Staff Biographies
SHARON MYRIE, vice president of Education, oversees BBG's Education Department, which serves over 150,000 youth, adults, and community organizations annually. Prior to joining BBG, she was associate executive director for programs at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, where she developed and managed programs for children and adults. Ms. Myrie has also served as executive director of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, one of New York City's first mentoring programs for high school students of color. Ms. Myrie holds a JD from the George Washington University National Law Center and a BA in psychology from Ithaca College.
Continuing Education
KATHERINE (KAT) LEMCKE is the director of Continuing Education. She holds an MS in environmental education and a BA in psychology. Prior to joining BBG, Kat developed interpretive projects for the Wildlife Conservation Society, including bird guides and rainforest education centers, as well as a sustainable tourism plan for Gabon's national parks.
RACHEL FERM is the Continuing Education coordinator. She holds a BA from NYU, where she designed her own program of study. Prior to joining BBG, she was a children's book editor. Rachel has attended classes and lectures all over New York City, including BBG's own Horticulture Certificate program.
THERESA GONZALEZ, program assistant, holds a BFA in scenic design from NYU. In addition to supporting classes and developing ideas for adult curricula at BBG, Theresa is an education volunteer at the American Museum of Natural History. Her professional experience includes more than ten years in theater, opera and film/TV around NYC.
Children's Education and Family Programs
MARILYN SMITH, director of Children's Education at BBG, has worked in the field of environmental education for over 20 years. She worked as a naturalist in Ohio and directed a nature center in Connecticut before coming to BBG. Marilyn holds a BS in biology from Wheaton College and an MS in botany from Miami University.
Programs for Families
PATRICIA HULSE, manager of Family Programs at BBG, has been exploring the wonders of science and nature with children and adults in NYC since 1999, previously at Brooklyn Children's Museum and the New York Botanical Garden. She holds a BS in elementary education with a concentration in science from Boston University. Her family of farmers out on Long Island can't believe she lives and works in a city, though she spends most of her days outside with children in a garden.
ASHLEY GAMELL, Coordinator, Discovery Programs
DAVID DALY, Coordinator, Children's Garden
SAARA NAFICI, the Garden Apprentice Program coordinator, holds a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC Berkeley and a Masters in City Planning from MIT. Before joining BBG, Saara worked in the environmental education field for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area and engaged in housing justice and bicycle education work in Boston and NYC.
KIM CHASE, Coordinator, Science Education
Programs for Teachers and School Groups
BARBARA KUSHNER KURLAND is the school Programs manager in the Children's Education Department at BBG. She holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Lehman College, CUNY, both in biology. She taught middle and high school science in the New York City public schools before coming to BBG, where she has been teaching and learning about plants with children, youth, and adults since 1989.
SARA EPSTEIN is the coordinator of Project Green Reach. She holds a BA in environmental studies from Oberlin College and a Certificate in Horticulture from BBG. Sara not only enjoys teaching about plants but growing, cooking, and eating them, too.
SARA SCOTT is the Senior Instructor for Project Green Reach. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in Secondary Science Education from Pace University. Sara comes to BBG with five years teaching experience in the areas of Earth/Physical Science(s). She is excited to explore the wonders of plants with inquiring young minds, and to get her hands dirty in the Children's Garden.
BECKY LABOY is the Teacher Education coordinator at BBG. She holds a BA in international relations and an MA in education, both from Alliant International University. Becky has taught in public schools for six years and holds teaching licenses in New Jersey and California. She now enjoys providing professional development to teachers in New York City.
REBECCA STERN is a senior instructor for BBG's School Workshops and coordinates the Summer Science Adventures Program. She holds a BA in English with a minor in biology from Wellesley College and is currently earning a Certificate in Horticulture at BBG. She worked in both formal and informal middle school science education in Boston and Philadelphia before coming to BBG.
Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment
ELYSSA ARNONE, BASE program manager, holds a BS in plant biology from Ohio University. She has worked with middle and high school students in both formal and informal educational settings for the past ten years.
