’s Office for eight years for Governors McGreevey, Codey, and Corzine, working in Operations, Legislative Affairs, Cabinet Affairs and as an Assistant Chief of Staff. In these roles, she oversaw a vast array of public policy issues across all areas of the Executive Branch. Ms. Matos also served as director of business development and communications at a top New Jersey law firm.  She has also served on numerous boards for Governor Phil Murphy, including the 2017 Transportation and Infrastructure Transition Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Restart and Recovery Advisory Council and on the New Jersey Complete Count Commission. Ms. Matos serves on the Board of Latina Civic Action and as President of the Board of Latina Civic PAC and previously served on the board of PlanSmartNJ. She attended Rutgers University and lives in Belmar, NJ.

Alan W. Avery, Jr., Vice Chairman

Mr. Avery served as the Ocean County representative on the Commission from 1983 to 2005 and was reappointed as the county representative in December of 2013. He has served as the Commission's Vice Chairman since 2018. He also served in that capacity from 1995-2005. Mr. Avery retired as the Ocean County Administrator, after many years of service as the county’s Planning Director and Director of Solid Waste Management. Mr. Avery is currently the Chairman of the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Advisory Committee. He is a member of the New Jersey Local Finance Board, and he serves as an alternate member of the Ocean County Planning Board. He also serves as a Commissioner on the Ocean County Utilities Authority. Mr. Avery holds an undergraduate degree from Colgate University, as well as a master’s degree of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University.

Nicholas Asselta

Mr. Asselta was appointed as Cumberland County's representative on the Commission in January 2023. A native of Vineland and the son of a Vineland Police Officer and the city’s first detective, Mr. Asselta graduated from Vineland High School, Cumberland County College and Frederick Military Academy. He attended Rider College and the Glassboro State College Management Institute. After college, Mr. Asselta worked for 23 years, culminating in his position as Marketing and Production Director for Times Graphics, Inc., a Gannett Company subsidiary. Mr. Asselta has been an educator, a coach and a community leader. From 1978 to 1981, he served as an adjunct faculty member at Atlantic Cape Community College, where he served as the head basketball coach. He was elected to the Vineland Board of Education in 1993, and in 1995 he was sworn in as a member of the New Jersey State Assembly to fill an unexpired term. He was elected to his first full term on the General Assembly in November 1995. Having completed four terms in the General Assembly, Mr. Asselta was sworn in to serve on the New Jersey State Senate in January 2004. He went on to serve as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities from 2008-2013, where he fought to maintain affordable utility rates for New Jersey ratepayers while improving the utility infrastructure throughout the state. In 2013, Aqua America asked Mr. Asselta to join the company as president of its New Jersey Division. In November 2016, he was hired as Vice-President of South State, Inc., a major road, bridge and utility infrastructure building based in New Jersey. He began working as an independent consultant in 2019, providing services for private, public and political clients. Numerous community and civic groups have recognized and honored Mr. Asselta for his work, and he continues to serve on The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation.

Daniel Christy

Mr. Christy was appointed to serve as Gloucester County's representative on the Pinelands Commission in 2019. He is serving his second term on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, where he oversees the Department of Public Safety & Veterans Affairs. As a Carpenter for over 30 years, he has helped organize and has participated in various charitable projects through the Carpenters Union, including wheelchair ramps, VFW Post remodels and additions, and post hurricane Sandy relief projects. In the past, Dan has served on the Gloucester County Improvement Authority, the Washington Township Planning Board, and the Washington Township Environmental Committee.

John Holroyd, Jr.

Mr. Holroyd was appointed to serve as Camden County’s representative on the Commission in January 2022. He has lived in Winslow Township since 1985. Mr. Holroyd was an electrician for 17 years, and he attended classes at Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester County Colleges. He has been a licensed inspector for electric, fire, plumbing, buildings, and multi-family dwellings, and a construction official in several New Jersey municipalities for more than 20 years. He is a member of Winslow Township’s Planning Board, Environmental Commission and Green Team. He also serves as Winslow’s representative on the Pinelands Municipal Council, and he is a member of Berlin Township’s Planning Board.

