Administration
Karen Oberhauser, Director
608-262-2748 | koberhauser@wisc.edu
Karen joined the Arboretum in 2017 after 32 years studying monarch butterflies and teaching at the University of Minnesota. She loves working at the Arboretum because it blends her passions for environmental education, conservation research, and habitat conservation, and because the staff, volunteers, and friends of the Arboretum are an amazing team. Her favorite Arboretum moments occur during her daily walk (or bike ride) to work through the Leopold Pines and Curtis Prairie, where she is constantly reminded of the legacy that this team is carrying on.
Susan Day, Communications Manager
608-265-3355 | susan.day@wisc.edu
Susan has been at the Arboretum since 2013. She has been a communications professional for more than 10 years and an editor and publication manager for more than 20. She enjoys collaborating with coworkers and sharing stories and images of the Arboretum’s wide-ranging expertise, work on the land, and ever-changing habitats and scenery. Her favorite places are the Grady Tract oak savannas, Curtis Prairie when the grasses and wildflowers tower overhead, and the pine forests. She is grateful for this rich natural resource in the middle of Madison and all who work to care for it.
Brad Freihoefer, Visitor Center Manager
608-265-5215 | bfreihoefer@wisc.edu
Brad joined the Arboretum in January of 2022. For more than a decade, Brad previously served as a cultural center director at Iowa State University. Raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, Brad spent much of their youth learning outdoors around the Baraboo bluffs. They enjoy assisting others and are grateful for the opportunity to welcome guests from around the world and provide an excellent and memorable visitor experience. Brad’s favorite places at the Arboretum includes Leopold Pines and the Wingra Oak Savanna.
Judy Kingsbury, Volunteer Program Manager
608-262-5604 | judith.kingsbury@wisc.edu
Judy started at the Arboretum as a volunteer with Earth Focus Day Camp. She has worked as a naturalist and ranger and became the volunteer program coordinator in 2002. Judy enjoys working with volunteers and her fellow employees to take care of this special and significant place. Some of her favorite sites include Teal Pond, West Curtis Prairie, and the bench in the Longenecker Horticultural Garden’s pinetum.
Erica Lee, Advancement Manager
608-263-7889 | ealee7@wisc.edu
Erica joined the Arboretum in fall 2018, bringing nearly 20 years of nonprofit development experience. She has worked at a variety of organizations in the United States and Ireland, including the Field Museum in Chicago. She is a self-professed ‘data nerd’ and a lover of lilacs. She enjoys spending her lunch break walking through the Arboretum gardens.
Chad MacWilliams, Custodian
Chad has been the Arboretum custodian since 1999, when the Visitor Center addition was under construction. In addition to maintaining the Visitor Center and outbuildings, he enjoys mowing in the tree collection, making repairs, removing snow, and helping on the prescribed fire crew.
Amy Novak, Custodian
Amy Novak joined the Arboretum staff in the fall of 2016. Serving as weekend support, she is grateful to be a part of this legendary and sacred space. Her favorite moments include sightings of screech owls, crane families, coyotes, and hawks. Her favorite time is driving into the Arboretum at dawn. The peace and tranquility here are unmatched.
Land Care
Michael Hansen, Land Care Manager
608-262-3289, 608-225-3995 | michael.hansen@wisc.edu
Michael joined the Arboretum land care crew in August 2006. Prior to that he worked for The Nature Conservancy, the Illinois DNR, the Virginia Department of Conservation, and a private restoration contractor in Wisconsin. He gets most excited about prairie ecology and management, but over the years has come to appreciate the woodlands and wetlands, too. His favorite parts of the Arboretum are the remnant prairies and oak savannas of the Grady Tract as he feels they best represent what Dane County would have looked like before European settlement.
David Stevens, Ed Hasselkus Curator, Longenecker Horticultural Gardens
608-890-4825 | david.stevens@wisc.edu
David started in 2015, becoming the third curator since the Gardens’ inception in 1935 to oversee the largest and most diverse collection of woody plants in the state. His work background includes tree breeding and selection, greenhouse facility management, public garden supervision, and commercial vegetable production. He has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in horticulture from UW–Madison. When not at the Arboretum, he manages his family’s certified organic farm by Baraboo. Outside of the Gardens, his favorite Arboretum site is the Spring Trail Pond area, with its mixture of secluded open spaces and historic stonework.
