Our Staff

	Julie Birdwell, Co-founder and President Julie grew up on a farm in central Illinois and began her career in carpentry in 1985 after completing a Master’s in Art Education at the University of Illinois. Though she changed courses professionally, Julie continues to pursue the visual arts, exhibiting locally and nationally in juried and invitational shows and winning awards for her work. She collaborated in the design for the CD cover of Joni Laurence’s premiere CD, “Short Time,” and Laurence’s second release, “Daphne Speaks,” in addition to contributing backup vocals for both CDs. Her mixed media sculpture “Spine” is featured on the back cover of “Daphne Speaks.” She has also played bass guitar and sung backup vocals for the band M.J. Walker and Fictive Kin. In addition to the visual and performing arts, Julie enjoys cooking and camping.
	Jill Mulder, Co-founder, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer Jill is a native of Urbana and a University High School graduate. She began working as a carpenter in 1982, after attending Southern Illinois University as a microbiology major. Her duties with New Prairie include job site management and day-to-day operations, billing and account management, and occasional field work. For reasons lost to history, the crew refers to her affectionately as “Chickenboss.” Jill is an avid gardener, a canoeing enthusiast, and a loyal Illini and Cubs fan.
	Chris Walker, Carpenter A Collinsville Illinois native, Chris graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He began his career in carpentry by remodeling night clubs in the Washington, DC area, then became a designer and carpenter for a theatre company in Pittsburgh. He also taught set design and building at a small college in West Virginia. In 2000 Chris came to work for New Prairie. In 2006 he designed and built the “S. S. Ackerman,” a 2-story-tall tugboat exhibit, for the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum. Chris designs and builds custom furniture, often using unusual or salvaged materials to create beautiful, functional objects.
	Erik Paulson, Carpenter Erik holds an Associate’s degree from Parkland College in Construction Design and Management. He began working as a carpenter in 1992, building new homes and remodeling an 1870 Victorian. He also has training and experience in CAD drafting. Erik began working for New Prairie in 2003. He wants to broaden his education in construction by learning to timber frame. Erik enjoys gardening, cooking, furniture making, and sculpture. He also follows auto sports, with an interest in open wheel racing.
	Jennifer Hansen, Carpenter and Bid Estimator Jennifer is a native of Urbana. In 1999 she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine and Applied Arts in Painting from the University of Illinois, receiving the “Outstanding Painting Student” award in her senior year. Jen came to work for New Prairie in 2005. Seeking a healthier, more sustainable, and more aesthetically beautiful material to work with in the context of her job, Jen has also learned to mix and apply natural paints. Jen continues to stay active in the visual arts, painting and sculpting in her spare time, and she likes spending time with her family.
	Nicholas Gordon, Carpenter Nicholas grew up in Champaign and graduated from Champaign Central High School. He attended Southern Illinois University, majoring in chemistry with a pre-med focus. He returned to Champaign and in 2006 came to work for New Prairie. Nicholas is an expert in treehouse construction and enjoys playing clarinet in his free time.
	Antonio Juarez, Carpenter A native of Santa Eulalia Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Antonio grew up farming with his family. In 1988 he came to Champaign seeking a better life. He soon obtained work in the trades and has continued to work as a carpenter, doing both framing and finish work. In 2006 Antonio brought his experience and sense of humor to New Prairie. As the father of four sons, Antonio finds his spare time to be at a premium. But he enjoys playing basketball and has recently taken up jogging and bicycling to be able to keep up with his youngest son.
	Mark Ritten, Carpenter Mark has lived in the Champaign-Urbana area most of his life. He spent two years in the construction program at Parkland College before transferring to Bradley University, where he received a Bachelor’s of Science in Construction. Mark got his start in the construction field at the ripe-old-age of 12, when he started helping neighbors with their building projects, be it adding a garage or roofing their house. He still enjoys learning about new products and techniques in the construction industry. Mark started working for New Prairie in 2007. Mark enjoys spending his free time with his wife and kids. He also enjoys fishing, camping and playing softball. Go Cubs!
	Aaron Scarff, Carpenter Aaron Scarff has been working in construction for the last 9 years. Before coming to work for New Prairie, Aaron expanded his carpentry skills constructing beautiful luxury cabins in North Carolina and masonry airplane hangers and residential homes in central Florida. Aaron has a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Science from Purdue University and served three years in Africa as a United States Peace Corps volunteer.
	Amy Balek, Carpenter Amy received a Bachelor’s in Technical Systems Management with a focus on Construction Practices and Sustainable Technologies from the University of Illinois in May, 2010. She does a little bit of everything at New Prairie, but most enjoys framing, demolition, and woodworking. Her favorite thing about working for New Prairie is enjoying time with her supportive and hilarious co-workers who keep her laughing.
