About Friends of the Arboretum
Friends of the Arboretum (FOA) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that supports the work of the UW - Madison Arboretum. For 30 years, Friends of the Arboretum has provided volunteer and financial support and has assisted the Arboretum's efforts in community outreach and education, training of young scientists, ecological research and coordination of volunteers.
Proceeds from the membership program and fundraising events support FOA activities and Arboretum teaching, outreach and research activities. A special focus for the organization for the past several years has been to support Arboretum efforts to provide ecological restoration education and related experiences to children, families, teachers and citizens through naturalist-guided tours, classes, restoration projects, service learning programs, and volunteer involvement.
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Board of Directors 2009-2010
Our Mission
The Friends hope to enhance the Arboretum's capability to accomplish its research, education, and outreach by:
- Providing volunteer and financial support to the Arboretum
- Assisting with the Arboretum's varied educational and outreach activities
- Helping the Arboretum sustain its sense of history and tradition
- Offering benefits to its members, and
- Inspiring people to become involved with the Arboretum.
Our Vision
The Friends help foster positive relationships between people and the land through support of the UW-Madison Arboretum.
Our Board of Directors 2009-2010
Rob Wixson, President
Rob, beginning his second term as President, is currently serving his second term on the board. He is a long time Friend of the Arboretum and an even longer user of the Arboretum. He grew up in Nakoma with the Arboretum as his back yard and playground. John Curtis, the father of a close friend, initially inspired his interest in the land. Over the years Rob has continued to be an active user of the Arboretum and has enjoyed hiking, biking, skiing, and more recently, snow shoeing the many trails. He has practiced law in the City of Madison since 1972 and has served on the board of directors of the Dane County Bar Association and Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin. Rob is a member of the Leopold Restoration Awards Judges Team.
Tami Van Galder Patel, Vice President
Tami, starting her second year as vice president, is in her third year on the Board this year, and has spearheaded efforts to increase corporate memberships. She discovered the Arboretum as a runner while she was in law school. Tami grew up in Southern Wisconsin where her large extended family has lived for generations. She left Wisconsin to attend Bradley University where she played basketball and graduated with a B.A. in Economics. After Tami graduated from Bradley, she moved to Madison and worked as an economic consultant until she began graduate school. After receiving her J.D. from UW-Madison and an M.P.A. from the La Follette Institute of Public Affairs, Tami moved to Chicago and began practicing law at Sidley & Austin LLP. Tami's practice focused on the tax-aspects of mergers and acquisitions, partnership formations, and financings. In addition, she aided nonprofit entities in obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status. After four years in Chicago, Tami returned to Madison and practiced law at Reinhart Boerner & Van Deuren SC until the birth of her first daughter. Tami is now enjoying staying at home with her two young girls and is looking forward to sharing all the Arboretum has to offer with her family.
Fran Keally, Secretary
Fran, starting her fourth year as board secretary, first enjoyed the Arboretum as a runner while a graduate student in the Water Resources Management program at the University of Wisconsin in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s she cross country skied there with her husband, which, by the mid 1990s, turned into hikes with her two daughters and participation in the weekend family programs. In 2000 she biked through the Arboretum as she trained for a 500 mile ride across Wisconsin to celebrate turning fifty. Finally, during the summers of 2003 and 2004, her oldest daughter volunteered as a naturalist's assistant for the Earth Focus Day Camp. She has recently co-chaired the Nominating Committee and helped with the silent auction. Fran is currently a wastewater specialist with the Department of Natural Resources. She loves to travel, read, and bike.
Mareda Weiss, Treasurer
Mareda, a long-time member of FOA, retired in 2002 after a 38-year career at UW-Madison as an Associate Dean of the Graduate School, where her responsibilities included administrative oversight of the Arboretum, and as the UW-Madison Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. She is beginning her fourth year as board treasurer. Mareda is active in several national research policy groups and served as treasurer of the National Council of Research Administrators and chair of the Midwest Region. She received the national award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Administration in 2001 from this organization and the UW-Madison's award for Excellence in Leadership in 1997. Her previous board experience includes Friends of WHA-TV, vice president of the University Club, president of the University Women's Service Club, vice president of the University Insurance Association. Mareda also served as the UW-Madison's chair for the State Employees Combined Campaign in 1986. She is an enthusiastic supporter of The Nature Conservancy, Madison Audubon Society's Goose Pond Sanctuary, and Operation Migration and enjoys traveling, hiking, birding, golfing and biking. In addition to her board duties as treasurer, Mareda has been active in the Native Plant Sale and other events.
