Christopher Eliot, Ph.D., Lincoln, Chair
Margaret Coppe, South Lexington Civic Association
Terri Ackerman, Concord
Tom Hirsch, Hanscom Pilots Association (HPA)
Barbara Katzenberg, Lexington
Emily Mitchell, Bedford
Christopher Eliot represents the Town of Lincoln and has been elected chair of the commission since 2019. He earned his degree in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1996 and has experience in artificial intelligence, tutoring systems, space systems and robotics.
His primary concerns are how aviation impacts the climate crisis and public health.
Margaret Coppe is a 47-year resident of Lexington who has been on the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission for more than 25 years. Representing the South Lexington Civic Association, she holds one of the seats assigned to local citizen groups concerned with problems related to aviation and transportation.
She is a 40-year elected Town Meeting member in Lexington and served on the Lexington School Committee from 2007-2016. Currently she is Chair of the Lexington Tourism Committee, the Cultural District Management Team, and the Vision for Lexington Committee.
Terri Ackerman has been Concord’s HFAC representative since 2024. She served on the Concord Select Board from 2019 to 2025 and on the Concord Finance Committee for 6 years before that. She is a retired Town Administrator who served for 25 years over 4 Massachusetts communities. Terri earned her Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Tom Hirsch, a resident of Bedford and a licensed pilot with ratings for single and multi-engine aircraft, gliders, and rotorcraft with an instrument rating for single and multi-engine aircraft. He has been flying and operating aircraft at Hanscom since 1979 and is treasurer of the Hansom Pilots Association. He has a degree from the University of Southern California in Electrical Engineering and is a Software Consultant specializing in aviation and medical device applications.
Barbara Katzenberg has been a Lexington representative on HFAC since 2021. She is a Lexington Conservation Land Steward and Town Meeting member and has been a contributor to revamping the Town's noise bylaw. As a member of the Lexington Cluster Housing Study group, she worked to help pass a zoning bylaw for multifamily housing to comply with the state's MBTA-Communities law. Recently retired after a career in healthcare technology, she previously managed a consulting group that helped hospitals and clinics use electronic medical record data to comply with quality measures regulations.
[Emily Mitchell]
The commission shall consist of a representative from the four towns of Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln. Two representatives shall be appointed from each of the following categories: (1) local citizen groups concerned with problems related to aviation and transportation; (2) area-wide organizations concerned with the environment, transportation planning, aircraft noise and land use and development; (3) other area towns impacted by aviation at Hanscom Field; (4) businesses basing aircraft at Hanscom Field; and (5) aviation or aviation-related businesses at Hanscom Field. In addition thereto, there shall be appointed in the same manner, one representative from a business-aviation organization and one from a general aviation organization both of whom shall be a regular user or employee of a regular user of Hanscom Field.
All members of said commission shall serve without compensation. - From the 1980 enabling legislation.
[Amber Goodspeed]
[Mark Winmmer]
[Mark Vatalaro]
Lindsey S. White
Community Engagement Officer, New England
National Engagement and Regional Administration, FAA
