Wausau Pilot & Review
Monk Botanical Gardens has assembled a skilled team of three new staff that have already hit the ground running as the Gardens gears up for another season of beautiful summer gardens, educational programs, and events.
Patrick Murphy has been hired as the Facility and Grounds Director, Cora Borgens as the Horticulture Manager, and Patrice Witt as the Garden Supervisor.
Facility and Grounds Director Patrick Murphy is excited to share his guidance, leadership, and foresight to progressively grow, serve, and protect the Monk Botanical Gardens facilities for generations to come. Over the past 25 years, he has overseen the successful growth and development of YMCA and non-profit camps and programs throughout the Midwest. Murphy will provide overall leadership of the Gardens’ facilities and grounds, including areas of security and safety, maintenance, custodial, operations, energy conservation, sustainability, and capital building and repair.
Cora Borgens joins the Gardens from Washington state and is the new Horitculture Manager. She brings a wealth of knowledge through her studies in Landscape, Nursery, and Greenhouse Management, as well as from her experience in research and at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. Borgens will implement institution-wide horticulture goals and objectives while maintaining the display gardens and natural areas to a national level of excellence.
Patrice Witt is the Garden Supervisor and brings over 30 years of diverse horticulture experience to her position. Her expertise extends from formal perennial gardens and landscape design, to integrated pest management and beyond. Witt will be instrumental in leading volunteers and interns to maintain top-quality gardens and accomplish grounds projects.
Murphy will oversee the Facility and Grounds team that includes Borgens, Witt, and current groundskeeper, Tyrone Lane.
