Meet the Advisory Board
The Ancient Oaks Foundation values the expertise of the following people for technical advice on our various habitat restoration projects:
Scott Garrison
Certified Arborist
Scott has been a Lake Zurich resident for over 30 years where he’s been a member of the Village’s Tree Commission since 1995. For 35 years Scott worked for the Village of Arlington Heights Public Works – Forestry Division. He has volunteered with the Ancient Oaks Foundation and was a finalist for IMRF’s Volunteer of the Year Award for 2015. He enjoys gardening, Chicago sports, camping and anything to do with nature.
Kevin Schiewiller
Restoration Program Manager- Citizens For Conservation
Kevin resides in Fox River Grove and is a member of the Village of Lake Zurich Tree Commission. He is a graduate of Loyola University with a degree in Environmental Science. Formerly an Environmental Restoration Technician for Stantec, an ecological consulting firm that specializes in wetland mitigation and habitat enhancement of local ecosystems, Kevin is now the Restoration Program Manager for Citizens For Conservation in Barrington, Il. Kevin volunteers with the Deer Grove Natural Area Volunteers.
Jan Papa
General Manager – Sebert Landscaping’s Bluestem Ecological Services
Jan Papa, a Cambridge Wisconsin resident, has vast experience in the field of habitat restoration and ecological management. She is a graduate of Northern Michigan University and has worked for such notable landscaping enterprises such as ILT Vignocchi, Countryside Landscaping and Bret Achtenhagen Seasonal Services. She is currently the General Manager with Sebert Landscaping’s Bluestem Ecological Services. She has volunteered with the Ancient Oaks Foundation from its earliest days as the Oak Ridge Marsh Conservation Group as well as with Citizens For Conservation and The Nature Conservancy. She holds several professional affiliations within the horticulture and native landscaping field. She brings a wealth of restoration knowledge to the Ancient Oaks Foundation.
Shannon Westphal
Arborist
Shannon grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan and moved to Illinois in 1998 when she finished college. She has worked for The Care of Trees for 19 years and held various roles from Plant Health Care Technician to Regional Operations Coordinator to her current role of Sales Arborist. Shannon has a BS in Forest Conservation from Michigan State University, she has been an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist since 2000 and is a licensed pesticide applicator for the state of Illinois. She started hanging around trees at a young age in the National Forests of Northern Michigan and has loved trees and the environment ever since. Shannon has volunteered with The McHenry County Land Conservancy. When she isn’t at work Shannon enjoys spending time watching her daughter play soccer and basketball, hiking with one or all three of her dogs or snuggling with a book and one of her cats.