Landscape Arboretum Eductaion Department

Our staff is supported by a team of over 75 volunteers. These volunteers together with the dedicated staff listed below has reached thousands of people annually through education programs.

Tim Kenny - Director of Education
Tim currently serves as the Director of Education at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Tim came to the Arboretum in 1993. Tim's degrees are a B.S. in Horticulture from South Dakota State in 1979, a Masters of Science Education from the University of MN in 1998, and a Masters of Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute, University of MN in 2007. His career has spanned both the for profit and non-profit sectors. Tim taught science at a middle school and was a general manager of a retail and interior plant design firm in Minnetonka.

Tim is dedicated to provide Arboretum guests with high quality educational programs to connect people with the role that plants play in their lives. He facilitates a creative and dedicated team of staff in pursuit of his goals. Tim's love of plants comes through in all his endeavors. He spends his free time enjoying his hobbies of gardening and photography. Since Tim joined the Arboretum he has had an underlying concern for those denied Arboretum access due to geography or economics, specifically urban audiences. This makes the expansion of the Arboretum's surrounding community outreach programs a very important goal for Tim.  In 2009 he was awarded the Distinguished Diversity and Inclusion Staff Award by the College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Sciences for this work.

Kim Braun - Children's Education Instructor, Field Trips and Summer Garden
Kim joined the Arboretum staff in 2003. She teaches and develops field trips for summer fun. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology, with distinction, from the University of Minnesota. She works with both the Arboretum's Children's Garden and the urban outreach Children's Garden in Residence.

Ariel Dressler - Program Manager, Family Programs
Ariel joined the Education Department of the Arboretum in 2007. Her work at the Arboretum is focused on family activities. She earned a degree in outdoor education and interpretation from Western Washington University's Huxley College of Environmental Education. Ariel has a wide study experience at several research facilities and studied horticulture and design at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grad School. Ariel worked as an interpretive Park Ranger at Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument and Mount Rainier National Park. She worked as a horticulturalist at the U.S. Botanic Gardens in Washington D.C. And, most recently she worked for the National Park Service in the Mississippi River Visitor Center at the Science Museum of MN.

Diane Fiebelkorn - Registrar
Diane grew up and attended school in Norwood Young America, MN. She worked for General Mills, Inc. for 27 years in various accounting and programming capacities. During that time she attended adult and evening classes at the University of MN.

Diane has a long history as an Arboretum member and volunteer. She participated in the Master Gardener Program. She was hired as an Adult Education Assistant in 1999 and later moved to the Arboretum's Learning Center and became involved with Youth, Family & Teacher Education - as well as Cooking, Photography and Public Policy Programs.

Randy Gage - Learning Center Program Coordinator; Field Trips, School Partnerships, Summer Urban Garden Work Experience
Randy joined the education staff in January, 2002. His principle duties were as the Plantmobile Coordinator. Since then his duties have changed and he is currently the Manager of School Services. In this role, he coordinates the Arboretum School fieldtrips and the Partnership for Growing Science Teaching. During the summer, Randy coordinates the on-site Children's Garden and the summer urban garden work experience programs. Randy earned a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from Macalester College in 1996. He holds a professional certificate in Horticultural Therapy from the Denver Center for Horticultural Therapy in 2001. Randy is working on a Masters of Environmental Education in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of MN.

Christine Gamm - Program Manager, Plantmobile And Summer Day Camps
Christine joined the Arboretum's education staff in 2003. She coordinates the Plantmobile outreach program and Summer Day Camps. She graduated from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, MN with a degree in Peace Studies and Environmental Studies, and furthered her education with the Permaculture Research Institute-MN, the University of MN's Horticulture Department, and working at local organic vegetable farms. Christine has presented at various local events including the 2005 American Public Gardens Association conference and the 2006 North American Association for Environmental Education conference. She has been working with children and the environment since 1999, and in 2006 the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University presented her the Caritas award for her efforts.

Christine joined with her parents in reinvigorating her family's farm. They now run a small but successful vegetable farm-share (CSA) program.

Maria Klein - Adult Education Team Member
Maria joined the Arboretum staff in 1994 and edited the Arboretum's bi-monthly membership newsletter and annual reports until 2008. She also coordinated art exhibits in the Reedy Gallery from 2005-2009. She now works on public policy and continuing adult education in visual art.

