The PROPERTY

Richard Rankin becomes the first Director of the Interlaken Wildlife Center after a long career in higher and independent school education. A North Carolina native, he served as head of Gaston Day School in Gastonia, NC, for twenty years prior to assuming his new role here. He has considerable experience as a fundraising executive and was Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Queens University of Charlotte for eight years. Rankin is a lifelong conservationist and sportsman. He is a past president of the Catawba Lands Conservancy, the regional land trust in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. He grew up quail hunting at his family’s Quail Roost Hunt Club in Clarendon County, South Carolina. In 2018, he published While There Were Still Wild Birds: A Personal History of Southern Quail Hunting (Mercer University Press). He is married to Sarah Park Rankin. Their family includes son Isaac Rankin, daughter-in-law Rebecca Hayter Rankin, daughters Lousia and Emily Sloan, and grandsons James Isaac and Charlie Rankin. Outside of hunting, he enjoys Atlanta Braves baseball, University of Virginia athletics, and writing history.

Matthew Bonnette acts as Interlaken Wildlife Center Property & Wildlife Manager. A native South Carolinian who grew up in Chapin, he is a 2021 Clemson graduate with a degree in Agricultural Education. He worked at the Clemson University Research Farm for eighteen months before coming here. He is a skilled mechanic and large farm equipment operator. Wild turkey and, especially, deer hunting are lifelong passions.

James Robinson is a longtime employee of Interlaken Plantation and an Interlaken Wildlife Center associate. He and his wife have always lived in Cameron. Because of Robinson’s many years of service, he knows almost everything about the place.