Heather Hasenstein
SCIP Coordinator
heather@uppersugar.org
Heather has been the graphic designer for the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association (USRWA) for many years, and is now adding to that the title of Communications/Membership Coordinator for them, as well as SCIP’s Coordinator. Heather’s passion for nature led her to do graphic design work primarily for local environmental non-profits. She couldn’t bring herself to design for groups that she wasn’t passionate about, or groups that were actively polluting the environment, and was thrilled to find there was a need for her skills in the environmental arena. Her past experience as a Membership Coordinator has also proved very helpful. She combines these skills to keep information flowing between groups in an attractive and easily digestible way, and to get volunteers interested and motivated. She loves informing people about the plants and animals around them, and helping people to identify invasive species and eliminate or control them. If you bump into Heather in the field you will probably find her bent over studying a plant or insect, or with her eyes straining skyward to identify a bird overhead.
Matt Wallrath
SCIP Council Member
Matt is happy to continue his career as a conservationist with the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association. A Milwaukee born and Wisconsin educated ecologist, he started working in the environmental field in the Pacific Northwest when he served two terms as an AmeriCorps member doing wetland habitat restoration with the Washington Conservation Corps. After time as a Crew Supervisor with the Washington State Department of Ecology he moved to Orcas Island in the Salish Sea to teach outdoor education. On Orcas, he owned and operated his own landscape contractor company, Wallrath Fruit and Forest. Matt is proud to have helped found the Orcas Island Youth Conservation Corps, and to have served as an appointed Commissioner for the San Juan County Land Bank.
Matt returned to Wisconsin in 2016 to be closer to family and to pursue higher education. He completed a professional M.S. in Environmental Conservation in August 2018 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute. He most recently worked as the statewide Organisms in Trade Outreach Coordinator / Regulation Specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. When not at work you will find Matt teaching modern board games, on the ultimate Frisbee field, hiking, canoeing, and playing the tuba.
Ron French
SCIP Council Member
Mark Horn
SCIP Council Member
Mark Horn is a conservation journalist based in Baraboo, Wisconsin. A retired restoration ecologist, he remains active working with private landowners on land management, invasive species control and prescribed fire. He also has experience in organizational development and public outreach.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a BS in Education. He received an MBA from Upper Iowa University in 2005. He has worked for Biologic Environmental Consulting, Adaptive Restoration, LLC, and Quercus Land Stewardship.
Giving back is a bedrock ethical commitment for Mark. He is currently the Liability Insurance Committee Chair for the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council. Mark is a former Vice President and Development Chair for the Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, where he led the fundraising effort for purchase of a nineteen acre parcel which now houses successful community gardens and the John Bock Memorial Forest.
Other community participation includes one term as Middleton City Alderperson and six years as a firefighter for the Middleton Fire District. Mark has been an active volunteer with such groups as the Aldo Leopold Foundation, International Crane Foundation, Prairie Enthusiasts, South Central Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Ice Age Trail Alliance, Madison Audubon Society, Durward’s Glen Retreat Center, Wisconsin DNR State Natural Areas, Dane County Parks and Pinellas County (Florida) County Parks.
Jason Neton
SCIP Council Member
Jason moved to New Glarus with his family in 2014 seeking a home rooted in the countryside and opportunities to volunteer and participate with organizations dedicated to the environment and ecological issues. Jason has a degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has worked in genetic research and professional brewing during his career. He has been a member of the Town of New Glarus Parks Commission since 2018 and is an avid member of the Prairie Enthusiasts.