Jerome H. Irick

Mr. Irick joined the Commission as Atlantic County’s representative in March 2019. He is a fourth generation farmer of approximately 75 acres in Buena Borough. Mr. Irick serves on the Rutgers Board of Managers, and he is the past President of the Atlantic County Board of Agriculture. In addition to farming, Mr. Irick is a professional Licensed Engineer and a licensed Professional Planner. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Clemson University, and he has owned and operated a small consulting civil engineering firm in Vineland, NJ, since 1984.

Theresa Lettman

Ms. Lettman joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in January 2022. She has been a resident of Ocean County for 52 years and currently lives in Manchester Township. Ms. Lettman monitored activities in the New Jersey Pinelands while working for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA), a non-profit organization, for 26 years. She retired from PPA in 2016. Ms. Lettman has been a Board Member and Secretary for the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust since 1995. She has been a member of the Ocean County Solid Waste Advisory Council since 1990. Ms. Lettman is a former member of the Manchester Township Council and the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Advisory Committee.

Mark S. Lohbauer

A resident of Pennsauken, Mr. Lohbauer joined the Pinelands Commission in July 2011. Since 2004, Lohbauer has been a principal of JGSC Group, a retail market-making firm that focuses on revitalizing downtown commercial corridors. Prior to joining JGSC, he served as the Director of Policy & Communications for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, following several years as the Assistant State Treasurer and practicing law in Philadelphia. A former member of the Pennsauken Township Committee and Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Lohbauer has long been active in environmental issues, primarily in the promotion of alternatives to waste incineration. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University.

Mark Mauriello

Mr. Mauriello joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in November 2022. He began his career with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in May 1980, after earning a bachelor’s degree in geology from Middlebury College in Vermont. He accepted a position as a shoreline mapping specialist with the New Jersey Geological Survey, and during the 1980’s and 1990’s he rose through the ranks of the Division of Coastal Resources and Land Use Regulation Division and was appointed as Division Director in 2002. In 2006, Mr. Mauriello was selected by DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson to be Assistant Commissioner for Land Use Management. In November 2008, Mr. Mauriello was nominated by Governor Jon S. Corzine to serve as Commissioner of the DEP, replacing newly confirmed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. He served in that capacity from November 2008 until his retirement from DEP in January 2010.  Throughout his 30-year career with the DEP, Mauriello gained extensive experience in land use regulation, natural hazard management and mitigation, coastal zone management and floodplain management. Upon retiring from DEP in January 2010, Mr. Mauriello formed Mark Mauriello Consulting, LLC, specializing in coastal zone management, floodplain management, land use regulation and regulatory compliance. In March 2010, he accepted a position as Director of Environmental Affairs and Planning with Edgewood Properties. In this capacity, Mr. Mauriello is responsible for overseeing the company’s environmental programs and planning initiatives and serves as an advisor on regulatory issues and property acquisitions. He also serves as vice-president of the Board of Trustees of New Jersey Future, vice-president of the Board of Trustees of American Littoral Society and as a Board member of the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management. 

Jonathan D. Meade

Mr. Meade was appointed as the federal representative on the Commission in December 2021. He has served as the Associate Regional Director for Resource Stewardship and Science for the National Park Service’s (NPS) Northeast Region in Philadelphia since January 2018. Prior to his current post, he had served as the NPS’ Deputy Regional Director for the Northeast Regional Office since 2014. In his current role, he leads the NPS’ efforts to manage natural and cultural resources and oversee planning and compliance activities across a 13-state region.  Prior to his current work at the NPS, Mr. Meade served as the Director of Watershed Programs for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and as the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, as well as the Executive Director of the four-state Highlands Coalition and the Vice President of Planning for the Heritage Conservancy. He also worked in the National Park Service’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, leading their business management group. Mr. Meade holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Alberta.

