About Us
Our Vision
We envision a collaborative partnership that reduces the negative impacts of invasive species and improves the health and biodiversity of our native ecosystems to build resilient communities.
Our Mission
We collaborate with partner organizations, landowners, property managers, and community leaders to prevent the spread of invasive species. We achieve this by building a shared purpose through education, outreach, coordination of management activities throughout our region.
Our Values
Biodiversity: We understand that protecting the biological variety and variability of life is crucial to a healthy ecosystem.
Connection: We strive to create meaningful connections with partner organizations, landowners, property managers, community leaders and volunteers that equitably benefit our ecosystems and communities.
Diversity: We are driven to develop a diverse community of conservationists who collaborate in embracing equity, inclusivity, and access.
Education: We inspire a conservation ethic and promote education around invasive species management.
Facilitation: We mobilize people, connect them with existing efforts, and provide resources for land managers who want to improve their property.
Science: We are guided by evidence-based research and informed decision-making.
Geographic Borders
SCIP will be working with the Wisconsin counties of Dane, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Sauk.
Our Council
Our Council consists of members from our participating organizations.
Jasmine Wyant
SCIP Coordinator
Jasmine was born in the Midwest and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Wisconsin with focuses in surface mine reclamation and restoration ecology respectively. Jasmine has worked extensively in conservation and education while in positions as a natural resource contractor, with natural resource conservation nonprofits like the Prairie Enthusiasts and Goldensands RC&D Inc, and as an instructor of animal biology at UW-Madison. Jasmine enjoys gardening with her 2 cats, playing ultimate frisbee, and any activity that gets her out amongst the fellow residents of the land and water like hiking, kayaking, camping, and nature photography.
Heather Hasenstein
SCIP Council Member
Heather has been the graphic designer for the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association (USRWA) for many years, and is now adding to that the title of Communications/Membership Coordinator. Heather’s passion for nature led her to do graphic design work primarily for local environmental non-profits. She couldn’t bring herself to design for groups that she wasn’t passionate about, or groups that were actively polluting the environment, and was thrilled to find there was a need for her skills in the environmental arena. Her past experience as a Membership Coordinator has also proved very helpful. She combines these skills to keep information flowing between groups in an attractive and easily digestible way, and to get volunteers interested and motivated. She loves informing people about the plants and animals around them, and helping people to identify invasive species and eliminate or control them. If you bump into Heather in the field you will probably find her bent over studying a plant or insect, or with her eyes straining skyward to identify a bird overhead.
Mark Horn
SCIP Council Member
Mark Horn is a conservation journalist based in Baraboo, Wisconsin. A retired restoration ecologist, he remains active working with private landowners on land management, invasive species control and prescribed fire. He also has experience in organizational development and public outreach.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a BS in Education. He received an MBA from Upper Iowa University in 2005. He has worked for Biologic Environmental Consulting, Adaptive Restoration, LLC, and Quercus Land Stewardship.
Giving back is a bedrock ethical commitment for Mark. He is currently the Liability Insurance Committee Chair for the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council. Mark is a former Vice President and Development Chair for the Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, where he led the fundraising effort for purchase of a nineteen acre parcel which now houses successful community gardens and the John Bock Memorial Forest.
Other community participation includes one term as Middleton City Alderperson and six years as a firefighter for the Middleton Fire District. Mark has been an active volunteer with such groups as the Aldo Leopold Foundation, International Crane Foundation, Prairie Enthusiasts, South Central Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Ice Age Trail Alliance, Madison Audubon Society, Durward’s Glen Retreat Center, Wisconsin DNR State Natural Areas, Dane County Parks and Pinellas County (Florida) County Parks.
Jason Neton
SCIP Council Member
Jason moved to New Glarus with his family in 2014 seeking a home rooted in the countryside and opportunities to volunteer and participate with organizations dedicated to the environment and ecological issues. Jason has a degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has worked in genetic research and professional brewing during his career. He has been a member of the Town of New Glarus Parks Commission since 2018 and is an avid member of the Prairie Enthusiasts.