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Jeb Barzen, Ecologist at Private Lands Conservation LLC in Spring Green, WI
Mr. Barzen has a B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. degree from University of North Dakota. Both degrees are in Wildlife Biology. For more than 28 years he directed the Field Ecology Department at the International Crane Foundation. That work focused linking crane conservation to private landowners and to meeting the needs of both as well as the needs of ecosystems in which both cranes and people live. Such efforts were based in the concepts of ecosystem restoration. Projects occurred in Wisconsin, China and throughout Southeast Asia. After leaving ICF, Mr. Barzen has used his experience through Private Lands Conservation LLC to focus on developing the economic drivers that will help people implement conservation at ecologically meaningful scales while incorporating ecosystem restoration into those goals.

Senior Ecologist at Eco-Resource Consulting, Inc. in Stoughton, WI
Mr. Frazer received his bachelor of science degree in Zoology/Wildlife Ecology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996. Following a two-year Peace Corps Volunteer post in West Africa working in the agro-forestry sector, he began his professional career as a wildlife technician for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This work led to a position with Pheasants Forever in Southeast Wisconsin as a grassland ecologist where he facilitated more than 6,000 acres of private land prairie and wetland restorations, including development and management of a statewide prescribed fire program. In 2008, Mr. Frazer entered the private consulting sector as a restoration ecologist and in 2012, he accepted a position as a senior ecologist with Eco-Resource Consulting, Inc. (ERC). Since this time Mr. Frazer has developed his skills in the areas of native plant ecology, invasive species management, stream restoration, wetland mitigation and delineation, urban stormwater management, erosion control, project planning/design and monitoring and reporting. Through the design and implementation of adaptive management approaches, he has accrued 20 years of “hands-on” knowledge base in native plant community management and now leads business and new market development at ERC.

Applied Ecological Services, Inc., Brodhead, WI
Mr. Larson is a principal ecologist at Applied Ecological Services (AES) and a certified senior ecologist with the Ecological Society of America. During his 28-year tenure at AES, he has focused on wetland restoration and design, wetland construction and construction oversight, and vegetation/hydrology monitoring of mitigation sites. His experience at AES includes acting as project ecologist for The Nature Conservancy’s 7,200-acre Kankakee Sands wetland and prairie restoration in Indiana and a 575-acre wetland restoration project in Seneca Falls, New York. He has also been involved in over two dozen wetland mitigation banks in the Midwest, has recently permitted a wetland mitigation bank in Iowa and is currently preparing a mitigation banking instrument for a site in Wisconsin. Dr. Larson has been a lead scientist at AES in the ecological monitoring of hundreds of wetland restoration and mitigation projects. Additional areas of expertise include ecological restoration and management planning and design, environmental review documents, floristic analysis, land cover-type mapping, threatened and endangered species investigations, and stormwater management design for flood control and water quality. He has also completed over 300 wetland delineations throughout the Midwest. 

Ecologist at Prairie Works, Inc, in Galena, IL
Mr. Ritterbusch has been restoring, installing and stewarding native ecosystems since the late ‘90s. In 2006, he started Prairie Works, Inc. Mr. Ritterbusch has been involved in all facets of natural area projects including sales, design, implementation, long-term care and consultation. He also teaches at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville and has published a biography on early conservationist, H.S. Pepoon. He is also experienced in the restoration of Native American burial mounds. He carries many certifications in prescription fire. Mr. Ritterbusch lives in Shullsburg, Wisconsin.

Founder of Prairie Restorations, Inc.
Mr. Bowen is the founder and principal owner of Prairie Restorations, Inc., a company specializing in native plants and plant community restoration. PRI was founded in 1977 and is likely the oldest full service restoration company in America. Mr. Bowen grew up in West St. Paul, graduated from the University of Minnesota in Forestry and went on to study Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. He started his life with native plants while working as a gardener at the Bruce Dayton property in Wayzata.
Mr. Bowen considers all of Minnesota to be home. His primary office is in Princeton, but he works on projects far and wide throughout the state. He believes that we are all engaged in a battle to save ecological diversity, and along with other PRI employees and literally thousands of clients and others, he gets up every day to do just that. Mr. Bowen lives in central Minnesota.
Prairie Restorations, Inc., has restored thousands of projects during the past four decades. This has been a team effort involving hundreds of employees and thousands of clients. PRI’s effort is always focused on species that are authentically native to each site and attempts to restore diversity in the plant community.

