Meet Our Board
Bonnie Berk (2026 - 2028)
Bonnie is the founder and retired President of BERK Consulting, a Seattle-based public policy consultancy that works with governments and nonprofit organizations on strategic and financial planning. Her expertise encompasses strategic planning, policy analysis and program development, systems thinking and process design, and management and business processes. She has more than 30 years of experience designing and managing complex analytic studies, many of which involve facilitation of working groups and advisory committees of stakeholders. Prior to forming the firm, Bonnie served as a Financial Policy Analyst for METRO, as a Research Scientist in the Science & Government group at Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers, and as a contract researcher for the Urban Institute.
Bonnie holds an MBA from the University of Washington, an MPP from the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, and a BA from Brandeis University. With her business background, she has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including Jewish Family Services, Artist Trust, the Cascadia Revolving Loan Fund, and College Access Now (later College Possible Washington), and the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy. She currently also serves as a Board member and President of the Hardy Fern Foundation . A passionate gardener and plantaholic, she is a volunteer at the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden and travels frequently to visit gardens in the US and Europe.
Tanya DeMarsh-Dodson (2024 - 2026)
Tanya DeMarsh-Dodson has gardened in the Puget Sound Basin since childhood following in the footsteps of her grandmother, grandfather, and mother. While her academic degrees are in the field of history and she worked in her field, she did so briefly and chose horticulture instead. She was employed in retail horticulture and landscape gardening for twenty years before focusing on public horticulture.
Her interest in public gardens and garden preservation is informed by her study of history; she understands that gardens reveal the cultural, social, and economic history of the region in which they were created. This understanding coupled with her conviction that gardens are one of the most effective means of awakening in people an awareness of the “web of life” and the importance a diversity of living beings to the well-being of all have intensified her efforts in public horticulture. She has worked to evolve several public gardens in the Puget Sound Basin: the Dunn Gardens, the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, and the PowellsWood Garden and been involved in the promotion of public gardens regionally working with the Garden Conservancy to coordinate the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network 2018-2022. Currently she is on the Board at the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden, PowellsWood Garden, and Friends of Seattle Olmsted Parks.
Kyle Gaines (2025 - 2027)
Kyle Gaines is an Arkansas raised, Seattle based landscape designer with a background in landscape architecture and over 17 years in the landscape design and horticulture industry. Kyle is a certified professional horticulturist and an ecoPro certified sustainable landscape professional. When he’s not envisioning his next garden design, he’s teaching in the horticulture department as an associate faculty member at Edmonds College and tending the bar for Plant Amnesty events.
Deeply rooted in outreach of underserved communities in Eastern Arkansas, Kyle has volunteered and worked professionally for the Boy Scouts of America for over 10 years, co-founded and vice chaired the Forrest City Downtown Revitalization Project, Inc, and earned the Rotary award for community service and development. His passion project within these communities was to work with local government agencies in design collaboration and acquisition of grant funding for reenvisioning city centers for economic development, sense of space, and community culture. On his rest days, you’ll find him lying on a bed of moss on the Olympic peninsula or climbing crags in the cascades.
Sue Goetz (2024 - 2026)
Sue Goetz, CPH, ecoPRO, is an award-winning garden designer, writer, and speaker. Through her business, Creative Gardener, she works with clients to personalize outdoor spaces, from garden coaching to complete landscape design. Writing and speaking are Sue’s favorite ways to share her love of gardening. Her motto, “…inspiring gardeners to create,” defines her hands-on workshops, how-to’s, and talks to inspire creativity in and out of the garden. A published author, she shares her passion for herb gardens with her books The Complete Container Herb Gardening, A Taste for Herbs, and The Herb-Lover’s Spa Book. Sue is certified as a professional horticulturist (CPH) with the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association (WSNLA), Eco Pro Certified (ecoPRO). Sue lives and gardens in the beautiful south sound of Washington state. She has three daughters, who, no matter how far they roam, they still call home for some of mom’s fragrant, herbal concoctions.