William Pikolycky

A resident of Woodbine Borough, Mr. Pikolycky has represented Cape May County on the Commission since January 2018. Mr. Pikolycky has served as Woodbine’s Mayor since 1990, and he has Chaired the Pinelands Municipal Council. Mr. Pikolycky serves on the Board of Trustees for Sustainable Jersey, the Board of Trustees of the Woodbine Developmental Center, and on the Executive Board of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. Additionally, he serves as the Director of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, and he is a member on the Advisory Board of Anne Azeez Hall at Stockton University in Woodbine.  Mr. Pikolycky was employed by the State of New Jersey for 27 years before retiring in 2002 from the position of Executive Assistant in the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs. He is a graduate of the Camden County Police Academy and Rutgers University (Camden) Certified Public Manager Program.

Jessica Rittler Sanchez

A resident of the Pinelands for nearly two decades, Ms. Rittler Sanchez was appointed as a gubernatorial representative on the Commission in December 2023. Ms. Rittler Sanchez is a regional planner who believes that a healthy environment and healthy economy are inextricably linked. She retired from the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) after two decades in government service, including 16 years in water resource planning and management at the Delaware River Basin Commission and four years with the NJ Office of State Planning. Prior to joining the DRBC, Ms. Rittler Sanchez was an Environmental Projects Coordinator with the New Jersey Office of State Planning, where she was responsible for reviewing a wide array of environmental initiatives and coordinating with appropriate agencies to ensure integration with the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. Included in her purview were wastewater, stormwater, watershed management and water supply planning. She participated in the Brownfields Redevelopment Task Force and New Jersey’s Comparative Risk Project and co-authored the original policy that guaranteed protection for the Highlands in the NJ State Plan. Ms. Rittler Sanchez was a Marion Johnson Fellow at Rutgers, where she pursued an interest in the successful joining of science, policy and planning. She was awarded a Master of City & Regional Planning and a Ph.D. 

Doug Wallner

Mr. Wallner was appointed as Burlington County's representative on the Commission in August 2022. He has lived in Evesham Township within the Pinelands National Reserve since 1990. Mr. Wallner studied Biology with an Ecological Emphasis at University of California at Berkeley with graduate studies in Environmental Biology at California State University, East Bay. He retired from the National Park Service in 2012, having served for 34 years in a variety of natural resource and fire management positions. He worked in both small and large parks before ending his career in the regional office in Philadelphia as the Regional Fire Management Officer. As such, he provided leadership for agency fire programs in the 13 northeastern states. He worked closely with state fire programs and departments of environmental protection, including the New Jersey State Fire Warden and others. Since retiring, Mr. Wallner has been active in the NestWatch Program since its inception in 2015 at the Black Run Preserve and currently serves as its Co-Chair. He has served as a Trustee for the Friends of the Black Run Preserve. He has been an active member of the Evesham Township Environmental Commission since 2018. He loves spending time with his daughters and grandchildren who live in Washington, DC and Brooklyn. In his spare time Mr. Wallner and his wife, Betty, enjoy hiking, birding, and tending to native plants in their garden.

Executive Director Susan R. Grogan

A resident of Burlington County, Ms. Grogan has worked at the Pinelands Commission since August 1988. She served as the Commission’s longtime Chief Planner and was promoted as the Director of Planning in 2020. In her capacity as Chief Planner, Ms. Grogan authored many amendments to the Comprehensive Management Plan, reviewed thousands of municipal ordinances and master plans to ensure conformance with Pinelands regulations, implemented the Pinelands Conservation Fund land acquisition program that has preserved nearly 9,000 acres to date and supervised Planning Office staff and a wide variety of projects. As Planning Director, she oversees all Planning Office staff and projects, including rulemaking, the Long-Term Economic Monitoring Program, the Pinelands Infrastructure Trust Fund, the Alternate Design Wastewater Treatment Systems Pilot Program and the Pine Barrens Byway, which recently was granted national designation. Ms. Grogan has also served as the Executive Director of the Pinelands Development Credit Bank since 2011. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Grogan was the Assistant Land Use Coordinator for Burlington County's Office of Economic Development, where she was responsible for implementing the county's farmland preservation program, among other responsibilities. Ms. Grogan holds a Masters of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and a Bachelors of Arts in Government and Sociology from the College of William and Mary. She is a licensed New Jersey Professional Planner and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.