Our Staff
Our team is widespread throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and the US
Savanna Institute’s staff are committed to making agroforestry a widespread agricultural practice in the Midwest and beyond. They bring to the organization a wide range of experiences, expertise and educational backgrounds in agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, livestock grazing, ecology, tree crops, new market development and more.
Connect with a staff member about their work
Savanna Institute staff are based throughout the upper Midwest region with staffing hubs in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Organizational Leadership and Administration
Setting the vision for the organization and guiding its development.
Keefe Keeley
Executive Director
Kate Wersan
Senior Director, Partnerships, Outreach & Education
David Bruce
Director of Agroforestry Adoption
Kathleen Fitzgibbon
Operations Manager
Fred Iutzi
Director of Research and Commercialization
Alison Long
Director of Development
Fany Bortolin
Finance Director
Sam Purnell
Administrative Assistant
Agroforestry Adoption Department
Connect with advisors to develop plans for adopting agroforestry.
David Bruce
Director of Agroforestry Adoption
Kaitie Adams
Community Agroforester, Illinois
Sven Pihl
Technical Service Provider, Illinois
Barbara Decré
Community Agroforester, Wisconsin
Matt Wilson
Technical Service Provider, Wisconsin
Devon Brock-Montgomery
Water Quality Program Manager
Omar de Kok-Mercado
Agroforestry Technical Service Provider
Education, Outreach and Communication Department
Learn about apprenticeships, events, online courses, communication projects, and media contacts.
Kate Wersan
Senior Director, Partnerships, Outreach & Education
Kristy Gruley
Education Program Manager
Michele Manske
On-Farm Apprenticeship & Engagement Manager
Jacob Grace
Communications Project Manager
Renee Gasch
Communications Manager
Jenn Ripp
Education and Apprenticeships Coordinator
Erin Crooks Lynch
Spring Green Campus Engagement Manager
Heather Driscoll
Event Coordinator
Research Department
Sharing ground-breaking research into agroforestry best practices.
Fred Iutzi
Director of Research & Commercialization
Kevin Wolz
Lead Scientist
Scott Brainard
Tree Crop Breeder
Monika Shea
Landscape Ecologist
Eliza Greenman
Germplasm Specialist
Nate Lawrence
Ecosystem Scientist
Xinyuan Shi
Research Fellow
Commercialization Department
Working across the value-chain to scale up agroforestry in the Midwest.
Fred Iutzi
Director of Research & Commercialization
Bill Davison
Tree Crop Commercialization Lead
PJ Connolly
Business Analyst
Spring Green Campus
Landscape-scale agroforestry demonstration, education, and research center based in Southern Wisconsin.
David Bruce
Director of Agroforestry Adoption
Erik Hagan
Home Farm Director
Dave Hopey
Field Operations Manager
Deep-rooted long-lived tree crops improve the soil, help retain water, improve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and mitigate the effects of floods. Tree crops help us heal our climate, regenerate our communities, and share stories and values across generations. It is time to transform American agriculture through tree crops.
“I trust Savanna Institute to be careful stewards of land that’s important to me and my family, and to develop and spread farming practices that will increase biodiversity and fight climate change.”