The SEWISC Board of Directors reluctantly bade farewell to Brian Russart, who joined the Board in 2008.  Brian served as Board Vice President for 3 years and as President for 2 years.  The achievements of SEWISC are due in large part to his leadership, hard work and commitment to quality, and he is moving on to share those talents with other nonprofit organizations.  Brian looks forward to continuing his involvement with SEWISC as an active member and program volunteer.

Succeeding Brian as President of the Board of Directors is former Vice President, Jerry Ziegler, who has served on the Board for the past 5 years. Other changes include 2 new Directors, Nan Calvert and Jason Tutkowski, who joined the Board in January and will each serve three-year terms. They bring the current board size to 14 members:

Nan Calvert is an ecological consultant and advisor providing education and guidance on native plant communities, native landscapes and invasive species. She currently works with the Kenosha/ Racine Land Trust, Inc. as the conservation and outreach coordinator. Since 2004 she has played a vital role with the Racine Dominican Eco-Justice Center in various capacities; currently serving on their board of directors, chairing the Program Committee and teaching summer camp. For over 10 years Nan served as President of the Wild Ones - Root River Chapter. In 2009, she was chosen as the Racine Dominican Woman of the Year for her work in the environmental community. Nan lives with her husband, dogs and horses on “11 acres of heaven” in the Town of Dover, Wisconsin.

Jason Tutkowski is a student at Carroll University majoring in Environmental Science.  He serves as a peer educator of earth science at Carroll to facilitate student-learning about broad environmental topics.  You might also catch Jason volunteering during the summer at Retzer Nature Center where he enjoys  assisting the naturalists in their efforts to control invasive species.  He also loves travelling to all the great natural areas of the U.S. and after eaning his bachelor’s degree, plans to attend graduate school to study ecology and geography.  Jason replaces past Student Board Member, Cassandra Rincon, who recently graduated from Alverno College.