Erica Browne Grivas (2025 - 2027)
Erica Browne Grivas is an award-winning journalist and lifelong gardener who explores the interplay between people and nature, aiming to help both be happier and healthier. Her features appear in publications like The Seattle Times, Horticulture, Better Homes and Garden, as well as the American Horticulture Society’s American Gardener. Erica studied Landscape Design at The New York Botanical Garden, where she also led education publicity for three years. She has nine years of experience working in nurseries and recently became a Tilth Alliance Sustainability Steward. She is actively engaged in the horticultural community as a content consultant for Pacific Horticulture, a Western director for Garden Communicators International, and a member of the NHS education committee.
Jason Jorgensen (2024 - 2026)
Born in California, Jason moved to Washington State at the age of seven, and has called the Pacific Northwest home ever since. After more than twenty years in the international shipping industry he decided it was time for a career change. After graduating in 2013 with degrees in Landscape Design and Ornamental Horticulture from Edmonds Community College, he turned his life-long passion for gardening and plant selection into his profession as a landscape designer.
Emily Joseph (2026-2028)
Emily Joseph has been the assistant nursery and retail sales manager at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden since 2020, and she also works as the nursery and sales manger for the Hardy Fern Foundation. Having graduated from Lake Washington Institute of Technology, she is a Certified Professional Horticulturalist, and she also has a BFA in painting, print making and sculpture form Cornish College of the Arts. She has specialized in fern propagation, greenhouse care, and record-keeping for rare scientific plant collections and for taxonomic data bases. She resides in Tacoma and looks forward to bringing her horticultural background and interests to the NHS board of directors.
Penny Kriese (2024 - 2026)
Penny Kriese retired to Seattle in 2010 from D.C. to be closer to family and refocus on her lifelong love of gardening. In the ‘other Washington’ she worked as an IT consultant and website editor at the US Department of Labor and completed her graduate certificate in landscape architecture and design at George Washington University. In Seattle, Penny became immersed in the various garden-centric volunteer organizations. She joined PlantAmnesty and became a Master Gardeners in 2011. She also became a Tree Ambassador for the City of Seattle and created the City’s interactive Green Lake walk to quickly learn the trees of the PNW. In PlantAmnesty she served as treasurer of the board and on their education outreach committee. In 2013 she joined NHS and the Washington Native Plant Society, but her interest in garden history drew her to the Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks, and she joined their board in 2013. Over the years she contributed to the FSOP summer historical walks. In 2016 she became a docent at Dunn Gardens and now shares her insights into the plants and history of that Olmsted-designed garden.
For the last decade Penny’s main focus has been on the Master Gardeners. She served as President of the Foundation Board of Directors, acted as the Foundation webmaster until mid-2023, and was the volunteer co-coordinator from 2017 to 2019. In 2020 she planned and launched the very successful Master Gardener email clinic to help resident gardeners diagnose plant problems.
Penny continues to look for ways to leverage her interests in horticulture, sustainability, and climate change in the volunteer organizations she serves. She sees boundless possibilities in this ongoing journey to work, collaborate and share ideas with others.
Gillian Mathews (2026 - 2028)
Gillian gardens in northeast Seattle, where every inch is planted, so no room for weeds! She developed her current garden from a blank slate (just grass!) over the past 7 years. It has been open for the NHS Meet the Board tour and the recent Hardy Plant Study Weekend. Born in Yorkshire, England, she came to Seattle at 19 years old. Gardening runs through the family, her father was a gardener with a passion for growing vegetables, fruit and some ornamentals. Her sister, Susan Latter, gardens in Redmond and is an inspiration. Gillian is the retired founder of Ravenna Gardens, an urban garden center in Seattle’s University Village. Prior to Ravenna Gardens, she was a founder of Made in Washington, a group of retail stores in the Seattle area. As a past Board Member of NHS, Gillian has served primarily on the Education and Tours Committee, leading NHS Tours in New Zealand/Australia/Italy/France & England and also to various regions of the US. She believes garden touring is one of the best ways to educate oneself. She appreciates the region’s large horticultural community and the many friends she has made within it. This is a great area of the world to garden.
