Arboretum Staff

Glenn D. Dreyer, Charles and Sarah P. Becker '27 Arboretum Director

The director oversees all department functions, including education, planning, land management, collection curation, research and fund raising. Mr. Dreyer reports to the Provost/Dean of the Faculty, and works closely with faculty and students in the life sciences and a variety of administrators including the Director of Physical Plant and the Supervisor of Grounds.

Glenn Dreyer began working for the Arboretum in a landscape maintenance capacity while still a graduate student in 1982. The next year he became Assistant Arboretum Director under William A. Niering. In 1988 he was appointed to the position of Arboretum Director. Mr. Dreyer is also an adjunct professor of botany and the executive director of the College's Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies. He teaches the course "Environmental Horticulture" for the Botany Department. His professional and research interests pertain to the interface between horticulture and ecology, and he is the author of the book Connecticut's Notable Trees. His hobbies include playing the great highland bagpipe and helping his wife Wendy with her Australian Shepherd dog raising, breeding, and training program.

Kathy T. Dame, Assistant Director

Kathy joined the Arboretum staff in 1993 and now works as Assistant Director of the Arboretum. In this capacity, she is responsibible for all aspects of Public Education and Community Outreach. Her responsibilities include public relations, planning and implementing public education programs, maintaining the Arboretum website, and coordinating the volunteer program. She also works with the Arboretum staff to insure the smooth functioning of the administrative portion of the Arboretum. Kathy is an alum of Connecticut College where she majored in Religious Studies and minored in English. Writing, reading, storytelling, photography, and classical music rank high among her interests, but her greatest source of joy is her children, Brad. Ted, and Mitzi, and her grandson, Lukie, and her granddaughter, Jessica.

Mary Villa, Curator/Information Resources Manager

Mary joined the Arboretum staff in July 2004, in the new position of Curator/Information Resources Manager. Her duties include conducting inventories, evaluating, mapping, and providing signage for the Arboretum plant collections. She also manages the collection database and the Arboretum library of books, periodicals, maps, and images.

After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1994, Mary worked in landscape design and town planning. She was Director of Planning for the Town of Stonington until May of 2002 when she left to work as a planning consultant. Mary's interests include travel and visiting arboreta and botanical gardens.

Leigh S. Knuttel, Horticulturist

Leigh joined the Arboretum staff as the Horticulturist in 2008, and is responsible for the day to day operations and maintenance of the Arboretum and the Greenhouse. She also works with the Botany Department faculty and supervises the horticultural staff and student workers.

Leigh brings 30 years of experience in the field of horticulture to this position. Her past work includes growing of specialty annuals, perennials, and woody ornamental plants, and more recently grounds and garden design and maintenance and garden writing have been areas of primary focus.

During her spare time, Leigh does community volunteer work. She also enjoys reading and going on sailing adventures with her family.

Charles A. McIlwain III, Senior Groundsperson

“Chip” joined the Arboretum staff in 1999, bringing with him a strong background in grounds care and tree care. He transferred from the college's physical plant grounds crew. His responsibilities include the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the Arboretum. “Safety first” is an important priority to Chip

Away from the college, Chip can often be found outdoors either spending time in Maine with his wife, Donna, and their Rottweiler-Beagle mix dog, Baby, or winter guiding into the backcountry of Maine with his friends. At home, he is often busy polishing his master carpenter skills on their “old house.” Some occasional fun would be buying, restoring, and selling old garden tractors on eBay.

February, 2009 marked Chip's 20 years of dedicated service to Connecticut College

Bryan Goulet, Groundsperson

Bryan Goulet joined the Arboretum staff in March, 2005 as an Arboretum groundsperson, transferring from the Physical Plant Department of the College where had worked since 1998. He received his degree in Arboriculture from the University of Massachusetts in 1981, bringing with him a valuable background in tree care. In his spare time, Bryan enjoys motorcycling, letter boxing, hiking, and travel. His daughter, Chelsea, is 15 years old.

Elene Anthopolos, Staff Assistant

Elene joined the Arboretum staff in July, 2008. Among her many responsibilities in the Arboretum office are reception, bookkeeping, maintaining the membership database, filling book orders, and other clerical duties.

Elene has intermittently worked at Connecticut College since August, 1993 in both the Music Department and for Physical Plant. She is a graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, reading, taking long walks, and spending time with her family.

Jim Luce, Grounds Supervisor

A valued associate to the Arboretum, Mr. Luce is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the campus landscape. His focus is on creating and maintaining both an aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound landscape. His concerns include sustaining a high level of variety among the plantings on campus, using methods which require low maintenance, and replacing aging plantings. Jim also provides training in botany and ecology to his staff, and volunteers his time to teach public education programs for the Arboretum each semester.