Maria has a B.A. in psychology from Metro State University and speaks French and Italian. She has spent most of her career in the Twin Cities non-profit sector, serving with agencies such as the Minneapolis Arts Commission, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education and Edina schools. Currently, she serves on the Citizen Advisory Committee for the Southwest Transit-way light-rail project.

Shirley Mah Kooyman - Adult Education Team Member
Shirley joined the staff at the Arboretum in 1984. She is a botanist with a specialty in plant taxonomy (plant names and identification). She has a B.A. from Smith College, Northampton, MA in biological sciences with focus in plant ecology. She did graduate work at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL and the University of MN. At the University of Florida she worked on a monograph of the genus Rhynchospora in the Cyperaceae (Sedge Family). She has also worked as a field ecologist at the University of MN's Cedar Creek Natural History Area and as a research assistant in ethnobotany in the Dept. of Anthropology at the University of MN. While there, she worked on carbonized food remains from the Peruvian Andes. An Ethnobotanists goal is to document, describe and explain the complex relationships between cultures and their use, management and perception of plants across various societies.

Shirley was a recipient of the Bruce Beresford Horticulture Educator Award in 2009. In 1993 she was awarded a Bush Foundation Fellowship. She used her Bush Foundation Fellowship to achieve a mini-MBA from the Smith College Management Program for middle managers, at Smith College. Shirley has been featured in 4 science textbooks as a plant scientist. She has lectured on numerous botanical and horticultural topics for the University of MN's Complete Scholar program, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Hennepin County Master Gardener, local community education programs and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Jean Larson - Program Manager, Therapeutic Horticulture
Jean has managed the Center for Therapeutic Horticulture and Recreation Services at the Arboretum since 1991. She has a Ph.D. in Education (emphasis in therapeutic recreation) with a minor in integrative medicine from the University of MN. Jean is also faculty for the Center for Spirituality and Healing as part of the University of MN Academic Health Center. She teaches four courses - Introduction to Therapeutic Horticulture, Therapeutic Landscape Design, Applications in Therapeutic Horticulture and most recently, Animals in Healthcare. She is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, a Registered Horticultural Therapist and she is certified in Disability Services with a specialization in serving people with developmental disabilities. Jean's work for the Arboretum has taken her to Japan, England, Sweden and Israel. Jean facilitates therapeutic horticulture programs for a variety of people including people with developmental disabilities, eating disorders, Parkinson's.

When not working for the University, Jean is at home enjoying her family farm north of the Twin Cities along with her husband, dogs, cats, chickens and horses.

Nancy Nelson - Children's Education Instructor - Field Trips, Summer Garden And Peapods Program
Nancy joined the Arboretum's education staff in 2006. She has had many experiences in different locations, but she returned to her true love of teaching when she came to the Arboretum. Nancy received a B.A. in music therapy from the University of MN in 1976. She worked with profoundly developmentally challenged children with severe medical problems. She was among the first in the country to develop educational programs for special needs children in the 70's. On her return to Minnesota, she developed programs for Homeward Bound, a non-profit organization. Nancy created environmental education field trips, wrote curriculum and taught during her many years volunteering at Westwood
Environmental Learning Center in St. Louis Park. Her interests in plants drove her to become a member, and later chair, of the Parks and Recreation Commission for St. Louis Par. It was this experience that lead her to pursue a master's degree program in urban planning.

Allyson Rudy - Adult Education Team Member
Allyson joined the Arboretum in June 2008. Allyson has over 20 years of experience creating educational and enriching programs. She has a B.S. in Psychology from Alfred University in NY. Her special interests are learning, gardening, pottery, cycling, hiking, travel, music, good food and cooking.

Sandy Tanck - Manager of Interpretation & Public Programs
Sandy joined the Arboretum in 1979. She has a B.S. in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin, and an M.S. in Horticultural Science, minor Science Education from the University of MN. She has 30 years experience creating educational programs and activities that engage people with plants and nature.

She has spent a number of years working with schools, including writing curriculum, fieldtrips, delivering teacher courses and workshops and leading grant-funded partnerships between the Arboretum and suburban, urban and out-state schools in northern Minnesota reservation communities. She also led the design of the children's education facility and its surrounding landscape features at the Arboretum, and developed the Sunshine for Dinner interactive exhibits and Under the Oak nature play area housed there. Currently she oversees the Arboretum's interpretation including family and early childhood programs, guided tours, signage and special exhibitions.