Linda McDonald (2025 - 2027)
Raised in Eastern Washington, Linda’s home was surrounded by apple and cherry orchards. After leaving ‘east of the mountains’, she graduated in art education from Western Washington University in Bellingham and then from the UW with a Master’s degree in Social Work. Still evolving professionally, she pursued training as a child psychotherapist and has been in private practice 40+ years.
When her husband and son started attending auto shows in the early 90’s, she asked to be dropped off at the Seattle Center where there was a Dahlia show. The booth next door was the NPA (Northwest Perennial Alliance) which introduced her to unusual form and foliage plants such as Corokia cotoneaster. It clicked! Gardening combines art and beauty (and beauty can compensate for the blows of the human condition). She joined the group.
Her Valhalla Garden in Bothell has evolved from the original rhododendrons, vine maples and lawn to become a destination to view unusual plants. She began to travel with gardening societies, attend every NWFGS, and yearly Plant Study Weekend. The garden has been open to many garden club tours including NHS Meet the Board. It also appeared in: Garden Design; the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine; and Garden Gate magazines including “The Secret to Stunning Gardens”. Linda has presented at NWFGS, BBG, NPA and other garden groups. She has also taught an elective class at Edmonds CC. Horticulture Program.
But the highest honor given the gardener was when her son asked to be married there. On a beautiful day in July, the garden welcomed family and friends to the glorious event. Now the draw for the grandkids is a new rustic, fern covered Hobbit House located next to the creek.
Meagan McManus (2024 - 2026)
Meagan is a native Pacific Northwesterner who gained her green thumb as a youngster gardening, hiking and botanizing around Western Washington. She studied Sociology/ Environmental Studies at Western Washington University, and went on to earn a certificate in Wetland Science from the University of Washington. She has worked as an ecologist and gardener in Seattle for over two decades. A highlight of Meagan’s hort career was living and working in Tuscany helping grow food on several small family farms. Her home garden is a small plot in West Seattle which she tends with her husband, two young children, one fiesty cat, several hens, and any manner of wild creatures that come to visit. She has been involved with NHS for many years and has helped with the Tour Committee, Grants and Scholarship Committees, Garden Notes, Nominating Committee, and is the 2023 Publicity Chair. Meagan is a strong believer in the power of gardens to create community and connect with nature on a deeper level. Her particular areas of interest include pollinator gardens, drought tolerant plantings and food gardening, and she lives for a lush European style courtyard!
Renee Montgelas (2024 - 2026)
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Renee emigrated at age 7 with her family, first to Vancouver, BC and later to Southern California. Her love of gardening evolved over time from mowing the family’s dichondra lawn to growing colorful annuals in the front yard of her Washington, DC townhouse and finally, going all-in after moving in 1983 to her Seattle house with mostly lawn and a few sad trees. Her growing passion for gardening morphed into plant lust which led her to the NHS plant sale and volunteering for this and other NHS events.
After retiring from a 30+ years career in the public sector at the federal, state, and local levels, Renee joined the NHS board and has served two prior terms. She co-chairs the tour committee and enjoys organizing and leading NHS tours near and far. These days, she is editing her own garden, traveling, and visiting gardens designed by other more talented gardeners.
Chuck Ogburn (2026-2028)
Chuck Ogburn was a UW research scientist before he retired and is returning to the NHS board. While previously a board member, he was especially recognized for his skill in organizing the spring and autumn NHS plant sales. He is an avid gardener and traveler. He has served many years on the Dunn Gardens’ board of directors including as past president and is currently the treasurer. He is also a member of the Hardy Fern Foundation board.
