Staff and Faculty
Organization
Day-to-day operations of the School are managed by the Director, who also guides students with special group projects, plant studies, reviews and field trips. An advisory board, composed of instructors, education and horticuture staff, and representatives from horticultural businesses, meets periodically to review school policies and curriculum.
Advisory Board
Ani Adishian
Jeffrey A. Downing
Todd Forrest
Bill Logan
Susan Pell, Ph.D.
Kurt Morrell
Fintan O'Sullivan
Jody Payne
Dennis Schrader
Jeffrey A. Downing
Vice President for Education
Charles M. Yurgalevitch, Ph.D.
Director, School of Professional Horticulture
Priscilla Crowell
Office Assistant
Jessica Arcate is the Manager of the Forest at the Garden. She earned a BS in plant science from Cornell, is an ISA-certified arborist, and was the Garden Club of America’s Martin McLaren Horticultural Scholar in 2004-2005.
Tolly Beck Community Horticulture Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County and a Horticulturist for Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Westchester County Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
Charles Bonnes obtained a degree in landscape architecture from City College after having worked for many years for a multi-national corporation. Extensive travel has enabled him to visit many of the world’s more significant designed landscapes.
Jamie Boyer, Ph.D. is the Director of Children's Education at the Garden. He holds a doctorate from SUNY-Binghamton and studies the evolution and development of ancient land plants.
David Bulpitt Landscape Design Instructor, Principal of Brookside Nurseries, Inc., which produces soil mixes, B.S. University of Massachusetts.
Wayne Cahilly Horticulture Instructor, Manager of the Lionel Goldfrank III Institutional Mapping Department, arborist, garden consultant, Diploma, School of Professional Horticulture.
Mark Cupkovic Horticulture Instructor, Associate Vice President for Operations for the Garden, BS Miami University, Ohio.
Alice Eckerson, RLA, holds an MLA from the University of Virginia and owns her own business in Fairfield, Conn.
William Einhorn Landscape Design Instructor, principal of Landscape Design Associates, BLA College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse.
Nancy Gerlach-Spriggs Co-author of The Restorative Garden: Healing Landscape, and Executive Co-director of the non-profit organization Meristem. BSLA City College of New York and MLA Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Holly Hepp-Galvan Adjunct Professor of English and Speech at Manhattan College and Adjunct Professor of Communications and Theatre Arts at College of Mount St. Vincent. BA with honors from Skidmore College.
Bill Logan ISA-certified arborist, Member of American Society of Consulting Arborists, founder and president of Urban Arborists, Inc., author and journalist and author of Oak: The Frame of Civilization and Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth.
Gary Lincoff Has taught plant studies at the Garden since the 1970s. Is author of several books on mushrooms, including The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. He was the recipient of the 2002 NYBG “Instructor of the Year Award.”
Kurt Morrell Graduate of the School of Professional Horticulture, now Director of Arboretum, Grounds & Gardens at the Garden.
Fintan O’Sullivan works in the Nolen Greenhouses at the Garden as a plant propagator. He is a graduate of the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture.
Jody Payne is Curator of the Rock Garden at NYBG and is a graduate of the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture.
Susan Pell, Ph.D., Lousiana State University. Plant Molecular Systematist and Laboratory Manager at Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Program Coordinator for Botany at NYBG.
Jon L. Peter, NPD, OAC Plant Records Manager at NYBG, holds a diplomas in horticulture from the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and from the University of Guelph, and has over 15 years experience in North American public gardens.
Kent Pierce is the founder and president of Green Cross, an integrated plant management company in Norwalk, Conn. He is an ISA-certified arborist, and holds an MES from the Yale School of Forestry.
Michael Ruggiero Horticulture instructor, Former Senior Curator for Horticulture at the Garden, co-author of Annuals with Style, senior horticulturist at Matterhorn Nursery.
Julie Schondorf-Seghrouchni is a horticulture educator for Cornell Extension in Nassau County, specializing in plant diagnostics, IPM, and commercial horticulture. She has an MS Ed. and BA in biology.
Mobee Weinstein Foreman of Gardeners at the Garden, Horticulture Instructor, Diploma School of Professional Horticulture, BS Lehman College.
Boris Zakharov, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Assistant Professor with CUNY, Manhattan, and a substitute assistant professor with John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he is also a course scientist.
Horticulture Rotation Supervisory Staff
Toby Adams Family Garden Manager
Jessica Arcate Manager of the Forest
Wayne Cahilly Manager of the Lionel Goldfrank III Institutional Mapping Department
Ursula Chanse Director of Bronx Green-Up
Francisca Coelho Vivian and Edward Merrin Associate Vice-President for Glasshouses & Exhibitions
Margaret Falk Associate Vice President for Landscape, Gardens, and Living Collections
Don Gabel I.P.M. Manager
Marc Hachadourian Manager of the Nolen Greenhouse
Peter Kukielski Curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
Jean Mayfield-Morelli Senior Plant Recorder
Kurt Morrell Director, Arboretum, Grounds, and Gardens
Jody Payne Curator of the Rock Garden
Jon Peter Plant Records Manager
Eric Pioselli Foreman, Turf & Grounds
Brad Roeller Manager of Outdoor Gardens
Kristin Schleiter Curator of Outdoor Gardens and Herbaceous Collections
Mobee Weinstein Foreman of Gardeners