Susan Carpenter, Wisconsin Native Plant Garden Curator
608-262-2445 | susan.carpenter@wisc.edu
On the Arboretum staff since 2003, Susan teams up with garden designer Darrel Morrison, staff colleagues, students, and community volunteers to care for and monitor the Wisconsin Native Plant Garden—which is used for learning, inspiration, and enjoyment. She values how everyday garden observations, chance events, and new questions lead to rich educational opportunities, research, and community participation in science and stewardship. Her favorite Arboretum hikes are the 10K route around Lake Wingra and slower walks through prairie, savanna, woodlands, and gardens while photographing bumble bees.
Chelsea Camp, Natural Resource Specialist
608-262-3289 | clcamp2@wisc.edu
Chelsea graduated from UW-Green Bay in 2018 with a biology degree, with an emphasis in ecology and conservation. She has worked as a biological science technician at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary as well as the U.S. Forest Service in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Chelsea also worked as a restoration technician in the private sector before joining the Arboretum in January 2021. She loves to see the positive impact that restored and maintained natural areas have on native insect and animal populations and will never miss a chance to identify an unfamiliar insect. She enjoys any area of the Arboretum where she can find interesting and unique insects.
Julia Czaplewski, Horticultural Specialist
608-262-3289 | jaczaplewski@wisc.edu
Julia graduated from UW–Stevens Point in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in botany, primarily focusing her studies on taxonomy and environmental ethics. Before joining the Arboretum in May 2022, she interned at The Boerner Botanical Gardens and Farmshed’s Growing Collective, a Stevens Point agricultural nonprofit. She most appreciates working at the Arboretum because of the way Longenecker Horticultural Gardens is situated amidst beautiful and historic restored natural areas. Her favorite section of Longenecker Horticultural Gardens is the larch collection, and her favorite section of the Arboretum is the Skunk Cabbage Wetlands.
Christopher Kregel, Natural Resource Crew Leader
608-262-3289 | christopher.kregel@wisc.edu
Christopher began his restoration career in 2008 after getting a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in agricultural industries. He has worked for many different nonprofits including The Nature Conservancy and the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Christopher started working for the Arboretum in 2013. He loves working here because he gets to continue his passion of increasing habitat for species of high conservation value. Christopher’s favorite parts of the Arboretum are Wingra Oak Savanna in spring, the Wingra Overlook Prairie/Wingra Woods area, and the Grady Tract.
Balin Magee, Natural Resource Specialist
608-262-3289 | bmagee2@wisc.edu
Balin graduated from UW–Stevens Point with degrees in forest management and Spanish. Before coming to the Arboretum, he worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Dane County Parks, and a private restoration company in Wisconsin. Balin feels honored to be working at the place where restoration ecology started. His favorite part of the Arboretum is the Grady Tract and all of its remnant plant communities.
Stephanie Petersen, Ranger
608-262-2746 | smpetersen2@wisc.edu
Stephanie joined the Arboretum staff in February 2018. Prior to that she worked with various conservation corps in Idaho, Iowa, Texas, and West Virginia. In 2012 she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in Environmental Studies and Art. Stephanie’s favorite part about working here is being out on the trails everyday interacting with visitors. Her favorite place in the Arboretum is Wingra Woods and she especially enjoys the cultural history of the effigy mounds.
Lance Rudy, Natural Resource Specialist
608-262-3289 | lrudy2@wisc.edu
Lance graduated from Iowa State University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology. After college, he worked for Conservation Corps Iowa doing land restoration for various organizations. He joined the Arboretum in 2016 as a restoration technician. Lance’s favorite part about working here is being able to create native habitat for wildlife and getting to restore the amazing land that the Arboretum has to offer. His favorite area is the Grady Tract because of its diversity of plants and habitat types.
Education and Outreach
Gail Epping Overholt, Education Program Manager
608-262-5522 | gail.overholt@wisc.edu
Gail joined the staff on January 11, 2017, Aldo Leopold’s birthday. She chose the date specifically for that significance. A personal goal for Gail is to help people of all ages see the “land” as a community of soil, water, and living organisms—not excluding people. Having a special affinity for looking at issues with her eyes on the water, she looks forward to getting to know the Arboretum by canoe or kayak as well as the trail. It’s a wonderful reminder of the interconnectedness and interdependence of the land community—not excluding ourselves!
Marian Farrior, Restoration Outreach Coordinator
608-265-5214 | marian.farrior@wisc.edu
As the restoration work party manager since 2002, Marian has organized and led the volunteer work parties and the restoration team leader training program at the Arboretum. She has worked in the environmental field as a consultant and educator for over 25 years. At the Arboretum, she has taught classes about pattern in nature, biomimcry, permaculture, and forest garden design, and she co-leads the Wisconsin Master Naturalist volunteer training course. She is grateful for all the dedicated volunteers who help tend this urban oasis, where native plants flourish and wild critters thrive.
