The Society is led by a President, supported by several Vice Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, and assisted by a number of Directors.
Lou Aronica, Tower City, PA
Board Member Emeritus. Past Treasurer and past Vice President; MNPS field trip leader. Physicist; native woody plant grower; long-time natural design landscaper.
Ken Bawer, Montgomery County
Board Member. IT Specialist, weed warrior with Montgomery County and The Nature Conservancy; pursuing Certificate in Natural History Field Studies, USDA Graduate School and Audubon Naturalist Society; interest in conservation. B.S. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; graduate work in Developmental Biology.
Matthew Bazar, Cecil County
Board Member. Biologist; environmental scientist, U.S. Army; volunteer land steward for Lancaster Co. Conservancy (PA); interested in development issues, habitat preservation, open space preservation.
Carole Bergmann, Montgomery County
Board Member. Past President. Field trip leader for MNPS, Audubon Naturalist Society, and Worthley Botany Group. Forest Ecologist for M-NCPPC; founded Montgomery County Weed Warriors in 1999; instructor for the Natural History Field Studies Program, USDA/ANS; founding board member of and still active in the Maryland Invasive Species Council and the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Pest Council.
Marney Bruce, Montgomery County
Vice President. Member of Fall Conference and Conservation Committees. Founder, Simplicity Matters Earth Institute; weed warrior volunteer for Montgomery County, The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon Naturalist Society; Montgomery County Master Gardener; Wildlife Habitat Steward, National Wildlife Federation.
Melanie Choukas-Bradley, Montgomery County
Board Member. Past vice President. Field trip leader for MNPS; writes "Wildflower in Focus" columns for MNPS. Nominating Committee. Writer; author of An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees, 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland, and City of Trees; contributor to the Washington Post; instructor for the Natural History Field Studies Program, USDA/ANS.
Matthew Cohen, Montgomery County
Treasurer. Chair of Finance Committee. Owner of Matt's Habitats, which focuses on gardening with native plants and other environmentally-friendly strategies; long-term gardener and naturalist: he and his wife have transformed their 1/4 acre yard in Silver Spring to entirely natives and edible plants.
Cris Fleming, Montgomery County
Board Member. Past President. Member of Botany, Conservation, and Conference Committees; field trip leader for MNPS, Virginia Native Plant Society, Audubon Naturalist Society, and The Nature Conservancy. Former instructor of plant identification courses in the Natural History Field Studies Program, GS/ANS; former Maryland Natural Heritage Progam botanist/ecologist; principal author of Finding Wildflowers in the Washington/Baltimore Area.
Carolyn Fulton, Baltimore City
Board Member. Past Secretary. Editor, Marilandica; member of Nursery and Finance Committees.
Marc Imlay, Charles County
Vice President. Chair, MNPS Southern Maryland Chapter; Chair, Habitat Stewardship Committee. Consultant, Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council.
Beth Johnson, Montgomery County
Board Member. Past Treasurer; Finance Committee member. Interested in Lepidoptera and Odonata; active with Washington Area Butterfly Club. Enrolled Agent and principal of a tax preparation and taxpayer representation business.
Kirsten Johnson, Baltimore City
President. Governance Committee Chair; MNPS Baltimore Chapter liaison; as President, member of all committees. Retired attorney; law practice included work with non-profits and charitable organizations. Master's Degree in biology; lifelong interest in natural history; Volunteer for Irvine Nature Center and Cylburn Arboretum.
Liz Jones, Montgomery County
Board Member. Volunteer Coordinator for ANS, helped create & maintain Blair Native Plant Garden at Woodend. Co-chaired ANS Grounds Com., removed invasives with many groups. Retired from ANS in ‘12, & took Montgomery Co Master Gardener training, volunteer Buttery Habitat meadow restoration project. Coordinates Blair Garden volunteers. Numerous Grad School USA Natural History Field Studies courses. ANS Board Member 1994–2000: education & nance committees..
Brett A. McMillan, Ph.D., Carroll County
Board Member. Assistant Professor of Biology, McDaniel College; field Botany and Ecology Instructor; research and teaching interests include graminoids and moss ecology. MA, University of Florida. Research on invasive plant impact on central Florida understory plants. Ph.D., Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA. Ph.D. research on environmental variables/plant distribution, dunes of barrier islands, eastern shore of VA.
Joseph Metzger, Jr., Frederick County
Board Member Emeritus. Past Treasurer. Field botanist; author of the Maryland Plant Checklist; field trip leader.
Karyn Molines, Calvert County
Board Member. Past President, Vice President, and Secretary. Chair of Membership, Volunteer, and Fall Conference Committees; MNPS Conservation Advocate for Calvert County. Chief of Southern Parks for Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks.
Christopher F. Puttock, Ph.D, Prince George's County
Board Member. Curator, Norton-Brown Herbarium (MARY), University of Maryland. Previous Executive Director of Chesapeake Natives, Inc. 2005-2008 Program Coordinator of the Hawai'i Conservation Alliance. 1998-2005: quadrupled activities of the largest herbarium in the Pacific (Herbarium Pacificum). Current goal to revitalize activities of MD's State Herbarium, now in the Research Greenhouse Complex. Trained in systematics, he is working on an electronic flora of the North American paper daisies. 2012 President of Botanical Society of Washington, DC.
Mary Pat Rowan, Washington, DC
Board Member. Washington, DC Chapter liaison; MNPS Conservation Advocate for Washington, DC; MNPS field trip leader. Landscape architect.
Matt Salo, Prince George's County
Board Member. Founder/director PG/AA Chapter. In Cheverly: Initiator & author of much of Green Infrastructure Plan, Founder/chair of Science Advisory Com., Forest steward M-NCPPC, conducted plant surveys & organized rst BioBlitz, represents town and SAC to Baltimore/ Washington Partners in Forest Stewardship, 3 volunteer-ofthe- year awards for environmental work. Participant MD Invasive Species Council. Former member Environmental Advisory Com to WSSC. Volunteer Chesapeake Natives & UMD Arboretum & Bot Gardens. Masters ‘67 Indiana U; PhD ’74 SUNY Binghamton.
Roderick Simmons, Northern Virginia
Board Member. Past President, past Vice President. Chair of Education, Botany, and Publications Committees; MNPS Monthly Meeting Coordinator. Plant Ecologist and contract botanist; Virginia Native Plant Society board member; past president of the Botanical Society of Washington.
Gary Steele, Montgomery County
Board Member. Past Treasurer. Computer configurations analyst; experienced hiker, trail volunteer, Appalachian Trail corridor monitor; completed several classes in the Natural History Field Studies Program, USDA/ANS.
Ginny Yacovissi, Northern Virginia
Secretary. Monthly Meeting Committee. Weed Warrior for George Washington Memorial Parkway (NPS). Volunteer at native plant propagation beds for Potowmack Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society.
