In order to keep the Madison Area Herpetological Society running smoothly, there has to be people leading it. This is what our Board Members do. Each one runs a particular part of our organization in order to keep us moving in the right direction. These individuals are dedicated to educating the public and we appreciate all of the time they put in to help our cause. Below is contact info for each member, and a short bio. If you are interested in any position, elections are held at the last meeting of the year. If you’d just like to help out, feel free to contact a board member and find out how you can get involved!
President *
Ryan McVeigh
Pres.MAHS@gmail.com
Ryan founded the Madison Area Herpetological Society in 2010. He wanted to share his love of reptiles with all around him and help educate people on their proper care. Before then, Ryan had done school shows and worked in a pet store educating young kids about the wonders of the reptile world and how to keep them properly. His love of reptiles started when he was only 4 years old as he was always chasing and catching frogs, salamanders, and garter snakes. Ryan has been keeping reptiles since he was 7 years old and has been actively breeding them in captivity for the past 5 years. Ryan graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and is a Project Engineer by day, and reptile enthusiast by night. As time goes on his love for these animals and spreading education continues to grow!
Vice President *
Rebecca Wyman
Rebecca first got into reptiles while she was in college, she wasn’t allowed to have pets so she started looking for one she thought she could convince her landlord to let her have. She wasn’t able to convince her landlord to let her have a reptile while in college, but in October of 2010 she got her first ball python. Her reptile collection has since snowballed and she now has over 30 snakes and close to 20 geckos. She currently breeds ball pythons and crested geckos, but in the future will be adding fat tail geckos and boas to that list. Outside of reptiles, she works full time as a computer programmer.
Secretary*
Dena Kyle
Dena’s interest in reptiles ignited when she was 16 years old & started working at Animart. There she learned about reptiles & how each species is beautiful and unique. She was introduced to some reptiles with colors so vibrant, she was amazed that any animal could possess such beauty. She also found reptiles with neutral colors that allow them to blend in to their environment and found them intriguing. She appreciates every person she’s met, each with expertise in specific species, that have taught her so much. The thing she loves best is, with exotic species, there’s never an end to learning about them!
Publications Coordinator*
Audra Hilse
Audra is a graduate student at UW-Madison studying Library Science and hoping to be an archivist. She has been interested in reptiles in a minor way for many years, and more seriously since early 2011. She is most interested in snakes. She owns one young corn snake named Daiki, and he is her first reptile. She enjoys field herping, and would someday like to own a couple more snakes.
Forum and Webiste Administrator*
Kyle Salzmann
Kyle has been interested in herpetology his entire life and went to college to get degrees in Wildlife Management & Biology. He is currently employed as an Order Selector for Roundy’s Supermarket Distribution, but someday hopes to find a permanent job working with wildlife of some kind. Kyle and his wife Krystal work with geckos, and have been breeding, raising, and selling them since early 2007. He really enjoys field herping, attending reptile shows, and basically anything reptile related.
Event and Education Coordinator*
Eric Roscoe and Tara Thomas
Eric graduated in December 2010 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology with an emphasis on herpetology. He has always been interested in all animals, but particularly reptiles and amphibians, since the age of 5. Finding his first garter snake on a farm in Wisconsin kicked off his interest in reptiles. He would find and catch local frogs, turtles, and snakes at summer camps, his backyard, and wherever else he could wander off to. He now has an interest in the keeping and propagation of blood pythons, carpet pythons, ball pythons, corn snakes, western hognose, and hopefully some day reticulated pythons.
Tara grew up in Arkansas, where she encountered many herps and her interest in them grew. She moved to Madison in 2011 and started to draw for MAHS in January 2012 while she was pregnant. She keeps three snakes with her boyfriend: a ball python named Ukki and two Columbian red-tail boas named Selleck and Eve.
Kid’s Herpetological Society Coordinator*
Angel McVeigh
Angel has been interested in reptiles and amphibians since a young age. Her parents never allowed her to keep any, though, and her love for them subsided over time. However, after meeting Ryan, her husband, that passion quickly came back and has grown every day since. Angel is currently going to school for Business Administration, and right now is a stay at home mother. She has a 3 year old son, Zakk, and a 1 year old daughter, Naomi. Both kids love reptiles, which is something you’ll find with everyone in the family.
Adoption Coordinator*
Rebecca Wyman
Members at Large*
Lucas Madecky and Doug Martin
Lucas went to Madison Media Institute and graduated summer of 2010. He majored in 3D Art and Animation. Originally, he wanted his first personal pet to be a kitten, but the idea was shot down whilst he was still living with his parents. So, as a bluff, he suggested getting a snake instead, which they agreed to. He purchased his first ball python and since then has gathered other animals with his girlfriend Tara, including Selleck and Eve the red-tail boas and Ukki the ball python.
Doug and his wife, Diana, are the owners of D and D Dragons. They started D and D Dragons back in 1997 and have had success breeding and raising bearded dragons and are also working with crested geckos. He has always been interested in all types of animals and has had many different types of reptiles from garter snakes, frogs, turtles and lizards as a kid, to keeping 2 types of turtles and 7 types of lizards now. He has done various reptile shows, exhibits, fairs and educational shows all over Wi and in northern Il since 1998. His plans for the future include buying a home with ample space to expand their collection and experience by adding more types of reptiles, mainly lizards.
News Team
Austin Krueger
Austin has been interested in reptiles since he was a kid. This started because when younger his mom took him to the zoo all the time and his favorite was the alligators. When he got older his dad would take him out to the local lakes to catch frogs and turtles. Austin is attending UW –Whitewater for a major in Biology with an emphasis in Marine Biology/Fresh water Ecology. Austin hopes that when he graduates he will get a job out in the field getting hands on with animal. It has been in the last few years where he has been allowed to keep reptiles so his collection grew. He is keeping animals from the ball python to tarantulas and a few things in between. He is hoping to get into breeding ball pythons, crested gecko, dart frogs, and a few other things.
* Board Members