Annie Isenbarger, Journey North Outreach Associate
aisenbarger@wisc.edu
Annie joined the Arboretum team in 2021 with over two decades of experience in the field of K–12 and post-secondary education, including work in schools, government, and non-profit organizations. She enjoys tracking seasonal changes and migration patterns across North America with the citizen scientists of Journey North. Annie loves phenology and is grateful for her first-hand experience with seasonal changes in the Arboretum, particularly Gallistel Woods in the fall.
Jennifer Mitchell, Youth and Community Education Coordinator
608-265-5872 | jennifer.mitchell@wisc.edu
Jennifer has been at the Arboretum since 2007. Her favorite part of her job is working with the children, youth, and families that participate in our programs because she loves sharing her love of outdoor discoveries with others. Jennifer enjoys the Arboretum in all seasons—the golden yellow of the maple trees in Wingra and Gallistel woods in the fall, the stillness of Icke Boardwalk in the winter, the frogs calling from the ponds in the spring, and the gardens and prairies in the summer.
Anne Pearce, Adult and Community Engagement Coordinator
608-263-3774 | anne.pearce@wisc.edu
Anne joined the Arboretum staff in January 2023, bringing over 10 years of experience in environmental education and natural resources outreach. She first came to love the Arboretum as an undergrad and later got to know it even better as a restoration team leader for 5 years. Anne enjoys helping people connect to the Arboretum’s places and people. One of her favorite places in the Arboretum is Wingra Woods.
Nancy Sheehan, Journey North Program Coordinator
608-890-0948 | nsheehan@wisc.edu
Nancy joined the Arboretum in fall 2018 after managing the Rock River Coalition volunteer stream monitoring program for seven years. Nancy is passionate about citizen science. She earned a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale University. She also served in the Peace Corps in West Africa and, after working in the field of international development, moved to Madison to pursue further graduate studies at the UW–Madison Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. Nancy lives in a Lake Wingra neighborhood. She has many cherished memories of visiting natural springs, listening to sandhill cranes, and cross-country skiing in the Arboretum.
Maddie Smith, Outreach Specialist
msmith79@wisc.edu
Maddie graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology and the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a master’s degree in environmental conservation. Since first joining the Arboretum staff as an Earth Focus Day Camp naturalist during summer 2022, she has been involved in a variety of projects related to outreach and research at the Arboretum. Maddie loves a good story—her favorite Arboretum moments are when people come together to tell tales, jokes, and memories from the trails and gardens of the Arb. She is thankful to work in a place that sparks wonder in people of all ages.
Research and Ecological Restoration Studies
Brad Herrick, Research Program Manager and Ecologist
608-263-7344 | bradley.herrick@wisc.edu
Brad joined the Arboretum staff in 2007. He is a plant ecologist and particularly enjoys spending time in wetlands, prairies, and oak savannas. His research interests include plant community ecology, jumping worm biology and ecology, and environmental monitoring. He feels lucky and humbled to work alongside and learn from passionate and dedicated colleagues. His favorite Arboretum moments are the unexpected encounters: watching a coyote trot through Longenecker Horticultural Gardens, listening to a Great Horned Owl call in the Lost City Forest, or silently watching a red-headed woodpecker dance around a snag looking for a meal.
Danielle Tanzer, Data and GIS Coordinator
608-265-0535 | dtanzer@wisc.edu
Danielle joined the Arboretum team in January 2023. She’s a data person who loves a good map. In 2022, she earned her masters degree in natural resources from the University of Connecticut. Her past work includes applying GIS and data science for a variety of ecological research and land management projects. New to Wisconsin, Danielle is excited to explore the beautiful ecosystems here at the Arboretum and to watch as they change throughout the seasons. She is also looking forward to reading through the bookstore’s extensive non-fiction selections.
Julia Whidden, Citizen Science Coordinator
608-890-0018 | jwhidden@wisc.edu
Julia joined the Arboretum team in 2021 and is a newcomer to Wisconsin from Canada. She earned her masters degree in biology from Acadia University in Nova Scotia in 2015, after which she was a Fulbright Visiting Researcher in shark conservation at the University of Miami. She is passionate about Citizen Science and womxn in STEM, having founded a science and nature exploration nonprofit for girls and underrepresented genders in 2018 called Terranaut Club. Julia is enamored by sandhill cranes and oak savannas, and loves to explore the Arboretum’s seasonal changes.
Friends of the Arboretum
608-571-5362 | staff@foamadison.org