Oak Heritage Board of Directors
This crew of nature-loving individuals works hard to ensure that conservation moves forward in southeast Indiana. They lend their professional skills, their wit and wisdom, and often their muscles to protect land, build trails, restore habitat, and get people outside, spending time in nature. We hope to see you at an Oak Heritage event or nature preserve soon!
Kate Johnson, President
What you do for work? What do you do in nature? I teach philosophy at Hanover College. Two of my courses are Philosophy of the Environment and Animal Philosophy. I also taught Ecofeminism in the past, and would love to do it again sometime. My husband Don Carrell and I live on ~40 acres, and we try to raise most of our food with a vegetable garden, chickens, goats, and sheep. I also enjoy my flower garden. We are letting the majority of our land return from being overgrazed when we bought to natural habitat. It’s been fun to watch the transformation.
Where do you call home? We live in Hanover, my kids went to Southwestern Schools, but our address is Madison.
Why do you join the Oak Heritage board? Of the many things to feel bad about right now, the way we treat the natural world is one of the most abiding and most serious. Rather than just feel bad, I’d like to do something about it with some like-minded people. I like the local, grassroots feel of Oak Heritage Conservancy.
Sara Hare, Treasurer
Sara has taught Sociology at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany for the past 20 years. She lives in Madison with a yard that borders Clifty Falls State Park. She love hiking there and also love to kayak, cook, and travel.
Why did you want to join the Oak Heritage board? I think it’s important to work with others to conserve our natural environment. We need to make an effort to leave areas of natural beauty for our descendants.
What do you love about southeast Indiana? I love the beauty of the natural world – the rolling hills and mature stands of trees — in southeast Indiana. I also love getting out in nature by kayaking on the nearby rivers and streams. The Muscatatuck River and Otter Creek in Jennings County are both beautiful and challenging paddles when the water levels are good.
Jamie Schantz, Stewardship Chair
What do you do for work and for fun in nature? I’m retired. My husband and I have three grown children and three grandsons. I’m active in two quilt guilds and one rug hooking group. I joined the board of Batesville Memorial Public Library and found that I loved helping with projects, like our new outdoor Reading Garden with native trees and plants. I love to garden and enjoy all types of needlework.
Where do you live? We’ve lived outside of Batesville, Indiana (Ripley County) since 1975.
You’ve been a member for years. Why did you join the Oak Heritage board? It sounds contrived but to save the woods. My family all spend time together walking the woods. My mother used to take us for walks and taught us all the wildflowers. I worry that their habitat is dwindling.
Richard Stoll, Planned Giving Chair
What you do for work and for fun in nature? I left the corporate world as an IT manager and now work part-time as a Handyman.
For fun my wife Jennifer and I enjoy restoring wildlife habitat at our farm in Versailles Indiana. It’s an ongoing process planting native prairie grasses\wild flowers and shrubs to create pollinator and Quail habitat which are in steep decline.
Where you spend your time? I live in Cincinnati, Ohio but spend most of our time in Indiana down at the farm.
Why did you join the Oak Heritage board? I have a passion for preserving green space and restoring land to benefit wildlife, pollinators and the ecosystem. I want to join the board the help with outreach, membership recruitment, fundraising and cultivating donors to make Oak Heritage a stronger and financially sustainable organization.
Emily Engelking
Emily is a young professional from Seymour, Indiana, where she works for the Jackson County United Way as their Engagement Director. She works with both fundraising and community engagement for United Way, and is eager to use these skills to advance our conservation efforts. Emily served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine as an English teacher in a small town in the western part of the country. During her time in Ukraine, she worked with children, as well as adults, and discovered her dedication to serving others. She is pursuing a Masters of Public Affairs with a concentration in Nonprofit Management at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
What made you want to serve on the Oak Heritage board? During my time at Hanover College, I interned for Oak Heritage. This was my first taste of what a nonprofit is and how they worked. I learned so much that it truly inspired me to work in the sector. Conservation is something I’m deeply passionate about and I want to be able to further that mission to the best of my ability.
What skills/expertise/perspectives are you excited to bring to our conservation work? I’m excited to be able to bring what I’ve learned through my nonprofit work to further the organization. Specifically, I’m looking forward to helping with the new outreach programs and bringing my fundraising expertise to the board.
What’s your favorite way to spend time outside? I really enjoy kayaking and visiting as many National and State parks as I can!