Robin Parsons (2026-2828)
Robin Parsons has been designing gardens and landscapes in the Pacific Northwest for 23 years. Earlier in her career, Robin worked as a graphic designer something she studied at Syracuse University. Having moved to Seattle, she studies horticulture and landscape design and changed careers. She is inspired by contemporary design and Mediterranean and Australian gardens. Gardens she has designed have been published in Fine Gardening, Garden Gate Magazine, and the Seattle Times and she has received design awards from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.
Camille Paulsen (2026 - 2028)
Camille is an avid gardener and enthusiastic member of the local horticultural community. A degree in International Business from the University of Georgia led to careers in hotel and property management in Atlanta and Los Angeles, as well as in the travel industry here in Seattle. When Camille moved to Puyallup in 2011, it was a revelation to discover the wide range of plants that could be grown in the mild climate of the Pacific Northwest, almost all of which ended up in her own garden! She finds inspiration by attending lectures, visiting gardens and participating in horticultural classes.
Camille currently serves on the Board of the Hardy Fern Foundation and is an active member of the Tacoma Garden Club, the Maple Society and the Lakewold Gardens horticulture committee. She is excited to be co-hosting the 2024 Puget Sound Garden Fling, a national event showcasing the beautiful public and private gardens in our area.
Lisa Port (2025 - 2027)
Lisa, a Seattle native, is a respected figure in the landscape design industry in Washington state and across the region. While she tends to a young garden in Lake Forest Park, her main achievements come from her business, Banyon Tree Design Studio. Here, she collaborates with an extensive network of clients and contractors to create custom landscape designs in Seattle and beyond, blending landscape design and architecture for residential clients. With an architectural background from Washington State University, Lisa has spent the past 25 years dedicated to designing unique and sustainable outdoor garden spaces, using plants and horticulture to harmonize the built environment. She has also held leadership roles on both the chapter and national boards of the Association for Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and is a Certified Professional Landscape Designer.
Sashi Raghupathy (2025 - 2027)
Sashi grew up in tropical southern India and caught the gardening bug at an early age. Some of her fondest childhood memories are family visits to local nurseries and watching her mom build her dream garden. Sashi moved to the U.S. for graduate studies in computer science. She visited the Pacific Northwest in 1993, fell in love with the Evergreen State, and made it her new home. After two exciting decades in the software industry, she decided to refocus on other passions—horticulture, visual arts, and non-profit organizations.
Sashi loves both ornamental and food gardens. After a recent move to Mercer Island, she is starting a new garden that will keep her busy for many years. She is an enthusiastic tomato grower, recently cultivating 60 plants in containers. She and her husband are avid hikers and travelers and make it a priority to tour gardens. Sashi regularly volunteers at the Miller Botanical Garden and Heronswood Garden. She currently serves as the VP on the Meany Advisory Board and as the Board Governance Committee Chair and Symposium Committee Co-Chair at the Seattle Metals Guild.
Michelle Rau (2024 - 2026)
Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Michelle moved to Seattle in 2013 and began her horticultural pursuits. She completed her degree in Sustainable Landscape Management and went on to become the Program Manager for PlantAmnesty. After 2 years at PA, Michelle accepted an associate faculty position at Edmonds College. She continues to teach a range of subjects while working part time for a landscaping company.
She is a Certified Professional Horticulturalist and ISA Certified Arborist with experience working on a Board of Directors and is looking forward to contributing to the NHS Board.
Nita-Jo Rountree (2025 - 2027)
Nita-Jo Rountree is a speaker, educator, and landscape designer. She is past vice-president for the board of directors of the Bellevue Botanical Garden Society, is a member of the Heronswood Garden Steering Committee, and serves on the advisory board of the Northwest Horticultural Society, of which she is a former president. Nita-Jo is a frequent speaker at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show and was a judge on “The Best Use of Color”, she competed against gardening celebrity Ciscoe Morris in “Container Wars”, and gave a lecture with Ciscoe on “Let’s Show Off Our Cool Plants!” Additionally, she was a frequent guest and substitute host on Gardening with Ciscoe, in Seattle, Washington. Along with Ciscoe, she talks about her favorite “Plant of the Week” on the Bellevue Botanical Garden Society’s Facebook page. Her book, Growing Roses in the Pacific Northwest”, was published by Sasquatch Books.
