Mark Brownlee, Head Ecologist

Mark Brownlee leads our ecological restoration research program by inventing new methods, discovering new plants/genotypes and discovering new uses for obscure species.  Mark built the philosophical foundation of the Ecoregion-centric nursery model and teaches others the method.  Mark also leads our largest programs with state and federal agencies and leads our consulting and business/nursery planning services.  Mark holds a BS/MS from Carnegie Mellon.

Fun facts: Mark planted his first garden at six years old and has been growing and propagating plants ever since.  If you cannot find him fiddling with plants or teaching others this craft, he’s probably in West Virginia or Virginia trying to save some obscure species that no one has ever heard of from oblivion.

Kristen Bartels, Permaculture specialist

Kristen Bartels joins ArcheWild with a strong farming and plant-breeding pedigree having spent several seasons with Johnny’s Seeds.  Kristen studied Environmental Writing and Media at Unity College.

Kristen is committed to figuring out how to move permaculture from a fantastical idea into a solid program that actually yields strong nutritional and economic results.  Currently Kristen is participating on a wide range of programs to help expedite her learning the ArcheWild way.

Fun facts: Ask Kristen about her summers hand-pollinating 100,000s of squash flowers!  An intuitive photographer and a budding blogger!

Cameron McIntosh, Operations Manager

Cameron joined ArcheWild in 2012 as a nursery worker but quickly demonstrated his aptitude for managing other people and complicated restoration programs.  Cameron has helped innovate several aspects of our nursery operation and now builds nurseries for other organizations.  With his large presence and sense of humor, Cameron is a favorite among tour groups.

Fun facts: Cameron is an accomplished ceramicist and interned with Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, just for fun!  Cameron’s mother is an internatioanly-acclaimed equestrian competitor and his father organized African safaris.

Anna Carr, Propagator

Anna Carr joined ArcheWild in 2017 and arguably manages the most complex aspect of our business: Propagation.  Seed collection, cleaning, conditioning, and germinating seeds is Anna’s domain.  With over 4000 accessions, and a few hundred new ones each year, this is a monumental task.  Anna is also the brains behind ArcheWild’s suite of in-house developed mobile applications.

Fun facts: Anna trained as a both a physicist and a textiles artist.  You’ve got to be a pretty smart cookie to handle everything that she does.  If you buy a cool plant from ArcheWild, you know that Anna personally cared for it.

Iveta Gigova, Principal and CFO

Iveta Gigova is one of our founding Principals and holds a majority stake in the firm.  Iveta focuses primarily on servicing our strategic nursery accounts while managing both the finance and accounting functions.  With multiple Bachelor’s degrees and a Master’s from Princeton, Iveta provides the intellectual and analytical foundation that helps us to continue growing.

Fun Facts: Iveta speaks at least seven languages, has consulted for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and hosted George Soros on a week-long hunting trip in Europe.

Tomias Peoples

Tomias Peoples joined ArcheWild in 2018 to apply himself to mastering the science of ecological restoration.  Frustrated with the “theory” he learned in his classes at Temple, Tomias wanted to learn from the people actually performing the work.

Recently, Tomias has been instrumental in building a large in-ground nursery dedicated to a single forest restoration program in Princeton, NJ.

Fun facts: Tomias crafts a mean pizza and loves to run everywhere because he prizes efficiency so much!

Ruth Dunlevy, Nursery Manager

Ruth Dunlevy is the most experienced ArcheWild staff member having spent more than 20 years managing both customers and their plants.  With a Bachelor’s in Landscape Contracting from Penn State, Ruth is a stickler for performance and drives her team hard.

Ruth manages all aspects of our production nurseries and handles her crew like a professional.

Fun facts: Ruth started her career at the ripe old age of 15 in a local garden center before rapidly rising to run a retail garden center operation and then leading her own landscape crews.  Enjoys a lakeside cabin in the Poconos.

Josh Schwartz, Project Manager

Josh is ArcheWild’s go-anywhere, do-anything guy that enjoys getting a good job done well better than almost anything else.  While Josh’s true love is building metal art sculptures, Josh expertly leads teams to tackle the most demanding aspects of our projects.  Strong as an ox and funny as a loon, Josh is the glue that helps keep everyone together.  Josh studied at the University of Colorado.

Fun facts: An accomplished wrestler in High School and quite the ladies’ man.  Someone lucky is going to pin Josh down someday.