	Kalin Gordon, Carpenter Kalin joined the New Prairie staff in 2007, and has since become know as our “Shop Queen.” Although Kalin works primarily in the shop, painting and staining whatever needs to be painted or stained, she is also Girl Friday, running errands and filling in wherever she is needed. She also provides back-up to our Building Analyst during Energy Audits. Kalin’s current passion is art history. She spends most of her free time reading, baking cookies, and watching Dr. Who.
	Barrie Bredemeier, Carpenter A native of New England, Barrie earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York State College of Ceramics in 1981. In 1983 he came to C-U for his Master of Fine Arts in glass sculpture. He designed, built, and ran the glass department for editions in cast paper for Frank Gallo. During this time, he also started Glass Lake Studio, producing decorative and functional blown glass. For the past twenty years, he was been selling his work through art fairs, galleries, shows, and commissions, offering workshops and lessons, and winning numerous awards. In March of 2010 he started working for New Prairie. He enjoys learning new skills in building greener living spaces, and is very interested in self-sustainable energy resources and lifestyle. He also likes to spend time fishing, hiking, camping, gardening, making wine, and sculpting hand-blown glass. See an extended biography for Barrie, along with some pictures of his work.
	Matt Turino, Carpenter Matt Turino, an Urbana native, graduated from Warren Wilson College with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy and returned to Urbana in 2008 with a strong interest in Sustainable Agriculture and creating more sustainable communities in his hometown. He has worked a wide assortment of jobs — most recently as a farm hand, a full time musician, and, for the last year and a half, a carpenter. He is very excited about working for New Prairie because of their commitment to home efficiency, function, and beauty. Matt spends his free time playing music around town and the Midwest with his dad Tom (in various groups), and with the band The Mean Lids. He also loves to go dancing, garden, work on his house, eat, organize contra dance events, and spend time with his family and friends.
	Phil Orr, Carpenter Phil came to Illinois to further study art. Since being here, he has fallen in love, converted an old diesel automobile to run on used cooking oil, supported his partner as she gave birth naturally to their first child, and become an advocate of local food. And of course, started working for New Prairie.
	PART – TIMERS
	Janice Lines, Office Manager Janice was born and raised in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. She moved to Illinois to get her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from UIUC, then spent many years working in professional theatre, making costumes from Santa Fe to Seattle to New York City. She recently retired from 20 years at the U of I, where she taught and worked at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in costume construction, and the UIUC Counseling Center, where she taught and managed their undergraduate Paraprofessional Program. She enjoys spending time with her extended family and her two dogs (who both do agility training!), and reading. Janice always hoped her retirement job would be working for New Prairie, so her dream has come true!
	Melanie Grove, Writer (and former Carpenter) Melanie graduated from Southern Illinois University cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. She spent time studying alternative building practices on her own and attended the Architecture of Sustainability Conference held at Allerton Park in 2002, which led her to volunteer on NPC’s Urbana straw bale house project. She began working for New Prairie in 2003, learning carpentry skills on the job. She worked full-time as a carpenter until 2011. Currently, she continues to update New Prairie’s website, Facebook page, and newsletters, while running her own freelance copywriting business, Connect Copywriting. She also writes for the website The Rusty Pet, for animal lovers with aging cats and dogs. When she’s not working, Melanie can be found reading, writing fiction, doing crossword puzzles, people-watching, learning piano and violin, dancing, and spending time with her two daughters.
	Amalio Diego-Juan, Carpenter Amalio moved to the U.S. from Guatemala when he seven years old. He always admired his dad’s trade skills (see Antonio Juarez, above), so he was pleased to be offered a position with New Prairie in 2007. Outside of work, Amalio’s main interest is wrestling. He has wrestled for the last six years, and acted as a volunteer wrestling coach at Urbana High School after graduation. Amalio was a volunteer firefighter in the Carroll Fire Protection District for three years. Eventually he would like to attain Emergency Medical Technician and Certified Medical Assistant training.
	Gail Hug, Carpenter Before joining the New Prairie team in December, 2008, Gail worked as an early childhood teacher, specializing in serving at-risk children and students with special needs. She currently assists teaching an early childhood practicum course at the University of Illinois, simultaneously embracing her career with New Prairie. Gail began her carpentry career by taking courses at Parkland and is currently mastering those skills with the guidance of her colleagues in the field. Gail enjoys gardening, reading, and tackling her endless list of home improvement projects. She treasures time spent with her two young daughters who keep her laughing, active, and grey-haired.