Daniel Sparler (2024 - 2026)
Daniel thought he had left gardening behind when he washed up on Seattle’s shores in 1981 after his first two decades of life in agrarian Arkansas. But 11 years later, having acquired a Seward Park house surrounded by a long neglected, sprawling lot, he quickly succumbed to floral and foliar fever, which soon progressed to a full-blown and likely terminal case of CPC – compulsive plant collecting. Within a few years he and his long-suffering husband Jeffrey had cobbled together a notorious but much-photographed garden brimming over with thousands of distinct taxa of plants from all corners of the globe. Now in his second stint on the NHS board (having previously been on from 2006-2012), Daniel serves on the NHS scholarship committee and has taught botanical Latin classes for the last 15 years in addition to writing the fortnightly “Horticulturally Yours” column for NHS. Otherwise, when not up to his knees in compost, Daniel enjoys reading Spanish literature, preparing vegan cuisine, and visiting the world’s most alluring botanical gardens.
Pam Sturgeon (2024 - 2026)
Pam Sturgeon is the current Dunn Gardens Board president, Dunn Gardens Docent, long time member of Northwest Horticultural Society, Northwest Perennial Alliance, Master Gardener, and an Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden volunteer. She has taken a number of Edmonds College Horticultural classes and volunteers in the Edmonds College Greenhouse. Pam has a B.S. in Psychology and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington, and an M.A. in Psychology from Cal State. She has enjoyed a long career in civil and women’s rights, grant writing, school administration, and as a science, history, and literature middle school teacher. Gardening has been a priority for years, as she and her husband have purchased various homes-Vashon, Seattle, Edmonds-allowing his carpentry and construction skills to update the homes, while she designed and completed new gardens. Horticultural travel, especially international travel, is a major enjoyment.
Rose Tobin (2025 - 2027)
Rose is a passionate horticulturist dedicated to ecological and environmental sustainability, and is committed to promoting healthy, thriving landscapes through a mindful approach to horticulture. She is a Senior Horticulturist at Dunn Gardens in North Seattle, where she works full-time on the garden staff, manages the on-site nursery and greenhouse, and is also an ISA Certified Arborist.
Rose has a degree in Environmental Horticulture from Lake Washington Institute of Technology and also holds a BA in Philosophy from the UW. She is inspired by the continuous path of learning that horticulture offers.
Outside of work, Rose volunteers as a garden leader at the César Chávez Demonstration Garden on Beacon Hill and tends to her own flower and vegetable garden at home.
Cynthia Welte (2026 - 2028)
Cynthia Welte was lucky to discover horticulture early in her career. Her passion was stoked at Lake Washington Tech, and she continued her studies with a Bachelor’s from UW in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry, and a Master’s in Museology from UW, focusing on Public Gardens as living museums. She learned the ins and outs of gardening in the northwest working in nurseries and as a gardener at UW and Seattle University, and has worked in administration at multiple public gardens around Seattle.
Cynthia teaches horticulture at Edmonds College, leads tours at the Arboretum, and gardens at home in Beacon Hill. Her mission is to nurture others’ appreciation of plants and gardens, and loves that when it comes to plants, everyone can spend their lives learning.
Cynthia Widmaier (2026-2028)
Cindy Widmaier has been a member of the Woodinville Garden Club for 36 years where she has served multiple terms as president or vice president. She currently manages the club’s website and represents the garden club to the local chamber of commerce. She is especially interested in attracting younger new members to NHS and in fostering relationships among local gardeners and clubs.