Senior Restoration Ecologist at Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc.
Ms. Markhart’s career spans 40 years of work in terrestrial and freshwater systems principally in the Upper Midwest. She has brought her expertise in botany and plant ecology to interdisciplinary design teams for green infrastructure, wetland mitigation, and other intersections of the natural and built environments. As the science of restoration has advanced in recent years, Ms. Markhart has been involved in training landscape field crews on best practices in ecological restoration. She holds a B.A. degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, an M.S. degree in Plant Physiology, and has maintained her professional wetland scientist certification since 1995.

President & Senior Botanist/Ecologist at Midwest Natural Resources
Mr. Milburn is the owner and principal botanist at Midwest Natural Resources, Inc. (MNR). He holds a B.S. degree in Botany (Iowa State University) and an M.S. degree in Biological Sciences (University of Mississippi) with over 19 years of professional experience in the natural resource consulting field. His responsibilities include managing the day-to-day operations at MNR in addition to fieldwork. Mr. Milburn’s natural resource expertise includes rare vascular plant species, vegetation monitoring methodologies/implementation, wetlands and wetland biogeochemistry, and native plant community documentation/mapping. His particular foci of late include calcareous fens and calciphiles, peatland systems, prairie communities, and specialized rare species work. Mr. Milburn was also behind the development of the floristic quality assessment for Minnesota Wetlands project. He is respected by regulatory agencies for his knowledge and proven results.
Mr. Milburn is both a professional wetland scientist (PWS) and a Minnesota certified wetland delineator (CWD), and he is the president of the Minnesota Native Plant Society (2006-2014, 2016-2019). He additionally volunteers his time in the field and has been privileged to take part in rare plant surveys in the Boundary Waters and surveys via helicopter in the Red Lake peatlands of Northern Minnesota.

Dr. Todd Aschenbach is an associate professor in the Natural Resources Management Program at Grand Valley State University. He teaches courses in ecological restoration, wildland fire management, and soil science. Dr. Aschenbach earned his B.S. degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas. He has research experience in a variety of ecosystems and currently integrates fire, soil science, and invasive species management in the context of oak savanna and sand prairie restoration. Dr. Aschenbach also serves as the Michigan Representative on the Board of the Society for Ecological Restoration – Midwest Great Lakes Chapter.

Ms. Bobich, supervises a talented team of ecologists and biologists based out of Davey Resource Group, Inc.’s, Indiana offices. She is a professional wetland scientist, is proficient with NEPA work and projects, and has been trained by the Ohio Department of Transportation in Ecological Surveys and Waterways Permitting. In addition to managing a large portfolio of diverse and complex projects, Ms. Bobich also generates pricing and proposals for a wide range of consulting and restoration projects. She works on field investigations, wetland and stream permitting, restoration and mitigation design, native landscape design, best management practice plans, construction oversight, violation resolution and facilitation, and client and agency coordination. She holds an undergraduate degree from the SPEA program at Indiana University and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Ball State University.

Shawn Duke is a senior staff ecologist at Cardno. He is primarily responsible for developing and implementing ecological restoration plans. His restoration experience includes invasive species control, native planting and seeding, natural shoreline design and establishment, erosion control, green infrastructure and prescribed fire. Mr. Duke also performs natural area management planning; wetland delineations; natural community, fauna and botanical surveys; soil studies; wetland delineations; mitigation projects; environmental monitoring; and endangered species reviews. He has advanced level training in aquatic entomology and limnology, completing field courses in both disciplines and performing macroinvertebrate identification for research studies. He also volunteers with the Huron River Watershed Council to assist with aquatic invertebrate data collection projects.

Deanna Geelhoed received her bachelor of Biology and Spanish degree from Calvin University. Since 2016, she has been working as the program coordinator for Plaster Creek Stewards, an initiative out of Calvin University to restore the health and beauty to the Plaster Creek Watershed. She educates communities about the predicament of the Plaster Creek Watershed, deemed the most polluted waterway in west Michigan. Ms. Geelhoed has a breadth of experience in designing green infrastructure, propagating native Michigan plants, and conducting various ecological restoration research projects in western Michigan.