Jim Armstrong
Jim, serving his second term on the board, is Founder and Creative Director of Good for Business, a socially responsible marketing communications firm headquartered in Madison, WI. Believing a business isn't a brand to be built, but a cause to be believed in, the firm's work ranges from clients in the UK to the U.N. to the UW. Jim previously served as Partner/Creative Director with the Sterling Rice Group, a leading integrated brand development firm as well as President of Armstrong Creative for 12 years. Jim has a M.A. in Poetry and continues to write and publish poetry. He has developed a workshop called CorPoet which helps corporations find its authentic language, voice and purpose through poetry and other creative exercises. Jim serves on the Milestones Project Council and the Wisconsin Academy of Science Arts and Letters Board. He is married to Kathy, a fine artist. They have three children, Emily, Megan and Michael. Jim has been instrumental in helping the board develop marketing materials and become more familiar with web-based information.
Matt Carlson
Matt, new to the Board this year, is a partner at the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP where he practices in the areas of real estate and land use law, including assisting individuals and non-profit entities with planning activities related to conservation easements and similar matters. Matt first fell in love with the Arboretum during his undergraduate days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the early 1990's. After returning in the late 90's to the Madison area from law school in Boston, Matt renewed his active use of the Arboretum, where he enjoyed running, biking, hiking and skiing the many wonderful trails. Now, with two young children, the nature of Matt's "active" use of the Arboretum has changed somewhat, but he and his family remain frequent visitors who enjoy observing and identifying the myriad birds and native plant species that the Arboretum hosts in its many unique landscapes. Matt is also a member of the Downtown Madison, Inc. Board of Directors and a founding member and the current president of the Friends of Capital Springs Recreation Area, Inc.
Tom Blewett
Tom has been a member of FOA since returning to the Madison area in the mid-90', and is serving his second term on the board and his fifth year as the chair of the Leopold Restoration Awards Judges Team. He currently serves as an associate state program director for University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension and is a professor in the Department of Community Resource Development. Tom previously worked as a county extension educator and state specialist in Extension. Prior to coming to Extension, he was an environmental specialist and bureau chief with Iowa DNR, an environmental biology professor at Clarke College in Iowa, and an environmental consultant. Tom earned a B.S. degree in botany at Iowa State University, and two master's degrees and a Ph.D. from UW-Madison. The Arboretum prairie restoration experience from the 1930's and 1940's through 1976 served as his Ph.D. research topic.
Tim Eisele
Tim, new to the board this year, has been a member for many years. As a full-time freelance outdoor writer and photographer, he writes articles for many publications, including The Capital Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, and Wisconsin Outdoor News, and is the editor of Woodland Management magazine for the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association. Tim is a founding member and past-president of the Wisconsin Outdoor Communicator's Association and an active member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America; he has served on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, on the Board of Governors of the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Trees For Tomorrow in Eagle River. Tim was selected as the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation's Conservation Communicator of the Year (2009), received the Conservation Congress Outdoor Writer's Award (2001), the Greater Madison Convention and Visitor's Bureau Hometown Hero Award (2004), the Wisconsin Woodland Owner Association's Distinguished Service Award (2001), and the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation's Outdoor Writer Award (1997 and 2004). Tim, and his wife Linda, own and manage 100 acres in Crawford County to benefit wildlife, and were selected as the Wisconsin Chapter of the NWTF Wild Turkey Woodland Owners of the Year in 2005 for their work. They have restored 8 acres of prairie, and conducted clearcuts to regenerate oak and aspen.
