Give Now
Dana Lusher wearing glasses with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a dark gray hoodie. She is holding Celeste, a Barn Owl and Nature's Nanny Educational Ambassador.
 

Dana Lusher

PResident / cofounder

After a 25-year career as a mental health counselor, Dana’s program closed. Left between jobs, she started volunteering with local wildlife rehabber Pat Slakey and at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, and through those experiences, she decided to become a rehabber herself.

With a lifetime love of birds, the decision to rehab them was an easy one! In 2014 she started Nature’s Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the rehab and release of wild birds, as well as the education of the public.

NNWR currently has more than 20 volunteers, six education birds, two pet birds, a dog, and a strong belief that every rehab bird could potentially not have been injured in the first place.

 

Rodney Lusher

Vice PResident

Born and raised in southern California. Although best known for its big cities and picturesque coastlines, California also has abundant nature and wildlife areas where Rod spent much of his time growing up. From an early age, he found that he loved animals.

With his wife Dana, he got into scuba diving in 2000, revitalizing his love of wildlife. They found they had to bring back pictures of all the amazing animals they encountered while diving. Diving and photography of sea life quickly led to them seeking out and regularly visiting wildlife areas around the state of Virginia and, eventually, trips to South Africa.

As Dana got increasingly involved in wildlife rehabilitation, Rod supported her by building enclosures and becoming a permitted category II rehabilitator. When Dana started Nature's Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation in 2012, Rod became Vice President and continues assisting her to this day.

 

Linda Vetter

Standards of care officer
 

A native of the Finger Lakes region in western New York, Linda came to the Hampton Roads area courtesy of the U.S. Navy. A lifelong animal lover, she started volunteering with a local animal organization before she retired from the Navy. Her passion grew to encompass wildlife as she followed the Bald Eagles who used to nest in the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. It was the tragic death of the female eagle in 2011 that started her on a journey that would connect her with the wildlife rehabilitation community and result in her becoming a permitted wildlife rehabilitator.

A founding member of Nature’s Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation, Linda is a proponent of “One Health,” which recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment and is grateful for the opportunity to participate as a Board member and rehabilitator in helping sick, injured and orphaned animals so they can be returned to the wild.

 

Denise McAlpine

Public Relations

Denise joined the Nature’s Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation board in 2025 as a volunteer licensed rehabilitator and educator. She joined NNWR in 2022 after meeting our founder and President, Dana Lusher and members of the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation community through the rescue of a black vulture on her property.

Denise is a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads and a Suffolk resident since marrying her husband David in 2002. She has a laboratory degree from Elon College and retired from working in medical laboratory technology in 2021.

She has always loved birds of prey, especially vultures, because of their beauty and majesty. Volunteering has provided a conduit to get up close with these beautiful birds and learn about them. Helping to care for them as babies, injured or sick, and hopefully releasing them back into the wild has become a calling.

Education of the public about the birds is critical to their preservation and protection. This became such a focus that she took the necessary steps to acquire her education license and in April, 2025 took in Winky, an Eastern American Screech Owl, as her first Education Ambassador.

 
A woman with curly brown hair and glasses smiles warmly at the camera. She is seated indoors against a wooden booth, wearing a bright pink top and a dark fleece jacket. The lighting is cozy and slightly dim, giving the photo a relaxed, intimate feel.

Idella ‘Missy’ Hogg

Secretary/treasurer

Avid birdwatcher, animal lover, and older sister of Dana Lusher, Missy Hogg has been with NNWR from the beginning. With a long career in accounting and data entry both with the government and currently with William and Mary’s HR department, Missy jumped at the chance to help her sister, and handles with admin end of the non-profit.