Janet Miron, President
Bob Hartmann, Vice-President
Dr. Don Culwell Ph.D., Programs Director
Don Richardson, Development Chair
Philip Miron, Treasurer

Dr. José Abiseid
Scott Heffington
Fred Knight
Bob Verboon

Janet Miron, President

Janet graduated from The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Bacteriology. She became certified in Medical Technology by the Baylor Combined Medical Technology Program, Houston, Texas, and licensed in Medical Technology by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists in 1983. Janet worked as a medical microbiologist for 15 years at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science and at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Little Rock. She retired from Clinical Medical Technology in 2000. Janet obtained her Masters in Teaching from the University of Central Arkansas in 2007 and is a certified teacher in Secondary Life and Earth Sciences. She taught in the Greenbrier School District before relocating to Little Rock.

Janet resides with her husband Philip, daughter, and two dogs in Little Rock, Arkansas. An additional daughter and son have finished school and live in Little Rock and Houston Texas. She works as a science curriculum consultant in addition to serving on the Foundation’s board of directors. Janet has a strong desire to carry out the wishes and visions of her former neighbor, Victor Gates, for the South Fork Nature Center.

Janet served on the Gates Rogers Foundation board as Office of Operations director before being elected to the role of President as of July, 2016.

Bob Hartmann, Vice-President

Chief Curmudgeon, Rock’n’Pine Glades, Choctaw, AR

Bob began his professional pursuits in February of 1959 as a District Fisheries Biologist in southeast Kansas, stationed at Pittsburg State University where he also coordinated graduate student research on mined land’s strip pits and their aquatic communities, later adding the duties of Southeast Regional Fisheries Supervisor.  In 1971 Bob and family moved to Pratt, KS, location of the agency’s headquarters, to become Assistant to the Chief of Fisheries.  In the mid 1980s Bob was assigned to assemble a team of fisheries researchers – the Investigation and Development Section. By the time he retired the I&D Section had broadened to include all wildlife involving both sport and commercially harvested as well as commercial-produced wildlife.

Bob still maintains a deep interest in fish and all wildlife, native plants, the integrity of natural systems and particularly birds, insects and fungi. His hobbies are woodworking with used, recycled and feral materials, ‘light’ photography, boating, canoeing, kayaking, hiking and gardening. He also enjoys entertaining visitors, friends and family in the pursuits of nature’s diversity and  bounty.

Dr. Don Culwell, Programs Director

Don retired as Professor of Biology at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 2007 where for 37 years he taught Plant Taxonomy, Biology of Lower Plants and Fungi, Biology of Seed Plants, Field Studies in Biology, and Biology for General Education. He worked in the Academic Advising Center part-time (where all UCA freshmen are advised) during his last three years. During his tenure he was the curator of the Biology Department’s Vascular Plant Herbarium (19,000 specimens in the collection) and was the director of the Jewel E. Moore UCA Nature Reserve located on the UCA campus (18 acre virgin prairie and lowland woods). Service at UCA also included managing the Biology Department greenhouse and sponsoring the Biology Club. While teaching at UCA Don often made biological-botanical presentations for classrooms of grade school students, clubs and other organizations, and led numerous field trips.

In 1980 Don was the founding president of the Arkansas Native Plant Society, with a current membership of 450 and was a member of the Arkansas Academy of Science and the Arkansas Vascular Flora Committee that is writing a manual of the vascular flora of Arkansas. Honors conferred during his 37 years at UCA include the University Teaching Excellence Award (1985), the University Public Service Award (2003), and UCA Distinguished Professor Emeritus status (2010).

Don is an avid gardener who enjoys extensive hiking, camping, and canoeing; of considerable importance in his life is his practice of the Christian faith. He and his wife, Debbie (who have 2 married children), enjoy extensive travel, observing nature, cooking indoors and out, and entertaining.

Don Richardson, Development Chair

Years before Margaret Mead made her historic address inaugurating Earth Day before the United Nations, Don Richardson was busily at work “doing something” to preserve, protect, and enhance the well-being of our shared planet.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with post-graduate studies at the University of Washington, Richardson applied his degrees in Environmental Health and Bacteriology to the Executive Directorship of the Arkansas Federation of Water and Air Users, Inc. (now known as the Arkansas Environmental Federation), where he quickly mastered the responsibilities of maintaining and managing an office, preparing budgets, promoting public relations, coordinating statewide meetings, publishing newsletters, lobbying the state legislature, and traveling the state representing environmental interests.

Over the decades Don founded, chaired, served on the boards, held office, and administered the executive affairs for many non-profit organizations, state advisory councils, civic activist leagues, federal agencies, and community development efforts, including having served a 4-year term as Mayor of the City of Clinton.

Don has served with the Arkansas Water Resources and Wetlands Task Force, the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, the State Mapping and Land Records Modernization Advisory Board, the Governor’s Animal Waste Task Force, the Arkansas Rural Development Commission and, most recently, by Presidential Appointment, as the Confidential Assistant to the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

One shining example of Don’s proactive impact as an advocate and lobbyist came in 1997 when, as the Executive Vice-President of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, he led an effort that resulted in a 3-fold increase of funding to the organization’s statewide environmental and constituency building efforts.

Don served as President of the Gates Rogers Foundation until July, 2016.

Bob Verboon

We are honored to have an individual with such dedication & skill on our team!

Bob Verboon graduated from Fresno State University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Husbandry and a minor in Biological Science. He also received a Masters Degree in Vocational Education from San Jose State University. After teaching vocational agriculture in California for 5 years he moved his family to Harrison, Arkansas where he worked at Twin Lakes Vocational and Technical School. After a short tenure there he moved his family to Little Rock and began work at the Arkansas Department of Vocational Education.

In 1983 he moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to work for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technical Education and retired from there in 2001. He then moved back to Arkansas where he taught school at Springdale, Quitman and Clinton High schools. 

Bob has been a member of North Central Arkansas Master Naturalists since 2013 and has been active in developing the new chapter of Foothills of Arkansas Master Naturalists which serves the central part of the state. Bob has been the Stream Team leader for both chapters.

Bob has been a taxidermist for 47 years and has collected animal skulls as a hobby and teaches Critter Skull Investigation (CSI) to a variety of groups throughout the year. Bob has been a Docent at South Fork since 2008 and especially likes working with the younger students.

Bob has 3 children, 7 grand children and 6 great grandchildren as looking forward to teaching them all to flyfish.