INPAWS Officers to Be Elected at AC2011
An important item for the business meeting at the upcoming INPAWS Annual Conference is the election of new leaders. We thank these volunteers for stepping up to the challenge of keeping INPAWS vibrant and growing through the next two years. Please make it a point to greet the new leadership team at the conference and give them a vote of confidence.
Art Hopkins and his wife Glory live just outside Columbus, in the south-central part of Indiana. Their three acres are mostly wooded now, with almost all native plants, and there’s less than half as much lawn as when they bought it 20 years ago, though still a bit too much. Art has been a member of INPAWS since 1996, has written some newsletter articles, and presently serves as INPAWS Vice President. A Registered Landscape Architect with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University and more than twenty years’ experience, Art is drawn to native plants and sustainable design. When not working, he enjoys volunteering with the Boy Scouts, camping, canoeing, and cycling. He and Glory have two almost-grown children, a Valparaiso University junior and a high school senior. Art looks forward to helping INPAWS continue to grow over the next two years as President.
Melissa Moran lives in the Nora area on the northside of Indianapolis with her husband, Dan, and daughters Monica and Helen. She has been most involved with INPAWS as plant sale co-chair, having served in this role in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010. She enjoys working with native plants on her home property, with much help from her family, and admits there is more she would do if only time and resources allowed. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and a Master’s degree in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin; she now works for ARCADIS. She looks forward to continuing her involvement in INPAWS in the new role of Vice President.
Chris Carlson, illustrator of Ruth Ann Ingraham’s book, Swimming with Frogs, was the first editor of INPAWS Journal. She credits her four-wheel drive vehicle with being instrumental in the founding of INPAWS, as founder Bill Brink used it to plow through a snowstorm to attend the organizational meeting at Ruth Ann and Joe Ingraham’s house. Retiring after 11 years of fundraising and friendraising with Butler University’s Office of Advancement, Chris has gone back to freelance writing and illustrating and is active with civic organizations and Friends of White River. She gave her lawnmower away four years ago and is doing everything she can to live a green and sustainable existence with the four furry kids that share her home. She admits to being a serious collector of party lights! May they shine brightly on her new role as Recording Secretary.
Fiona Becker has worked for The Nature Conservancy in Indiana since 1998, starting out as a field steward doing prairie and wetland restoration in Northwest Indiana. She has spent the last 10 years working with geographic information systems (GIS), doing conservation planning, and weeding the native landscaping at the Indianapolis office. Fiona and her husband Doug live in the Fountain Square neighborhood, just southeast of downtown Indianapolis. Fiona gained some notoriety with the City of Indianapolis over the last few years due to the “tall weeds” that she has planted in the native prairie landscaping in her front yard. She’s now a proud member of the SustainIndy Garden Registry. When Fiona isn’t tending her garden, she can often be found kayaking, dancing, and travelling. In spare moments, she fields questions from visitors to the INPAWS website as Corresponding Secretary.
Marilyn Frohberg got her start in gardening with her grandmother’s radish sandwiches. Her introduction to INPAWS was finding the Invasive Plant List, and then learning of the Native Plant Sale from Ruth Ann Ingraham. A former Chicago suburbanite who once favored more conventional landscaping, she still considers herself a novice native plant gardener. Her 27 years in the banking industry and stints as treasurer and auditor for nonprofit organizations will be put to good use as Treasurer as she strives to continue the efficiencies of her predecessor. Her aim: to enable INPAWS to continue providing educational opportunities for school children and interested gardeners.