IRENE SHEN, BASE partnership director, works for BBG and Prospect Park Alliance, bridging the partnerships between BASE and both institutions. Her background is in high school science education, environmental justice, sustainable urban agriculture, and community-based organizing. She holds a BA in Biology from Columbia University and an MSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work, and she likes to laugh.
Community Programs
ROBIN SIMMEN is the director of Brooklyn GreenBridge. She has an MA in landscape design from the Conway School of Design and a BA from Cornell University. She has worked as an environmental planner, landscape designer, senior book editor, and photographer.
GreenBridge
PHILIP SILVA, Program Manager
LIS THOMAS is the GreenBridge outreach assistant. A graduate of Barnard College, she has studied botany at New York Botanical Garden and is currently pursuing a certificate in Horticulture from BBG. She is an active gardener and a passionate amateur mycologist.
KARLA OSORIO-PÉREZ is the new GreenBridge Community Greening manager. She holds a BA in biology from the University of Puerto Rico and has worked with the Brooklyn Compost Project as the senior instructor and then manager. She also worked on environmental education as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador and managed a research on ants species in Puerto Rico.
Brooklyn Compost Project
JENNY BLACKWELL, Manager
LUKE HALLIGAN is the compost instructor of the Brooklyn Compost Project of Brooklyn GreenBridge. He is also a certified BBG Master Composter and VP/Education Chair at the Floyd Bennett Garden Association.
YACOUBA DIAKITÉ is the Brooklyn GreenBridge/Brooklyn Compost Project office assistant. He has worked as an operations assistant at the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa; as a research analyst with United Grain Growers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and as an agrometerologist with the Agrhymet Center, Ministry of Rural Development, in Mauritania. He holds an MA in agricultural economics from Université Laval in Quebec, Canada.
Registration Office
ELLEN RACIOPPI, Manager
LUCIA EDWARDS, Registration Associate
DOROTHY DESHONG, Registration Volunteer
Classes & Events Catalog
Editors: Pattie Hulse, Kat Lemcke
Design: Emmanuel Jose,Claire Taylor Hansen
Instructors
LINDA AMEROSO is an extension entomologist for the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
MARY JO ANZEL studied at the School of Visual Arts and is a life member of the Art Students League. Her floral watercolors are represented by several greeting card companies and East Coast galleries.
JOHANNA BAUMAN is a garden and landscape historian. She has a PhD in art history from the University of Virginia and teaches courses in garden history and art history at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
KAREN BELL holds an MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and has taught at the New School, International Center of Photography, and FIT. Her photographs have been exhibited and collected throughout the U.S.
JENNY BLACKWELL is project manager for the Brooklyn Compost Project. She holds a BA in Spanish and is a graduate of BBG's Horticulture Certificate Program. A composting fanatic, she has worked with composting systems at Added Value, the Hollenback Community Garden, BBG, and the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.
ENID BRAUN paints urban imagery and plein air pastel landscapes. She is a coordinating artist in New York City for the Tile Project, an international art project. She holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Pratt Institute.
NAN CAREY has a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her classes and workshops introduce the pleasure of sketchbook journaling to budding artists of all ages. Her work is exhibited and collected in the metropolitan area and beyond.
KWOK KAY CHOEY learned Chinese brushpainting from master artist and teacher Chen Wen-hsi. He has exhibited his works throughout the U.S. He has practiced and taught Chinese brush painting and tai chi chuan for more than 20 years.
ROSE EDINGER is an award-winning floral designer with over 20 years' experience. She specializes in thematic design work and has decorated events in the New York region and beyond.
JOE GIUNTA has led bird walks for the Nature Conservancy and the South Fork Natural History Society and taught a beginning birding course for Summer Fest. He has birded extensively in the U.S., Panama, Belize, Venezuela, and Costa Rica.
SUSAN HARTMAN holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia University and has published three books and more than a hundred pieces in the New York Times and other national media. Susan also teaches creative writing and journalism at NYU.
ROBERT HEROLD is a national director of the American Wine Society, whose motto is "Wine appreciation through education." He is ranked among its top 50 award-winning home winemakers. In addition to teaching, he is a consultant on establishing vineyards in Connecticut and New York.
SALLY MORGAN KRAUSE and her family are the resident caterers at Brooklyn Botanic Garden's renowned Palm House.