Jason Brownknight
Jason is a professional ecologist with twenty years experience in the conservation world. He has helped conserve over 7000 acres in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. He will help take Oak Heritage’s land preservation and habitat restoration work to the next level. Jason grew up in southeast Ohio and is eager to get to know our flora and fauna in greater depth.
What made you want to serve on the Oak Heritage board? I am passionate about the enhancement, restoration, and preservation of ecological landscapes across this great planet. I strongly believe both fee-simple purchase of land and conservation easements are effective tools in the effort to protect natural resources and habitats. I hope to utilize my passion, skills, and experiences to help Oak Heritage continue to fight the good fight.
What skills/expertise/perspectives are you excited to bring to our conservation work? I have diverse background and have experience with; organizational leadership including strategic planning and non-profit organization operations, GIS applications, wildlife management, environmental education, grant writing, and overall land stewardship. I have excited to bring all of my skills and passions to help further Oak Heritage’s conservation work.
What’s your favorite way to spend time outside? Anytime outside is a favorite time for me, but I must admit there is nothing I enjoy more than exploring for salamanders with my family.
Heidi Potter
Heidi serves as the Agriculture & Natural Resources Educator for Clark County Purdue Extension. She lives in Jefferson County where she manages her own diversified livestock and vegetable farm. Heidi grew up in Oregon and earned her degrees from Oregon State University. She has worked in environmental education throughout her career in Oregon, Colorado, Michigan and now here in southeast Indiana.
What inspired you to want to serve on the Oak Heritage board? I believe in the mission of Oak Heritage—preserving, protecting, and conserving natural spaces in SE Indiana and educating the public along the way. Oak Heritage is creating healthy landscapes that also improve human health!
What skills/expertise/perspectives do you bring to our conservation work? I am a farmer who has set aside a portion of my own farm to wildlife conservation cover. As an Extension Educator with Purdue, I also bring an education perspective and have access to resources through the University which may help leverage the work of Oak Heritage.
What’s your favorite way to spend time outside? My favorite way to spend time outside depends upon the season! I enjoy tending my garden and livestock, going for walks through the woods, bicycling, and kayaking.
Greg Schneider
Greg’s passion for the outdoors and natural resource management centers on wildlife. He currently works at Ivy Tech Community College – Madison, overseeing the campus support for dual credit agriculture courses taught at area high schools. A resident of Jefferson County, Greg along with his wife and two daughters live on a 60-acre small scale livestock farm evenly split among tillable ground, pasture, and woodlands.
What made you want to serve on the Oak Heritage board? I believe in the importance of service to the community. When a person can align a passion and/or skill set with that service, everyone wins.
What skills/expertise/perspectives are you excited to bring to our conservation work? One of my strongest skill sets is in education and public speaking. I am an innovative thinker with the ability to connect identified needs to the necessary resources.
What’s your favorite way to spend time outside? I firmly support John Muir’s opinion that people should not hike, but rather, saunter through the woods. You see and experience so much more when you saunter. I also enjoy camping with my family, kayaking and cold weather cycling.
Interested serving on the Board? Take a peek at our Strategic Goals, and think about how you can help Oak Heritage achieve its goals. Then get in touch to start a conversation about helping make conservation happen in southeast Indiana.
Our Staff
Jack Sutton, Executive Director
Jack’s zest for the great outdoors has shaped his entire life. A graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, he has devoted his career to creating outdoor spaces that connect people to nature while preserving and protecting public lands. For more than three decades, Jack’s focus has been on conservation, parks, and recreation through his early work with Georgia State Parks and as Planning Director and Executive Director for Great Parks of Hamilton County, Ohio. In his spare time, Jack enjoys hiking, kayaking, and cycling as well as enhancing pollinator habitat in his own back yard. A native of southeast Indiana, Jack resides in Aurora, Indiana (Dearborn County) with his wife Beth and their Golden Retriever, Ruby.
Meet our Summer Interns – 2023
Daniel Holbrook & Emma McAndrews
Daniel Holbrook is a senior at Indiana University Southeast majoring in Sustainability with a concentration in Environmental Sustainability. Upon graduation this December, Daniel plans to become a sustainability consultant; helping businesses make smart decisions regarding energy efficiency. In his free time, Daniel enjoys exploring new places and meeting new people.
Emma McAndrews will be a senior at Hanover College this fall. She is majoring in Environmental Science with a focus in Biology and a minor in German Studies. After graduation, Emma plans to pursue a graduate degree in environmental science. Emma enjoys hiking and camping with her family.
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