Kady joined the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance in 2025 after relocating to Madison from Portland, Oregon. Originally from California, she earned a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and after moving to Portland, completed a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Natural Resource Policy Administration from Portland State University. With over 10 years of experience in environmental nonprofit development, Kady is excited to connect people of all backgrounds to nature and become an active part of the Madison community. Prior to joining SoWBA, she worked for the Bird Alliance of Oregon. Outside of work, Kady can be found chasing her two young children around outdoors, camping, and exploring the city by bike.

Kady’s favorite birds are the California Condor, Indigo Bunting, and Red-winged Blackbird. 

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Brenna began her adventure with Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance as a summer ecological intern in 2007 at Faville Grove Sanctuary. That internship helped determine her career path in nature-related nonprofit work, and eventually led her back to the organization 2016. Brenna graduated from UW–Madison in 2008 with degrees in Geography, Environmental Studies, and International Studies. Prior to joining SoWBA in her current capacity, she served as the Outreach Coordinator at the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute, where she fell in love with pollinators, short-horned lizards, and open spaces. She enjoys gardening, hiking, cross-country skiing, and taking her kids on canoe and bike rides.

Brenna’s favorite bird is the Northern Flicker.

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Mark and Sue have managed and expanded Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance's Goose Pond Sanctuary since 1979. Mark graduated from UW–Stevens Point where he majored in wildlife management. He worked at the Wisconsin DNR beginning as a Wildlife Technician in 1971 and eventually working as a Conservation Biologist with the Bureau of Endangered Resource’s State Natural Areas program until December 2011. Mark is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and certified to conduct prescribed burns and apply herbicides. His favorite bird is the Wood Duck.

Sue holds associate and bachelor degrees in Marketing and Business, and worked as the education coordinator for the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center in Poynette. She went on to work for DNR’s Bureau of Endangered Resources as a Conservation Biologist until 2009, where she developed the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail and assisted with the design and development of five new Endangered Resource license plates. She returned to the DNR briefly to assist with listing Wisconsin’s cave bat species as “threatened” due to white-nose syndrome. Her favorite bird is the Greater Prairie Chicken.

Mark and Sue are heavily involved with conservation groups in Wisconsin, and they enjoy restoring wetland, savanna, and prairie on their land in Columbia and Dane counties. They like to travel west to visit our National Parks and enjoy fishing the Boundary Waters. In April 2023, they were inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame!

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Mickenzee has always loved the outdoors and just in the past few years dove into the world of bird lovers. She earned her BS in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she found her passion for birds and environmental education. Mickenzee is so excited to be a part of the education team at Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and to show her community that nature is everywhere and belongs to everyone. Her involvement in her college’s Equity and Diversity Committee sparked her passion for increased representation and inclusion of people of color in outdoor spaces. In her spare time you will often find Mickenzee reading in a hammock, hiking, and birding.

Her favorite birds are Whooping Cranes, Black-necked Stilts, and Barred Owls.

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Jenn began her career in conservation working for the Michigan DNR in her teens before leaving the Midwest to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lewis and Clark College and a PhD in animal behavior from University of California–Davis. Jenn fell in love with Wisconsin and moved there to serve as executive director of the Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. While there, she launched the Neighborhood Habitat Improvement Project to help communities plant native species to improve habitat for birds and insects (and people!). After stepping back from the role for health reasons, Jenn founded Ember & Evergreen, creating collage art from repurposed materials that interprets science and nature. When not working or dreaming about art, she can be found playing with her two rescue dogs, taking meandering walks in the woods with her husband, or learning about the ever-increasing number of insect species in her garden.

When Emma first volunteered at Goose Pond in 2019, she knew that grasslands, the species they support, and the people who protect them were going to play a tremendous part in her life. After graduating from UW-Madison in Conservation Biology and English in 2021, she became a Prairie Partner intern and worked at five natural areas, including Goose Pond. She continued working at Goose Pond as a fall seed collector before working at the DNR as a LTE wildlife technician. She returned to Goose Pond in April 2022 and has loved observing the phenology of the prairie through the seasons.

Some of Emma’s favorite species include eastern red bat, shamrock orb weaver, prairie potentilla, purple prairie clover, and Northern Harrier.

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Penny and Gary Shackelford retired from medical careers in 2002 and moved to Wisconsin to manage their property in rural Rock County full-time. Although Penny and Gary both have backgrounds in the medical sciences, Fair Meadows provides a never-ending challenge for them to study and learn new things about native habitats, land management, and the myriad living and nonliving features of the natural world. Participation in numerous conservation organizations bolstered their understanding of and dedication to habitat restoration.

Penny loves living on the land. Her joy is to watch the natural landscape recover and native species return and flourish. Her favorite plants are the bur oak, great angelica, swamp thistle, and eastern prairie fringed orchid. Her favorite birds are the Sedge Wren, American Woodcock, Scarlet Tanager, and Indigo Bunting.

Gary has a special interest in nature photography. His close relationship with Fair Meadows has provided him with the opportunity to concentrate on making intimate portraits of its flora, fauna, and natural communities in all seasons, and the images that he creates has given him a greater understanding of its ecosystem. Going beyond the documentation of subjects, Gary strives to convey his personal response through images that inspire others with their beauty. His favorite photographic subjects are birds.

