Who We Are

Lisa Fosco (Elisa)

Director of Animal Care and Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitator

Lisa Fosco (Elisa) has been rehabilitating wildlife for over 35 years. She is a licensed veterinary technician (RVT), a wildlife biologist (BA) a certified wildlife rehabilitator (CWR) and holds her Advanced Wisconsin Wildlife Rehabilitation License. She spent several years as a home rehabilitator and has managed high volume wildlife centers across North America, including her time managing the largest wildlife rehab organization in Canada. She also spent a year doing field work, focusing on the re-introduction and post-release monitoring of endangered species.

For several decades she has been a regular presenter at state, national and international wildlife conferences. She is an instructor for the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council and has taught professional wildlife medicine and rehabilitation on 5 continents.

Lisa’s current role is as the Director of Animal Care at the Wildlife In Need Center (WINC) in Wisconsin.

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Todd Errath

Community Outreach & Philanthropic Officer

Hello, WINC! My name is Todd Errath, and I am excited to join the WINC family as the new Community Outreach and Philanthropy Officer. My goal is to increase WINC brand awareness and cultivate new donor relationships.

My path to WINC was certainly unexpected. After my wife passed away in August of 2024 after a brave 19-month battle with Pancreatic Cancer, I was looking for a new calling, something which could utilize my 25+ years of marketing experience, but would also allow me to connect with and honor her. My wife’s love for animals was immense, often trying to convince me we needed to start our own WINC in our spacious backyard.

If any of you would like to learn more about my wife and her journey, I created a website to showcase and honor her, and also to inspire and empathize with others who endured a horrific journey like we did. Visit ShareYourAndreaStory.com to learn more.

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Max Nelson

Education Coordinaor

Max is from Wauwatosa, and it has always been his dream to work with animals as a career. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse in 2016 (A.A) while studying Psychology and Biology. He then started working in the animal field in 2017 as a student zookeeper at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo in Gainesville, Florida. After graduating in 2019 with degree in Zoo Animal Technology (A.S) he started his career as a full-time zookeeper at AZA facilities such as the St. Augustine Alligator Farm working with reptiles, Natural Encounters working with Avian species, and at the Milwaukee County Zoo in the family farm section for a short time. In 2022 Max started working as an Educator and high school Head Wrestling Coach and has now joined the Wildlife In Need Center in late 2024 to continue his career in the animal field. Max is very excited to be working so close to home and is hoping he can inspire local community members and future generations to help make local wildlife conservation a little better every day!

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Ireland (Ailan) McDowell

Marketing & Administrative Assistant

Hi, I am Ireland McDowell but I go by Ailan. I lived in Wisconsin when I was younger but for the past 12 years of my life, I lived in Fulton, Mississippi. I went to college at Mississippi State University where I majored in Communications and minored in Chinese. During college I interned at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway which gave me that chance to work outdoors and interact with the local wildlife and was an overall experience that I really enjoyed. I am passionate about animals and at home, my husband and I have two cats, Puffin (19) and Plagg (4).

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Judy Dollhopf

Marketing and Administrative Assistant

Judy started at the Wildlife In Need Center as an animal care volunteer in February 2020 and a few months later in August 2020, she joined our team as the the Marketing and Administrative Assistant. Judy was born and raised in Wisconsin and currently lives in Pewaukee with her husband. Judy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, having majored in Finance from UW-Milwaukee and has worked in the financial institution industry for over 20 years and is currently a realtor. She has a passion for helping animals and has volunteered for several dog rescues in the past and has adopted three beautiful rescue mutts! Judy loves to run and truly enjoys the great outdoors!

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Cherish Hutchinson Streit

Wildlife Care Supervisor/ Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitator

Cherish graduated from Iowa State University in the spring of 2021 with a B.S. in Animal Ecology and Environmental Studies. She grew up on a farm in Minnesota and has been interested in working with animals since she was young. Wildlife rehabilitation has been an interest of hers for a long time and started working in the wildlife rehabilitation field in 2017 and joined the Wildlife In Need Center’s team in 2021.

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Sara Imperl

Wildlife Care Supervisor/Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitator

Sara was born and raised in Oconomowoc, just a few miles away from WINC. She started at the center as an intern in 2019 and 2020, was seasonal staff in 2021, and is happy to now be part of the full-time animal care staff team. She recently graduated from Carroll University with a B.S. in Animal Behavior. Sara enjoys spending time outdoors, camping, hiking, and kayaking and is passionate about helping animals.

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Lynn Rice

Volunteer Coordinator

Lynn has been volunteering in different ways at the Wildlife In Need Center since 2001. She became the Volunteer Coordinator in 2023. Lynn has a passion for nature. She enjoys working with all animals, especially raptors. Previously she greatly enjoyed being a bilingual elementary teacher for 37 years. She also enjoys hiking, reading, spending time with family, and helping with Special Olympics.

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