Holden's Instructors
Holden Staff Instructors
David Burke, Ph.D., holds a bachelor's degree in environmental science from Rutgers University, a
master's degree biology from East Stroudsburg University and a doctorate in biology, with concentration in ecology and evolution, from Rutgers University. Burke is a plant biologist whose research focuses on the interactions between plant roots and soil organisms with a particular emphasis on mycorrhizal ecology. He is an assistant scientist at The Holden Arboretum and has an adjunct position in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University.
Toby Davidson, horticulture supervisor for the Display Gardens, earned his associate's degree in forestry from Hocking College. He spent the first eight of his 12 years at Holden caring for the trees in the outer collections. He enjoys pruning trees and designing garden spaces.
Julie Dougherty, guest relations specialist. Doughterty is a certified interpretive guide from the National Association for Interpreters. She earned her bachelor's degree from Cleveland State University, her master's degree in sports psychology from West Virginia University and her master's in education administration from Ursuline College. She taught outdoor education at Hiram House Camp for 10 years, physical education at St. Vitus for 12 years and served as principal at St. Louis Elementary for seven years.
Viki Ferreniea, lead horticulturist at Holden was formerly director of horticulture for the New England Wildflower Society. Ferreniea, a graduate of Swanley Horticultural College in Kent, England, received the national diploma in horticulture from the Royal Horticulture Society. She trained at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England. She is the creator of the North American wildflower garden at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, Pa., and has lectured and taught about wildflowers all over the country. Ferreniea is the author of Wildflowers in Your Garden, published in 1993.
Roger Gettig, director of horticulture and conservation. Roger began his career at Holden in 1988 as a native plant intern before becoming full-time staff as natural areas foreman. He left Holden to attend the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in ecological restoration while earning his Master's degree in landscape architecture. He returned to Holden in 1996 as landscape consultant and then assumed the role of land conservation manager.
Sharon Graper, manager of formal education, began her relationship with Holden in 1981 as a student at Hawken High School, working on her senior project in the Myrtle S. Holden Wildflower Garden. She came back as an intern in 1984 and as a summer employee teaching children’s classes in 1991. Since 1994, she has managed school and youth programming at Holden. She earned her undergraduate degree in environmental science from the University of Virginia and her master’s degree in science education from the University of Delaware.
Clement W. Hamilton, president and CEO. Hamilton grew up in Wisconsin and Ohio, where he developed his three primary passions for nature, baseball and music. He earned a bachelor's degree in geology at Harvard, and a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology at Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Garden. He has conducted botanical research and fieldwork in Thailand, Panama and Chile, as well as the United States. He was assistant and associate professor in the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington in 1985-99, directing the center in 1992-99; executive director of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, Calif., in 1999-2004; and vice president for arboretum programs and director of research at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., in 2004-08. In the spring of 2008, Hamilton became president and CEO of The Holden Arboretum, where he seeks to maximize Holden's contribution toward creating a more livable, diverse and ecologically sustainable world by promoting the planting and conservation of trees and forests.
Rick Hederstrom, plant records intern. He received his bachelor's degree with honors and distinction from Connecticut College in ethnobotany in 2009. His honors thesis explored traditional Native American and British herbal medicine. He spent a semester abroad in Peru focusing on the ethnobotany of the Quechua and Matsigenka during the fall of 2007. He interned at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, London during the summer of 2008 and in 2009 he received the Botanical Society of America’s Young Botanist Award.
Ethan Johnson, plant records curator, earned his associate's degree from Paul Smith’s College, N.Y., in forestry and his bachelor's degree in environmental horticulture from the University of Connecticut. He has been Holden’s plant records curator since 1989. As curator he documents the history, growth, phenology, and condition of cultivated plants in the living collection as well as produces plant accession, labels and collection maps.
Stephen Krebs, Ph.D., started at David G. Leach Research Station in 1992 and has been the director of the Leach Research Station since 1998. He received his bachelor's degree in history at the University of Chicago and his doctorate in plant breeding and genetics/horticulture from Michigan State University. Work at the Leach Station centers on the development of ornamental rhododendrons that are adapted to difficult conditions. Research in support of this goal includes investigations of cold and heat tolerance, identification and transfer of disease resistance, and adaptations to brighter (sunnier) growing conditions.
Annie Raup, education intern at Holden graduated from James Madison University in Virginia with a bachelor's degree in biology. Raup was a curatorial/research intern at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., and later an education intern, assisting with Longwood's summer camps.
Kurt Smemo is an ecosystem ecologist at The Holden Arboretum and an adjunct assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University and Michigan State University. His studies involve how soil microorganisms control organic matter decomposition and nutrient availability in forest and wetland ecosystems, and how those organisms respond to environmental change. Smemo has earned his bachelor's degree in forestry at the University of Montana, his master's in environmental science at the University of Illinois and his doctorate in ecology from Cornell University.
Susan Swisher, Holden's librarian, is a Northeast Ohio native who received her MLS from Case Western Reserve University. She began her career as a reference librarian at the Cuyahoga County Public Library. She spent several years in San Diego managing a cooperative library system before returning to Ohio.
Rebecca Thompson, Growing Students and Science program coordinator, has been with the Education Department at Holden since 1999 and has worked in environmental education for many years. She coordinates the Growing Students and Science Program, a community partnership to build interest and ability in the sciences in public school systems, and leads Holden’s Junior Birders Club for children and teaches a number of children’s classes. She received her bachelor's degree in biology at Kent State University.