Bill Hantke
Bill, beginning his second year on the board this year, was first introduced to the UW-Madison Arboretum in 1968 during a visit with a Botany class to study spring flowers and native plants. Since Bill grew up on a farm in Southern Wisconsin he has always appreciated the treasures that nature and the outdoors have provided for us to enjoy. After receiving his M.S. degree in Food Chemistry and Business from UW-Madison, he moved to Australia, before eventually settling in California for 32 years. He established his own packaging machinery business and after 20 years sold it, then retired to follow his house remodeling interest. However, the "Call of the Mid-West" soon lured Bill and his wife Leslie to move back to Madison with a purchase of their home in the Arboretum. Currently, Bill serves as a fraternity alumni advisor, a member of the UW Chancellors Commission on Fraternities and Sororities, the National Alpha Gamma Rho Educational Foundation Board and the Arboretum Neighborhood Association Board. The Arboretum provides him many opportunities to enjoy running, bicycling and nature walks and he is looking forward to giving back to the Arboretum for the opportunity of living in such a unique and wonderful environment. Bill has been an active member of the Native Plant Sale Committee and co-chair of the Nominating Committee.
Darcy Kind
Darcy, starting her second year on the board, is a conservation biologist with the Bureau of Endangered Resources, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, assisting private landowners with prairie and savanna management, restoration and land protection. Previous to working with rare plants and animals, she worked with the DNR's wildlife management program in both upland game and deer management. Darcy has also worked as a naturalist at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center and in experiential education at YMCA Camp Manito-wish. She has a degree from Lawrence University, Appleton, WI. Previously she served on the board of the Mendota Rowing Club. When not roaming southern Wisconsin's hills and valleys, she enjoys gardening, biking and watching her dog Lily frolic through life. She has been active with the Native Plant Sale and helped secure donations for the fall Silent Auction.
Peter Livingston
Peter, serving his second term on the board, has been involved in analyzing data from the recent FOA membership survey. He is a market researcher and product planner in the marketing communications firm he shares with his wife, Susan Stark. Most of his work is with credit unions (both in this country and abroad). Peter is a supporter of the Sierra Club, Clean Wisconsin and The Nature Conservancy. Since moving to Spring Green in 2000, he has worked hard to restore an 11-acre prairie at his home. Peter has an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a master's from the University of Chicago, both in sociology. Prior to forming their firm, Peter and his wife worked for the Credit Union National Association, Inc. Peter ran their research and economics division and led several key product development efforts. Peter has served on several boards, including 20 years on the board of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union. Before coming to Madison, he worked in rural Guatemala with producer cooperatives and credit unions. Peter enjoys snowshoeing on his land, bicycling in warmer weather, nature photography, birding, world travel, opera and other classical music, and his family-not necessarily in that order.
Sal Troia
Sal, beginning his second year on the board, has lived near the Arboretum most of his life and been a member of FOA for many years. He has spent many hours hiking on the trails and riding through the Arboretum on his bicycle as an avid cyclist and bicycle racer. Sal was in the banking business for 28 years and was involved in two bank mergers as a senior executive of the acquired bank. At both Valley Bancorporation and Marshall & Ilsley Corporation he organized and was president of a subsidiary company which provided customer support services for all bank branches. He has served on many professional and business boards during his banking career and has served as president for a number of them. Sal has always enjoyed being outdoors in nature and since retiring his volunteer interests have turned to the environment and the lakes. He is currently on the Yahara Lakes Association board (having served as its president in the past) and the Wisconsin Association of Lakes (WAL) board (as treasurer and member of the executive committee). He also serves on the board for Porchlight, Inc., a local organization striving for solutions to homelessness by providing emergency shelter, food, employment services, counseling and affordable transitional and permanent housing. Sal is pleased to be joining the FOA board and says, "Having an extensive area of natural communities occupying 1,200 acres right in the middle of Madison for all to enjoy is incredible. No other city in the world I've visited has anything like the Arboretum."" Sal has joined the Nominating Committee this year.
Rachelle VanGalder
Rachelle, new to the Friends of the Arboretum, grew up in the Wisconsin Coulee Region near La Crosse and spent many of her childhood summers on the shores of Lake Superior. She received her bachelor degree in history from Lawrence University. After earning her degree she worked on two political campaigns, a Presidential and US Senate race, and for the Offices of James Carville and Mary Matalin outside of Washington, DC. She returned to Wisconsin to study accounting at the University of WisconsinÐLa Crosse. In 2005, Rachelle moved to the Madison area to work at the accounting firm of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP. As a CPA, she continues to enjoy her work at Baker Tilly as an auditor of local governments and municipalities. She especially relishes spring strolls through the Arboretum while lilacs and crab apple tress are blooming. Rachelle hopes to help the Arboretum fulfill its mission of environmental stewardship.