Board of Directors

I am a retired pastor. Social justice has always been part of my work in the ministry. After retiring from a seven-year-long pastoral assignment in Baraboo in 2021, my spouse Jim and I chose to retire in this community. There are so many people in this area who are passionate about learning to live sustainably on the earth. I am grateful to be working with some of those folks in PUB, promoting clean energy solutions to the climate crisis locally. Besides working with Powered Up Baraboo, I babysit my youngest grandson once a week and offer spiritual direction on ZOOM and in person. Cooking, riding my e-bike, walking, reading and playing piano are other pastimes I enjoy.

My family and I have had a close connection to the Baraboo Area for nearly 80 years. I grew up in the Town of Merrimac on a farm that my grandfather and his siblings purchased in 1946 following the end of World War II. My wife Yenti and I met in 1992 on a blind date, paddling down the Baraboo River and have been falling in love with each other and the Baraboo Area ever since. I graduated in 1993 from UW-Madison earning a Civil & Environmental Engineering degree and a certificate degree in Environmental Studies. In 1995, we bought our current home on First Street in Baraboo and married a month later. We’ve enjoyed fixing up our 1896 Victorian home and making it more energy efficient each year, while trying to maintain as much of its historic integrity as we can. I’ve been working with AECOM since 2017, and have enjoyed cutting my previous work commutes of up to 180 minutes per day down to ~2 minutes per day (working in my home office). This extra time has allowed me to give back even more time to the Baraboo area by volunteering for non-profit groups like Friends of the Baraboo River, Kiwanis, Rotary and, most importantly, Powered Up Baraboo.

Growing up on a small bison and cattle ranch in Kansas, I spent most of my childhood outside, developing a deep appreciation for nature.  When our family built our second home, it was my first time hearing about passive solar and the importance of siting a home. I became interested enough to continue reading about wind, solar, and geothermal applications well into my twenties. Then, life happened. In my professional life here, I taught and held several positions within the Baraboo School District.  During that time, I was the Community Education Director, and served on several boards, as well as on other coalitions and programs. Activities and goals centered around creating a stronger, more resilient place for all of us to live and thrive. My husband Joe and I have lived in Baraboo since 2003.  We have grown children, two of whom live here with their families; and 4 hilarious grandchildren.  Joe and I are also owners of a few multi-family units in Baraboo and Sun Prairie that keep us busy. It is my desire as a PUB board member to learn how I can personally do better at taking care of the environment, be of help creating a more sustainable Baraboo and maintaining the small community feel we have here in Baraboo.

I have an abiding interest in sustainable living. In the early 2000s, this interest led me to help with various community projects, including developing a school rain garden, organizing a local initiative to encourage kids to bike and walk to school, and organizing educational forums on wind power, manure digesters, and plasma waste conversion. More recently, I was involved in developing public library programs on preserving water resources, regenerative agriculture, sustainable gardening, and a conservation film festival. In each of these endeavors, I have had the privilege of working with experts in conservation and environmental sustainability. I believe it is this expertise, coupled with local grassroots citizen action in communities around the country, which will make real inroads in fighting climate change at the local level, and influence decision makers to wake up to the need for action at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

As a person who has only lived in Baraboo since the year 2000, I sometimes still feel like a newcomer! My husband and I moved here with a small child and another one on the way. We now have 2 adult children who grew up here, went to the Baraboo schools and consider Baraboo their hometown. This place has been good to us. I increasingly feel that my being part of this community means giving back to it in any way that I can. I have always lived in the Midwest and despite the occasional longing to travel to parts unknown, I consider myself lucky to live here. I love living in a four-season place and watching how the world around us changes throughout the year, whether it be in the hills around Baraboo or in my own backyard. My joining Powered Up Baraboo is a way for me to feel more connected to my community. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the climate or what needs to be done to move our community forward in a sustainable way, but I do think it’s time to learn. My hope for this group is to promote learning and spread understanding and connection in our community in a way that feels inclusive and hopeful.

Learn more about Mike soon!