Gary Shinners

Gary completed Arlington Regional Master Naturalist (ARMN) training in 2019, and since then has been one of ARMN’s more active volunteers. He is the park steward for Potomac Overlook Regional Park and Jamestown Park, and a roving park steward. He has led well over 100 park volunteer events focused on restoring and preserving the parks’ natural environment, and has assisted with many other park volunteer events. He is ARMN’s Volunteer Coordinator and serves on its public outreach and park stewards committees. Among his other ARMN activities are its Nature Core program, which provides environmental education to children who live in low-income housing in Arlington and Alexandria, and an environmental education program for the youth of the Del Ray section of Alexandria run by Casa Chirilagua and the Four Mile Run Conservancy, and the City Nature Challenge. He has partnered with a science teacher at Jamestown Elementary School to engage her students as stewards of Jamestown Park. With the goal of becoming a more effective environmental advocate, he is enrolled in Arlington County’s Neighborhood College, an 11-week program teaching community volunteers how the County operates.

Before his “career” with ARMN, he worked for 37 years as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, a small, independent federal agency, in its Washington, D.C. headquarters. He served as head of one of the NLRB litigation offices, as Chief Counsel to NLRB members appointed by Democratic and Republican administrations, and as the NLRB Executive Secretary. 

He and his wife enjoy taking their grandkids rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, and biking.

Get in touch with Gary using the form below.