Rick Whitecotton

President
Committees: Ex-Officio on all committees

Rick is a retired Union official, he was also a joint facilitator for Union/Management projects at DTE Energy. A Navy veteran, he served as a Reactor Operator on a missile submarine.  He earned an A.S. from John A. Logan College.  He volunteers in the gift shop, the pollinator habitat project, and several interpretive programs. He was certified as a Master Gardener in both Michigan and Illinois and a Master Naturalist in Illinois. He is also active in many other native plant and stewardship projects in the larger Southern Illinois Community.

Tana Burnett

Secretary

Tana is a retired Special Educator and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. She earned a bachelor’s degree from SIU-C in Special Education, an MA in Special Education from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. She has been certified as a Master Naturalist in Illinois. Tana grew up in Southern Illinois and returned following retirement to be closer to family. She volunteers at the Woodland Gift Shop. As Secretary, she is responsible for distributing Monthly Board Minutes, Quarterly Newsletter, and Membership notifications.

Jim Osborn

First Vice-President
Committees: Finance and Planning, Chair Photography and Merchandise

Jim Osborn was born in Cleveland, OH and lived in 7 different States before graduating High School. Attended Illinois Wesleyan University majoring in Speech Communication and earned a masters Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Illinois State University. He worked as a therapist for 3 years, then dived into health care management. In 1998, he took a job with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as Director for rehabilitation Services with Southern Illinois Healthcare, retiring from that position in 2017. Before retiring, he began volunteering in the Visitor’s Center and with the Woodland Gift Shop and joined the Friends Board. Having a passion for photography, he helped create the Crab Orchard Photography Group. He is the Manager of our Friends Woodland Gift Shop. Married to his college sweetheart, Mary Jo for 49 years, they have both found a role with the Friends of Crab Orchard Refuge; also on the Board is his brother Randy. A lover of the natural world, he feels blessed to live in an area as beautiful and as wild as Southern Illinois.
Committees: Merchandise*, Finance and Planning, Photography

Mary Jo Osborn

Treasurer
Committees: Merchandise, Finance and Planning

Mary Jo grew up in Des Plaines, IL attending Illinois Wesleyan University where she majored in Biology and met her future husband of 49 years, Jim Osborn. They have 3 outstanding sons, 3 beautiful and capable daughters-in-law, and 11 amazing and talented grandchildren. She taught Biology at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield, IL and later taught a variety of Sciences, mostly Chemistry, while teaching at Carterville, she earned her Masters Degree at SIUC. Her happy place, (other than with the grandkids), is the coast of Maine. She and Jim enjoy traveling, eating at a variety of restaurants, and being with their large family.

Ruie Whitecotton

Committees: Chair Media, Marketing, and Membership, Publisher of Quarterly Newsletter, Merchandise, Pollinator

Ruie Whitecotton graduated with an Associates of Science Degree from John A. Logan college majoring in Music Education and Business, also studied at Southern Illinois University -Carbondale, and Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, TN. She held several clerical positions, and taught Music Classes and Typing. Married to Rick Whitecotton for 48 years. They have 3 grown children and two Sons-In-Law. She was certified as a Master Naturalist and a Master Gardener in Illinois. She enjoys volunteering in the Woodland Gift Shop and producing the Quarterly Newsletter. She is a major contributor to our Friends of Crab Orchard Refuge Facebook page. Ruie has volunteered over 1000 hours at the Refuge.

Randy Osborn

Committees: Committee member of Media, Marketing, and Membership

Randy Osborn recently retired after over 30 years working in outdoor education, residential camp programs, therapeutic recreation, and youth services. He was the first Executive of the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale from 2004-20017, and for 10 years directed summer camp programs for people with special needs, including Touch of Nature’s Camp Little Giant. Randy has a lifelong love of the outdoors and is an avid birdwatcher, hiker, bike rider, and kayaker. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Carbondale Breakfast groups, and former board member of Keep Carbondale Beautiful. In 2021, he celebrated 60 years of Frisbee play by competing in numerous local, regional, and national disc gold tournaments and leagues.

