Board of Directors
Rob Mullen, Chair - West Bolton
Rob, a native Vermonter and well-known wildlife artist, started fishing at age three, shooting at five, canoeing at eight, and deer hunting at 10. He graduated from UVM with a degree in biology in 1978. His lab drawings led to illustrations for professors and leaving for NYC to pursue a biological art career. He then turned to the “dark side,” and for the next 16 years was freelance advertising artist on Madison Avenue. In 1994, Rob returned to Vermont and wildlife art, winning dozens of awards nationwide in over 100 art exhibits (Home | PaintnPaddleStudio). Among these was Vermont Duck Stamp winner in 1995. Since 2001, he has been a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists. He has worked with the Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) on boreal forest exhibitions since 2004. In that role, he has conducted over 20 wilderness art expeditions from Labrador to Alaska with over thirty internationally known artists including Robert Bateman. Rob’s adventures include being charged by a grizzly while soloing across the Brooks Range with a canoe in Alaska. Grizzly Attack Aftermath Aug 17, 2013
David Kelley, Vice-Chair - Craftsbury Common
Dave, a native Vermonter, graduated from Otter Valley Union High School and the University of Vermont. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law School and was later appointed as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. He is a co-founder of PH International which fosters civic education and international exchanges. He served as General Counsel to the Vermont Ski Areas Association for 25 years. He is a former chair of the Hazen Union School Board and a Board member of the Greensboro Land Trust.
Dave grew up in a Vermont hunting family and hunted for much of his life. Today most of his time outdoors is spent fishing (summer) or skiing (winter). He is an avid fly fisherman.
Jane Hoffman - Greensboro
Jane is a member of the Greensboro Conservation Commission and enjoys trap and target shooting and manages her land to provide a supportive environment for pollinators and other wildlife.
Jane’s education includes a J.D. and M.L.S., and she worked as an attorney with the Wall Street Firm of Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett, served as a Senior Consultant at a NYC management consulting firm and was in private practice in taxation, executive compensation and estate planning.
Jane is a Founding Member and former Secretary and Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, the first of it’s kind in the U.S. In 2007, she received the Inaugural Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award from the American Bar Association.
Melissa Hoffman (no relation to Jane) - Huntington
Melissa holds a B.A. in Philosophy, from Mount Holyoke College with graduate studies in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago. She originally moved to Vermont in 1994 to start an organic vegetable farm and CSA. Melissa, who is also a chef of wild and perennial plant foods, is the founder and co-director of LivingFuture Foundation whose mission is to conserve land and establish food systems that harmonize with wildlife and sanctuary animals. Melissa is a partner with her wife, Shawn Smith in SHO Farm, LLC a 1,300-acre farm, sanctuary and wildlife preserve.
Claudia Mucklow - Charlotte
Claudia has B.A.s in Studio Art and Art History, as well as an A.A. in Photography. She brings a rich background as a member of Vermont’s horse community both as the owner of four horses, including two PMUs (pregnant mare urine foals) and as a horse facility operator.
More recently, Claudia has been active in volunteering to improve wildlife habitat in Charlotte’s Park and Wildlife Refuge.
Advisory Board
Chuck Storrow - CALAIS
Charles (“Chuck”) Storrow, former partner at Leonine Public Affairs (now retired) has a broad range of legal experience and has extensive experience in land use matters. He has served on the Vermont Environmental Board, chaired the Calais Development Review Board, served as an alternate member of the District 6 Environmental Commission, and was a member of the Town of Fletcher Planning Commission.
Chuck has a B.A. (with distinction) in history from the University of Maine, and a J.D. from Vermont Law School, where he graduated with the highest academic ranking in his law school class. Chuck was a member of the Vermont Law Review and served as a law clerk for the Hon. Sterry R. Waterman, Senior Judge, U.S. Court for Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
Chuck grew up in in the “Snowflake Bentley” house two miles down a dirt road in Jericho, Vermont. He has hunted and fished since he was a young teenager.
Michael Haas - Lowell
Michael obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in biology, at Lafayette College, then a Master of Science degree in zoology from the University of Rhode Island. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1981 and went on to enjoy a near 40-year career in private veterinary practice, tending to both farm and companion species. Beyond daily practice, Michael studied and lectured on human-canine co-evolution. He is a life-long nature observer but also enjoys woodworking, gleaning antiques from refuse, gardening, local history, and genealogy. Michael and his wife reside in Lowell on a property replete with meadows, woodlands, brooks, and river where they encourage the growth of native plants to nurture wild fauna. He enjoys working with Vermonters to appreciate and celebrate the state’s marvelous natural resources and to create an ecologically-sound future for Vermont’s wild species.
Bonnie Rowell - West Bolton
Bonnie grew up in Quebec, and her most cherished moments were spent in the Laurentian Mountains where she learned to love and respect wildlife. Her mother reminded her that one day when she came out of the house after a rain, she found a worm with a Band-Aid wrapped around it, and knew it was Bonnie’s doing. Bonnie got a B.A. in English Literature and went on to work for a veterinarian for 8 years, assisting in surgery and office management. She has fostered animals, wild and domestic, and the beauty of nature inspired her to get a camera that she uses to try to capture that perfect photo of any available wildlife, from butterflies to bears. After meeting Rob Mullen in 2006, she moved to Vermont, where they live on a large beaver pond. As a result, she is able to view wildlife on a daily basis, especially beavers, herons, ducks, geese and frogs. After owning a craft store in Quebec for over 20 years, she found an opportunity to use her love of nature to create botanical plaster castings of Vermont’s wildflowers https://www.bonniesbotanicalsvt.com/
Leigh Steele - Burlington
Leigh made her way to Burlington from Cleveland in 1984. After earning a BA degree in Transpersonal Psychology, she pursued several years of intensive training as a counselor. Her ensuing professional career was in social work. During 25 years at Vermont Works for Women, she coordinated a nationally recognized employment training program, directed a mentoring program for incarcerated women returning to their communities, and advocated for criminal justice reform.
Upon retirement, Leigh shifted her attention more fully to endangered wildlife. A graduate of the Vermont Master Naturalist program, she worked with a team to plan and lead a mammal tracking outing along the Winooski River for the public, and is involved in placing cameras to monitor wildlife in forested areas of So. Burlington for purposes of collecting data for the city. Leigh is also an enthusiastic and devoted birder who values the many opportunities in Vermont for outdoor activities and citizen science participation.
Contact us:
info@vtwildlifecoalition.org or via our Contact Form.