JUDITH KUNHARDT holds a degree in art history from the City College of New York. She is a member of the Brooklyn Watercolor Society and a fellow of the BBG Florilegium Society.
BARBARA KUSHNER KURLAND is BBG's manager of School Programs. She holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Lehman College, CUNY, both in biology.
DORIS LOECHLE is a certified horticulturist with extensive experience in chemical-free container and rooftop gardening. She has worked in various botanic gardens and in exotic places like Cape Town, South Africa, where she studied the native Cape flora.
ULI LORIMER is BBG's curator of the Native Flora Garden. He has a lifelong interest in native plants and holds an honors degree from the University of Delaware in landscape horticulture.
ALBERT MASSIMI holds an MA from Columbia and studied art at SUCB, the University of Siena (Italy), and LIU; he learned brush and ink painting while in the Peace Corps in Korea. He belongs to GNSI, ASBA, and is the president of the Brooklyn Watercolor Society.
JOAN MCDONALD runs a private garden design business, Gardens by Joan, and is a graduate of the BBG Certificate in Horticulture program.
SANDRA MCLEAN is a food writer, chef, and educator. She teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan and is the chair of Slow Food NYC. She is currently writing a primer on the local foods movement.
LEDA MEREDITH is a professional gardener and ethnobotanist with expertise in herbs and locavorism. She consults for residential, commercial, and institutional gardens in urban settings and wrote The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget.
ROBB MOSS is owner of FloraCulture and has taught floral design courses at Parsons School of Design, the New School, the New York Horticultural Society, and his own Floral Design Center of New York.
KARLA OSORIO-PÈREZ is the GreenBridge community greening manager. She holds a BA in biology from the University of Puerto Rico.
GEORGE PISEGNA is director of horticulture at the Horticultural Society of New York. He is a landscape designer and horticulturist with a background in architecture and design and has worked for the past 15 years in historic preservation and garden design.
LORETTA POOLE is a member of the Brooklyn Watercolor Society and holds an MA in art education from Brooklyn College. She has taught in public and private institutions and exhibits her work throughout New York.
MARGARITA POULSON has designed unique botanical jewelry for seven years. She is a horticulture and facilities associate at BBG and a graduate of the BBG Certificate in Horticulture program.
JOAN E. PRIOR is a prize-winning floral designer whose arrangements have adorned weddings from Manhattan lofts to Southampton mansions. Joan is also an accredited flower show judge and author.
NIGEL ROLLINGS is a designer and builder of gardens in the New York area and has taught classes at BBG since 1995. He won the Association of Professional Landscape Designers Silver Award for residential garden design in 2006.
ADELE L. ROSSETTI is a professor of art at Pratt Institute and a member of the BBG Florilegium Society. A lecturer, scientific illustrator, and artist, she received the American Society of Botanical Artists' Excellence Award in 2001. She has a BS in scientific illustration and an MFA in painting and drawing.
JIM RUSSELL has gardened and maintained landscapes at the Prospect Park Zoo and at Battery Park, in Manhattan. He holds a BBG Certificate in Horticulture.
SARA SCOTT is the senior instructor for Project Green Reach. She holds a BA in environmental studies from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in secondary science education from Pace University. Sara comes to BBG with five years' teaching experience in the areas of earth and physical science.
PHILIP SILVA is the program manager of GreenBridge. He has worked on open space, community development, and sustainability projects throughout New York City. He holds an MS in urban policy and a BA in urban studies from the New School, where he is currently teaches in the environmental studies program.
LIS THOMAS is the outreach assistant for GreenBridge. She has a BA from Barnard College and is studying for a BBG Certificate in Horticulture.
IAN TONESSEN is the owner of Flowers by Ian Tonnessen and has been working in the floral design industry for over 20 years.
GEORGE VALLO opened Portafiori Floral Design Studio in 1991. He specializes in parties, weddings, and corporate design. He has also designed silk flowers and prop pieces for many Broadway shows.
ANNE WALSH is a member of the Guild forNatural Science Illustrators and holds degrees in art education and art history. She has taught in public and private schools, at the Custer Institute, and at Mohonk Mountain House.