Jill Adams

Committees: Finance and Planning, By-Laws, Nominating, Interpretive and Outreach Committee

Jill Adams retired having previously worked at Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Law. Earned the title JD from the University of New Mexico and MAT degree in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has been certified as a Master Naturalist in Illinois.

Colleen Bogard

Committees: Interpretation and Outreach Committee

Colleen Bogard is a Lifetime Member of Friends Of Crab Orchard Refuge, having been a member since the group was formed. Past generations of her family once owned and farmed land that is now part of the Refuge. She volunteered for many years at the Woodland Gift Shop, and many other programs with a particular focus on youth outdoor education.

Don Mullison

Committees: Chair of Wetland, Photography, By-Laws

Don Mullison moved to Southern Illinois in 1989 and has enjoyed birding, biking, and hiking in Southern Illinois ever since. Before going into semi-retirement in 2014, he worked at SIU’s Counseling Center as a staff Psychologist.  He fully retired from SIUC in 2017. Don has been a birdwatcher for well over 50 years now, and since his retirement he has more seriously pursued his interest in wildlife photography.  He pursues birding and photography throughout the Southern Illinois region. He is a frequent Facebook poster at the Friends of Crab Orchard and Photography Website and the Southern Illinois Birding Group Website. Photography is a hobby he shares with his wife Miriam. They have been responsible for the Crab Orchard Photography Contest for a number of years.

Kathy Carstens

Photography Club, Woodland Gift Shop Volunteer

Kathy moved frequently in the Midwest and West while growing up and during her career as an insurance underwriter. She moved to Southern Illinois in December 2019 (just before the Covid shutdown) to live near her brother and extended family.  During Covid she became interested in wildlife photography, especially bird photography, and spent a great deal of time at Crab Orchard and around Southern Illinois learning to find, identify, and photograph birds.  She frequently posts her photos at the Friends of Crab Orchard and Photography and the Southern Illinois Birding Group Facebook pages.  Now that Covid is over she’s enjoying meeting people in the community and volunteering at the Woodland Gift Shop in the new Crab Orchard Visitor’s Center.

Kathy Belletire

Pollinator Habitat Project Team, Finance and Planning, Marketing, Media and Chair of Interpretive and Outreach Committee.

Kathy is a nature artist, an art educator, and gardener. She joined the Friend’s of Crab Orchard Refuge in 2017 and volunteers with the Pollinator Project team. She became a U. of I. Extension Master Naturalist in 2018 and enjoys giving educational programs and classes. Kathy records butterfly species on the Refuge as a member of the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, and is part of the Bluebird Nest Box volunteers.

Bob Gulledge

A former businessman now retired and enjoying god’s nature by photography and very frequent visits to the Refuge. You can see Bob’s beautiful photography on our Friends of Crab Orchard Refuge and Photography Facebook page.

Kevin Curran

Kevin attended SIUC and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in forestry, Outdoor Recreation Resource Management, completing his Master’s Thesis project with the National Park Service at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kevin then began a career with the Corps of Engineers that spanned 33 years and three different projects in the St. Louis District of the COE. Kevin retired as the Project Manager at Rend Lake. Since retiring he has enjoyed travelling and visiting with his young grandsons in the St. Louis area.

Maureen Curran

Maureen Curran attended SIUC and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Outdoor Recreation, and Master’s Degree in Environmental Education. During her 17-year career with the Corps of Engineers she worked at Wappapello Lake, Mark Twain Lake and Rend Lake, mostly in Public Information and Education. Mid-career, she returned to SIUC to complete a degree in elementary education and after completing her teacher certification spent the next 16 years as a 6th, 7th and 8th grade science teacher at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School in Herrin. Now retired, Maureen enjoys travelling and visiting with her young grandsons.