Officers
Richard A. Leopold
President and Director
Since 2013, the Director of the Polk County Conservation, Richard has held a variety of natural resource and administrative positions; most notably as Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (2007-2010, Governor Chet Culver’s cabinet). He served as the Science Advisor for the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Prior to joining Polk County in 2013, he was Director of Dickinson County Conservation Board in NW Iowa.
Over his career, he has held positions within the Iowa Environmental Council, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Minnesota and Iowa Departments of Natural Resources and served as the founding coordinator for IOWATER, Iowa’s statewide volunteer water-quality monitoring program.
He has provided leadership and direction for high-priority science activities, including water quality, climate change, adaptive resources management, and landscape conservation. He has led efforts to greatly expand stricter water quality standards in Iowa, coordinating the early organization of the Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy (IWLL) natural resources funding ballot initiative. He has strongly advocated and created policy to establish Iowa as a leader in wind energy and bio-fuels.
Sean McMahon
Vice President and Director
Sean is a passionate outdoors enthusiast who loves to hike, watch wildlife, camp and fish with his family. Sean has devoted his entire career to conservation, having spent nearly three decades in senior positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy and in his current role as Executive Director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance.”
Dr. Tammy Mildenstein
Vice President and Director
Dr. Tammy Mildenstein, Vice President of IWF, is an Associate Professor of Biology at Cornell College. Tammy has a PhD in Fish and Wildlife Biology and a MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. She leads community-based conservation projects for endangered species and endangered ecosystems, both in Iowa (monarch butterflies) and in Southeast Asia (flying foxes).
Joe Wilkinson
Secretary and Director
Retired, Iowa DNR. IWF President pre-2013, also 2017-2020. Board member; 2013-2017. My childhood was spent exploring the woods, fields, ponds and streams of central Iowa. Then, off to college; B.A. in English, University of Dubuque, with a Journalism equivalent, Clarke College, Dubuque. I spent 11 years in radio and TV news in eastern Iowa.
Kevin Thomasson
Treasurer and Director
An avid hunter, fisherman and outdoor enthusiast, Kevin is also a passionate gardener. He has been IWF’s treasurer since 1989. He also served Ducks Unlimited, as Iowa State Chairman 2004 to 2006. Kevin is dedicated to protecting wildlife habitat and educating future generations about the importance of Wildlife conservation here in Iowa.
Directors
Kristin Aschenbrenner
Director
Kristin is a conservationist from Des Moines. She has a background in–and is particularly passionate about–ag and climate, conservation policy, and funding the National Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. In her spare time, she is an avid equestrian. Kristin owns and shows American Saddlebreds and helps with her family’s breeding operation.
Tom Cope
Director
Tom has served on the Johnston City Council since 2011, where he has been an advocate for investing in stormwater management practices and enhancement of opportunities to observe wildlife in Iowa’s communities. Tom has been a staff member and lobbyist at the Iowa State Capitol for over 20 years, where he lobbied for passage of Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy (IWILL) constitutional amendment.
Chuck Gipp
Director
Chuck grew up with his 4 brothers on the family dairy farm located in rural Decorah, Iowa. He graduated from Decorah Schools and subsequently obtained his BA from Luther College. After graduation, he joined his brothers as managing partner of A-G Swiss Farms, Inc which specialized in milking and breeding of registered Brown Swiss.
Joe Henry
Director
Joe Enriquez Henry is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked in various capacities, from elected and appointed positions in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to the League of United Latin American Citizens and Forward Latino. Mr. Henry was awarded the Louise Noun Award by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa…
Adam Janke
Director
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Iowa State University, Adam is also the state wildlife extension specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. He holds degrees in Wildlife Conservation from Purdue, Ohio State, and South Dakota State…
Mark Langgin
Director
Founding Partner, Pinpoint Digital; Mark has been an IWF Board member since 2020. “Really excited to be joining the Board of the Iowa Wildlife Federation. I’ve been an outdoor advocate since I was young. Originally, just as a kid out running around, shooting at squirrels (terrible shot)…
Elyssa McFarland
Director
Elyssa McFarland farms with her family in Southeast Iowa and serves as the National Corn Growers Association’s, Soil Health Partnership Field Development Director. She attended Iowa State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and went on to earn dual master’s degrees in Agronomy and Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore
Director
Lisa is a professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management and associate director of the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State University. She conducts research and teaches in the areas of agriculture, ecology, forestry and human-landscape interactions. Her current research addresses the strategic integration of perennials into agricultural landscapes
Rudi Roeslein
Director
Rudi Roeslein grew up in south St. Louis, after immigrating to the United States from Austria in 1956. He attended Saint Louis University where he jokes that he majored in soccer and minored in Engineering. Before founding Roeslein & Associates in 1990, Rudi started his career at Container Corporation of America, a composite can manufacturing company.
Sue Wilkinson
Retired, Alliant Energy
Iowa Wildlife Federation Board Advisor, pre-2013 – Present, Board member since 2020. Growing up on a northeast Iowa dairy farm, I saw wildlife every day; in the timber, ponds and nearby trout streams. My participation in National Wildlife Federation Conservation Summits as a teenager reinforced my love for wildlife and the outdoors.