December 2024
Rob Clark has been a member of the board of Nature At The Confluence for four years. A retired professor of mathematics at Rock Valley College, he loves that The Confluence provides families and children with ways to experience nature together. While growing up in northeast Ohio, Rob shared a passion for nature and photography with his father. He’s been a Rockton resident for more than 25 years and lives in a restored 1845 farmhouse with his wife, Cassi. Learn more by reading the full Q and A with Rob, conducted by our volunteer Mary Kaull.
Rob with wife Cassi at The Confluence Overlook
How long have you been coming to Nature At The Confluence?
I discovered The Confluence because I was kayaking a lot and realized that I could use the landing on Turtle Creek (just north of the nature center) as a put-in and take-out for kayaking. That’s also how I came to know Therese Oldenburg (former Confluence director). This would have been some time in the 20-teens but I don’t remember the exact year.
What is the best thing about The Confluence?
I love that we provide area residents and families with opportunities to spend time in nature and learn more about it in the process. There can never be enough of that, especially for kids.
How has The Confluence changed? What change do you most value?
We’ve grown quite a bit over the years, even in the four years that I’ve been on the board. I love it when I attend events and see visitors enjoying themselves. My absolute favorite people to meet at events are the ones who have never been here before. The excitement in those discoveries is one of the greatest rewards for me.
What’s one goal you most want to accomplish in your tenure as a board member?
I’ve always seen my role as someone on a team assembled to guide the organization and look after its best interests. I’ve never had any overriding personal goals for my tenure. I’m here to help The Confluence function smoothly and live up to its full potential in how it serves the community.
What’s your profession? Would you mind sharing about your family?
I grew up in northeast Ohio, in a suburb of Cleveland. My father had a passion for the outdoors and nature photography, and I’m grateful that he passed both on to me. I spent a lot of my time there exploring northeast Ohio’s 25,000 acres of Metroparks. Shortly after earning my Master of Science in Mathematics from Cleveland State University, I came to Rockford, Illinois for a full-time job teaching mathematics at Rock Valley College. I started there in 1993 and met my wife Cassi (at the college!) in 1997. We married and moved to Rockton in 1998. (We bought a small brick farmhouse that was originally built in 1845 and sits on five acres of partially forested land.) Our daughter Emma was born in 2000. I’m very proud to report she has developed a love for nature just like I did from my dad.
What else would you like our readers to know?
I also serve on the board of the Natural Land Institute, a non-profit land trust dedicated to preserving and stewarding natural lands in northern Illinois.
Captured by Rob, January 2023. “Frozen inlet at The Confluence. It was making these delightful cracking noises, probably as it thawed.”
