Our Team
Tedor Whitman
Tedor Whitman became Executive Director of the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary October, 2014. He has over 25 years of experience teaching and leading conservation programs across a wide range of U.S. ecosystems. Tedor’s strong record as an advocate and leader in environmental education focuses on building collaborations between conservation organizations and education institutions focusing particularly on integrated biology and increasing participatory means of connecting science and environmental issues with people’s everyday lives. Before joining the Arboretum Tedor was among other things the director of education for Zoo Miami and Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, a high school biology teacher at the TERRA Environmental Research Center, and the director of Biological Stewardship at a large nature center in Westchester, NY. Tedor was also, for seven years, the director of education for the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ and is thrilled at being able to return to the Garden State. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and holds a bachelor’s in biology and a master’s in conservation biology. He and his wife, Marguerite, like to spend their free time outside arguing about bird watching strategies.
Cypress Dempsey
Being a nature enthusiast from a very young age led Cy to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies from King’s College, Pennsylvania. From there they had jobs as a nanny, private tutor, doing trail work and invasive species removal in California, and an Ambassador for the Passaic, Whippany, and Rockaway Watersheds in New Jersey. All of this ignited Cy’s love for teaching people about the environment. Cy believes that everyone can do something, no matter how small, to help the environment. They are excited to continue teaching and fostering lifelong environmental stewards of all ages here at CHA.
Jackie Hartley
A native New Jerseyan with a BS in Biology from Seton Hall, Jackie is a veteran of the pharmaceutical research industry. After retiring, Jackie decided to look for volunteer opportunities that would satisfy her long standing desire to be involved with animals, environmental awareness and/or sustaining some of New Jersey’s dwindling natural spaces. Jackie stumbled upon the Arboretum in 2007 and fell instantly in love. An environmental center – with critters! Since then Jackie has participated in a variety of tasks ranging from assisting with environmental education classes, boat building with an outreach group, and caring for the Arboretum’s resident animals, as well as providing administrative support to the staff. Eventually it was decided Jackie should become a staff member since she obviously wasn’t going away. A avid tennis player, Jackie lives in Chatham with her best two- and four-legged buddies, Rick and Zeus.
Volunteers 2014-2015
- Elisa Noël
- Alessandra Rossetti
- Mark Hopkins
- Nándor Hegyesi
- Tristan Thomsen
- David Guzman
- Raphael Gruber
- Zoé Girard
- Ellen Verstraete
- Aaron Durey
- Lucas De Wilde
- 女 司马