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Intro || Mission Statement || History || Why Save Wetlands? || Meet the Staff || Our Board of Directors Wisconsin Wetlands Association Board of Directors
OFFICERS Mary Linton, Chair, is a conservation biologist. She has an M.S. in Biology from Michigan Technological University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Kentucky. Her research interest is the complex ecology and conservation of wetland animals that use wetlands and uplands to complete their life cycle. Her idea of a good time is chasing frogs and toads on a warm rainy spring night. She is a published scientist and poet. She is a certified ecologist by the Ecological Society of America Jim Ruwaldt, Vice-Chair, worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Wisconsin, Indiana, and South Dakota for 32 years. From 1996 until his retirement in 2009, he served as the Fish and Wildlife Service Wisconsin Private Lands Coordinator, supervising habitat restoration activities on private lands statewide. He has worked with numerous federal, state, and private organizations restoring wetlands, grasslands and endangered species habitats, and has been involved with agricultural and natural resource policy making in Wisconsin. R. Tod Highsmith, Secretary, is a writer and editor in the conservation sciences. His career includes stints as an environmental educator, ornithological researcher, and staff journalist for an international bird conservation organization. He is a former officer of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and served as editor of The Passenger Pigeon, the society's quarterly journal. He holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Penny Shackelford, Treasurer, is a retired physician and emeritus professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO where she specialized in infectious diseases. After retiring she moved to Wisconsin where she and her husband own 380 acres of wetland, upland hardwood forest and prairie, which they are restoring to pre-settlement vegetation. Their land, appropriately named "Fair Meadows," is a State Natural Area. Penny is a Past Board Member and Secretary of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association and currently a board member of the Lake Koshkonong Wetland Association. MEMBERS Rich Eggleston worked for more than 25 years for The Associated Press, most of that time covering Wisconsin state government with an emphasis on environmental issues. He owns wetlands and shoreland in northern Wisconsin and has been active in wetland preservation efforts in the Madison suburb where he lives. For the last dozen or so years, Rich has been communications and community outreach coordinator for the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities. Scott Froehlke is Chair of the WWA Policy Committee and follows legislation and policy closely for our organization. A former aide in the Wisconsin Legislature and US Senate, he is a Madison-based contract lobbyist. He was also appointed by Governor Doyle to be a Public Representative on the Patients Compensation Board. As a former River Alliance of Wisconsin board member, he helped pass a recent law creating a permitting system for high capacity well withdrawals. Art Kitchen recently retired from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), where he served as a wildlife biologist in the Wisconsin Private Lands Office from 1992 - 2011. In this position, Art helped the USDA-NRCS administer the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and assisted the agency in the restoration of more than 16,000 acres of wetlands in Wisconsin. Art has received numerous awards in recognition for his work, including the 2005 National Cooperative Conservation Award and WWA’s 2008 Wetland Restoration Award. Bruce Moore is a water resources engineer for WDNR. Bruce is a registered professional engineer and hydrologist in WI and holds a graduate degree in environmental monitoring. He is a dedicated conservationist and a believer in maintaining a small footprint. His many contributions to protecting the environment include driving a car powered by vegetable oil and being a strong supporter of Wisconsin Wetlands Association as a volunteer, donor, and program participant. Alison Peña managed the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) for Wisconsin from its inception in 1994 until her retirement in 2010, during which time she closed more than 580 easements and saw restoration completed on over 50,000 acres. She also helped to draft the new WRP manual and assisted other states in efficiency management of the program. In 1990, Alison co-founded the grass roots organization Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, which has received national recognition for its work in trying to clean and restore the land of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant. Gene Roark was a co-founder of The Nature Conservancy-Wisconsin Chapter in 1960. He serves or has served on numerous boards and committees for diverse conservation groups, including: Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation, Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, Madison Audubon Society, Dane County Conservation League and Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (magazine editor). Gene is a former DNR employee, has worked in tourism and public relations for the state and as a private consultant. Carl Sinderbrand is a partner in the Madison law firm Axley Brynelson, where he practices environmental, construction, and government administrative law. A graduate of Oberlin College and UW Law School, he previously served as an assistant attorney general at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He is a former member of the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission, and currently is a member of the board of directors of Clean Wisconsin, Inc. John Wetzel retired from a 30 year career in Wildlife Biology with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources where he worked across the state, most recently in the Mississippi River Work Unit based in La Crosse. He is active in a number of conservation organizations related to waterfowl and the Mississippi River including: Wisconsin Wildlife Federation-Federation Board and Chair of the Waterfowl Committee, La Crosse Conservation Alliance, Mississippi River Citizens Commission, Mississippi Valley Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Ruffed Grouse Society, The Wildlife Society and Wisconsin Chapter, Audubon Society, and Brice Prairie Conservation Association. Paul Zedler is a Professor of Environmental Studies at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a senior scientist at the UW Arboretum. Paul previously worked at San Diego State University (SDSU) as director Biological Field Stations, biology professor, and chairman of the ecology program area. Paul holds a B.S. in English from UW-Milwaukee, and M.S. in Botany and Ph.D in Botany-Plant Ecology from UW-Madison. |