Kaitlin is excited to share the incredible work of the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance with the community, joining the team after roles in publishing, libraries, and schools. An avid volunteer at Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center and various bird banding projects, Kaitlin holds degrees in psychology and writing from Northwestern University in addition to an MLIS and UX certificate from University of Wisconsin–Madison. Kaitlin is passionate about improving access to nature, especially in the birding world, and served as the Wisconsin Birdability Captain. When not birding or talking about birds, they love spending time outside with their spouse and dog—hiking, biking, or gardening with native plants.

Cranes and corvids are among their favorite birds.

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Matt works as an attorney specializing in commercial real estate law. He currently is the General Counsel for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). Prior to WHEDA, Matt was an associate at Quarles & Brady, LLP for almost eight years, where he practiced in the firm’s commercial real estate group. He has broad experience in multiple facets of real estate law, including purchase and sales, financing, zoning and land use, and construction law. Prior to his career in law, he was an Environmental Engineer, working on brownfield issues in Chicago. Matt is married and has two young daughters. The family happily ran a monarch nursery this past summer, successfully releasing seven butterflies into the wild. He enjoys hiking, climbing (in younger days), and running.

Pat has been a financial advisor for 30 years, and active in ecological restoration for about as long. Starting in 1990, he began restoring a prairie on his family’s farm. It became Wisconsin’s first Glacial Habitat Restoration Project, insuring it would never be developed. He finished a book in 2003, Observation from a Wisconsin Prairie, describing the restoration and the culture that surrounds it. He is actively restoring and preserving the Lewiston Bog in Columbia County, a 605-acre wild area with rare orchids, wild rice, uncommon songbirds, and grey wolves. He is an advocate for wetland and prairie restoration, dam removal, and our native flora and fauna. He lives on his prairie, between Randolph and Beaver Dam with his wife Angel, and their two children Ben & Livi.

A lifelong Madisonian, Jasmine is a mother of one and grandmother of two, currently working at Operation Fresh Start. In her role, she lives out the mission of empowering emerging adults on a path to self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training. Jasmine never saw herself as a “bird nerd” until she listened to Dexter Patterson, co-founder of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, being interviewed by Angela Russell on an episode of Black Oxygen. This sparked her interest, leading her to join a birding event at Cherokee Marsh. She quickly fell in love—not just with birding but with the community that came along with it. Since then, Jasmine has been hooked. In addition to birding, she enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, and simply being outdoors.

Klara Henry works as an environmental and land use attorney in Madison, with a focus on water law and environmental remediation issues. She grew up in Chicago, but lived in Boston and Austin for many years before moving to Madison in 2024, and has loved exploring the different natural landscapes (and birds!) of each of the places she’s lived. She is passionate about environmental justice and lawmaking that protects natural resources, for the benefit of both wildlife and human beings. Klara and her husband have combined a goal of visiting every US National Park with adding new bird species to their life list—most recently, they spotted an American Dipper in Glacier National Park. Klara is also an avid watercolor artist, Dane County Humane Society volunteer, and teaches yoga in her spare time.

Darcy Kind grew up spending time outdoors in rural Winnebago Co., Wisconsin where she learned an appreciation of nature and conservation ethics from her parents and surroundings. Darcy currently works as a conservation biologist with the WDNR. Her work is focused on helping private landowners in the Driftless Area create and maintain habitat for at-risk species. Aside from being in an incredible landscape, the best part of her job is working with and learning from so many dedicated and passionate landowners. She and her husband live in Madison, and in addition to outdoor recreation they also enjoy music and art.

For as long as he can remember, Matt Krueger has been an “outdoors person.” From canoe country paddling trips and pheasant hunting as a Minnesota kid, to exploring in all forms the woods and waters of Wisconsin as an adult, wild places have always held a sacred place in his life. When he isn’t hiking, fishing, watching birds, paddling, or hunting, he works as Executive Director of Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association, a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for and supports the efforts of county conservation department staff and supervisors. Prior to that, he worked for the River Alliance of Wisconsin for ten years. Matt lives in Madison with his wife, daughter, and dog.

Lisa grew up an outdoor enthusiast spending summers with her family on the beach on Lake Superior in Northern Michigan. She developed a love for nature, wildlife, conservation and habitat preservation. She moved to Madison in 2006, where she was first introduced to bird watching. After her first experience with spring migration, she was hooked! The experience grew into a passion for bird conservation, sharing the experience of bird watching and promote practices to preserve the experience for future generations. Lisa practices Medical Oncology in Wisconsin and obtained a Volunteer Master Naturalist Certification in 2018.

Janet Silbernagel is the founder and sole proprietor of Silvernail Studio for Geodesign, LLC. Prior to starting this practice in 2020, Janet was a professor (now emerita) of landscape architecture and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Washington State University. During her faculty tenure, Janet conducted landscape conservation research around the world and collaborated with the International Crane Foundation for over 10 years. Janet began her career as a landscape architect and landscape ecologist with the US Forest Service. Today her work at Silvernail applies the power of geospatial analysis through the landscape planning/design process, connecting people to place through maps, stories, and sustainable design.

Yoyi Steele is a career public servant with 23 years (and counting) at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She spent the first part of her career engaged in statewide bird conservation efforts as coordinator of the Wisconsin Important Bird Areas program. Currently, she is a property planner, leading efforts to develop master plans for DNR properties around the state. Yoyi remains passionate about birds and bird conservation, and also enjoys music, travel, and being outside. She lives in Fort Atkinson with her husband and son.