GEI Consultants of Michigan, P.C. – Allendale
Brian Majka is a professional restoration ecologist at GEI Consultants of Michigan, P.C., in Allendale. He has extensive experience in ecological restoration, design and implementation of wetland construction, soft shoreline engineering, prairie planting, natural areas management and best management practice (BMP) design projects with more than 19 years of experience throughout the country. He has a B.S. degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from Purdue University and is responsible for project management of ecological restoration design and implementation projects for GEI.

Suzanne P. Sutherland is an associate at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where she is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Department. Ms. Sutherland focuses her practice in the areas of development and construction matters and the acquisition, leasing, sale, and financing of real property. She also counsels clients on environmental compliance and enforcement (including air quality and chemical regulation); remediation, corrective action and voluntary cleanups; environmental diligence for commercial and real estate “brownfields” transactions; and wetlands permits. In addition to construction matters, she has experience counseling a range of clients on business planning, contract review, negotiation and preparation.

Dr. David Warners has taught Biology at Calvin University since 1997, working in the areas of field botany, plant evolution, and community-based ecological restoration. In 2009, he was a co-founder of Plaster Creek Stewards, a university-based watershed group focused on restoring health and beauty to the highly-urbanized and degraded Plaster Creek watershed. This work involves propagating native plants for green infrastructure projects, as well as conducting ongoing research on stream microbes, macroinvertebrates, flow dynamics, and the relative success of native species in novel, urban ecosystems. Dr. Warners has served as an environmental consultant, and he has performed many botanical inventories for local townships, state parks and other organizations.

Dr. Michael Liptak is a senior ecologist at EnviroScience, Inc, where he specializes in wetland ecology, wetland restoration, and mitigation wetland design. Dr. Liptak earned a B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science at Ohio State University under the noted wetland ecologist Dr. William Mitsch. He has over 25 years of experience in wetlands research and consulting and is a Certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America). His primary responsibilities at EnviroScience Inc. include wetland mitigation planning, wetland assessments and delineations, technical report preparation, and permitting. Dr. Liptak is a member of the Society of Wetlands Scientists and the Ecological Society of America, and regularly gives seminars on wetland issues and regulations.

Dr. Michael Liptak is a senior ecologist at EnviroScience, Inc, where he specializes in wetland ecology, wetland restoration, and mitigation wetland design. Dr. Liptak earned a B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science at Ohio State University under the noted wetland ecologist Dr. William Mitsch. He has over 25 years of experience in wetlands research and consulting and is a Certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America). His primary responsibilities at EnviroScience Inc. include wetland mitigation planning, wetland assessments and delineations, technical report preparation, and permitting. Dr. Liptak is a member of the Society of Wetlands Scientists and the Ecological Society of America, and regularly gives seminars on wetland issues and regulations.

Dr. Michael Liptak is a senior ecologist at EnviroScience, Inc, where he specializes in wetland ecology, wetland restoration, and mitigation wetland design. Dr. Liptak earned a B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science at Ohio State University under the noted wetland ecologist Dr. William Mitsch. He has over 25 years of experience in wetlands research and consulting and is a Certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America). His primary responsibilities at EnviroScience Inc. include wetland mitigation planning, wetland assessments and delineations, technical report preparation, and permitting. Dr. Liptak is a member of the Society of Wetlands Scientists and the Ecological Society of America, and regularly gives seminars on wetland issues and regulations.

Dr. Michael Liptak is a senior ecologist at EnviroScience, Inc, where he specializes in wetland ecology, wetland restoration, and mitigation wetland design. Dr. Liptak earned a B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science at Ohio State University under the noted wetland ecologist Dr. William Mitsch. He has over 25 years of experience in wetlands research and consulting and is a Certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America). His primary responsibilities at EnviroScience Inc. include wetland mitigation planning, wetland assessments and delineations, technical report preparation, and permitting. Dr. Liptak is a member of the Society of Wetlands Scientists and the Ecological Society of America, and regularly gives seminars on wetland issues and regulations.