Charles Tubesing, chief horticulturist, is a graduate of Purdue University. Tubesing has been with Holden since 1986. He is responsible for the development of Holden’s plant collection, having extensive experience and interest in the selection of appropriate woody plants to fit specific landscape criteria and in plant propagation with a special interest in magnolias.
Michael Watson, conservation biologist, started at Holden as a conservation seasonal three years ago. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from the College of Wooster and his master's in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Michigan. He spends most of his time on the deer browse project, a large-scale, long-term study attempting to measure the impact of deer on Holden's forests. He is also the coordinator for Holden's Bluebird Project, which relies on 50 volunteers to monitor and band bluebirds, tree swallows and other secondary cavity nesting birds that use more than 200 nest boxes on the Holden properties.
Marian Williams, manager of public programs, has been employed with Holden since 1987 and is responsible for Holden’s public programs and interpretation of the gardens and natural areas as well as a variety of other special projects. She received her undergraduate degree from Earlham College and her master’s degree from Purdue University.
Greg Wright, nursery supervisor, is in charge of plant propagation at Holden. He earned his bachelors degree in horticulture at Brigham Young University and his master's degree in landscape architecture at Utah State University. Wright has been with Holden for eight years and teaches a variety of classes on horticulture and landscape architecture.
Non-Staff Instructors
Ian Adams is an environmental photographer specializing in natural, rural, historical and garden photography. Since 1985, more than 5,000 of his color photographs have been published in books, posters, calendars, magazines and other publications. Ian has published 17 photography books and conducted more than 150 photography workshops and seminars. His books include The Holden Arboretum (University of Akron Press, 2000), Backroads of Ohio (Voyageur Press, 2006), Our First Family's Home: The Ohio Governor's Residence & Heritage Garden (Ohio University Press, 2008) and Missouri Botanical Garden: Green For 150 Years (Missouri Botanical Garden Press, 2008). He lives in Cuyahoga Falls with his tabby cat, Fuji.
Mike Benard, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Case Western Reserve University, is an evolutionary ecologist who uses amphibians to understand how species and populations adapt to and persist in the face of environmental variation. Prior to joining the Case Western Reserve faculty in 2008, he was a University of Michigan Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Fellow for three years. Bernard has a B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and Ph.D. in Population Biology from the University of California, Davis.
David Allen, held the position of manager of horticulture at Holden for 20 years. Allen became a certified arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture in 1991. He has been a volunteer for the International Ornamental Crabapple Society, serving as executive director, since 1997. He runs his own pruning services business.
Kate Biddle, LISW, RYT and certified yoga instructor, worked as a social worker and therapist for 25 years. She has personally practiced yoga throughout this time period along with breath work and meditation. Biddle has attended retreats at Kripalu, Omega, Himalaya Institute, and The Insight, a meditation society.
Susan Cady, M.M., C.T.C.I., founder of Tai Chi for Health, is on the staff of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative Medicine and the Gathering Place. She teaches for the American Cancer Society, the Clinic's Healthwise Connection, and South Pointe Hospital's Pulmonary Rehab Department.
Judy Churchill, AYT, RYT, CYT, an accredited yoga teacher of Satyanada Yoga and registered as an E-RYT at the 500-hour level with Yoga Alliance. In 2001, she received formal initiation in India from Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati and given the spiritual name, Jayasri. She later earned a level 2 accreditation from Satyananda Yoga Academy, Mangrove Mountain, NSW, Australia. Churchill maintains a web site with book reviews and articles on yoga at www.yogic-wisdom.com
Dan Donaldson is the district administrator of Lake County Soil and Water District. Having earned his bachelor's degree in environmental management from Cleveland State University, he assists local governments, landowners, and partner agencies with natural resource planning objectives, including special projects, ordinances, programs, conservation easements, program planning, administration and grant writing.
Bob Faber has been a consultant to conservation and environmental organizations throughout the region. He leads natural history programs across the United States.
Lisa Rainsong's musical life integrates composition, vocal performance, theory, education, and a passionate love for the natural world. Rainsong is a member of the music theory faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and coordinator of the Doctor of Musical Arts program and holds a doctorate in composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her work includes instrumental pieces ranging from solo instruments to full orchestra; from secular and sacred works to church and choral ensembles in Northeast Ohio. A soprano, as well as a composer, Rainsong is an active performer of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music as a soloist and a choral musician. She has performed for the Ensemble Lautenkonzert, Apollo’s Fire (the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra), Quire Cleveland, Cantores Cleveland, the lute song ensemble Mignarda and at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Rainsong is completing the Naturalist Certificate Program at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and leads nature walks in Northeastern Ohio and volunteers for the Geauga Park District.
Gunter Schwegler is a fiber artist specializing in silk painting. His work in watercolor, acrylic and oil painting formed the basis of his style and technique. His recent work includes framed silk paintings, wearable art, banners, stage and set design, home furnishings, CD covers and public art space. His work is featured in “Creative Silk Painting” by Jan Janis and Diane Tuckman.
Barbara Tercek, RYT, a certified yoga instructor and social worker is studying for her certification in yoga therapy.
Gary W. Watson, Ph.D., joined the Morton Arboretum in 1986 and is a senior research scientist and head of research. His primary research interest is in understanding how to maintain a healthy balance between the crown and the root system of trees on difficult landscape sites. Watson has received the Award for Arboricultural Research and Richard W. Harris Author’s Citation Award from the International Society of Arboriculture. He is a past president of International Society of Arboriculture, the Arboricultural Research and Education Academy and the Illinois Arborist Association. He is also editor-in-chief of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, organizer of The Landscape Below Ground Conferences and editor of the Conference Proceedings.
