Meet the Staff
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Natalie Walts
Office Manager Natalie joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in August of 2019 after relocating from southeast Michigan. As Office Manager, Natalie is responsible for ensuring that the office and building are running smoothly, and will provide support to the Watershed Council’s outreach and education programs. Prior to joining the Watershed Council, she was a middle school science teacher for 11 years. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Western Michigan University and a Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. She grew up in Plymouth, MI and spent many summers at her family cottage on Munro Lake. Natalie loves most outdoor activities including skiing, backpacking, kayaking and hiking. |
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Molly Voorheis
Business Manager Molly joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in 2020. She is originally from Petoskey, where she enjoyed her summers on and near Lake Michigan and Walloon Lake. She graduated from Calvin College with a secondary education degree and taught in the Forest Hills Public School System for ten years. She also obtained her master’s degree in Holocaust and genocide studies from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. After moving back to the area to be closer to family, she worked as the office manager at Cutler’s before joining the team here. As someone who is always fighting for the causes in which she believes, it was her life-long dream to work for a nonprofit organization, and she is excited to pursue that dream at the Watershed Council. As Business Manager, Molly handles the finances here. Molly has a love for all animals, especially dogs. In her spare time, you will find Molly enjoying a concert, befriending a dog, or fighting for the underdog. |
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Jennifer McKay
Policy Director Jennifer McKay joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in May of 2005. As Policy Director, Jennifer is responsible for federal, Great Lakes Basin wide, state, and local policy and advocacy to improve the level of protection for our water resources. She has been appointed to the Great Lakes Commission and the Michigan Underground Storage Tank Authority by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She previously served on the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, being appointed by former Governor Rick Snyder. She also serves on many local boards and committees including the Emmet County Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Northern Michigan Area Committee, as well as Vice Chair for the Michigan Environmental Council Board of Directors. Before joining the Watershed Council, she worked for the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan and the State of Michigan Senate and House of Representatives. She graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Studies and Political Science. |
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Kacey Cook
Policy Specialist and Staff Attorney Kacey joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in August of 2021. She works on a variety of local issues in our four-county service area with a focus on protecting Northern Michigan’s lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. Kacey grew up in Petoskey and is passionate about preserving the area’s waterways for future generations. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College and a Law Degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Before going back to school, Kacey worked as the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow and, later the Assistant Director, at the Kalamazoo College Center for Civic Engagement. While in law school, Kacey gained experience in environmental law and policy working with the Conservation Law Center, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, and the Environmental Law Institute. Kacey is a member of the Michigan Bar Association. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, skiing, and exploring all her favorite places in Northern Michigan. |
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Jennifer Buchanan
Associate Director Jen joined the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in 2004 shortly after moving to Northern Michigan. As Associate Director, she helps to direct the work of the Watershed Protection Team, including fundraising to support on-the-ground restoration efforts, water quality monitoring programs, watershed management implementation, as well as management of many of the Watershed Council’s important water quality protection projects. Jen’s focus areas include shoreline and streambank restoration efforts, green stormwater infrastructure initiatives, and watershed protection outreach and education efforts in Northern Michigan. After earning her Bachelors of Science in natural resources from the University of Michigan, she assisted with research projects in forest ecology with the University of Michigan and later as an aquatic ecologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. In 1999, she earned her Masters of Landscape Architecture from the Ohio State University. Following graduate school, Jen spent three years in Columbus working for both a landscape architecture firm and a restoration ecologist. |
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Caroline Keson
Monitoring Programs Coordinator Caroline joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in 2018 as the Water Resource Specialist. Originally from Manistee, MI, she began her love of water playing in streams, ponds, and swamps at her family’s centennial farm. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies and Agriscience at Michigan State University in 2011. After working on surface water quality for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians for seven years, Caroline is ready to apply her knowledge to restoration and education at the Watershed Council. Her projects include Watershed Action Volunteer Experience (WAVE), avian botulism monitoring, phragmites surveys, and various habitat and water quality assessments. A local since 2011, Caroline is excited to continue living along Lake Michigan, enjoying skiing, biking, boating, fishing, gardening, and making pies. |
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Lauren Dey
Watershed Management Coordinator Lauren joined the Watershed Council in May 2021 and is responsible for writing watershed management plans, running watershed advisory committees, and dealing with invasive species. She grew up in Harbor Springs and developed a deep appreciation of everything Northern Michigan has to offer. She attended Lake Superior State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology. Lauren spent the past six years working for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in the water quality program and is excited to be able to continue to protect Northern Michigan’s waters for future generations. Lauren enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with her husband and their two boys. They can be found in the woods, or on the water, in any season. |
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Noah Jansen
Restoration Coordinator Noah will be promoting and designing greenbelts and rain gardens and providing support on managing invasive species at the Watershed Council, among other tasks. He is joining us with experience as a conservationist with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, as well as a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Calvin College and a master’s degree in forest ecology from the University of Florida. His fave thing about the Watershed Council? “I would say that’s probably the collaborative nature of the job,” reported Jansen. “We work with a lot of different organizations, which is important for conservation and watershed protection.” |
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Eli Baker
Water Resources Education Coordinator Eli joined the Watershed Council in 2016 after serving as a volunteer through the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program. Eli's primarily responsible for working on the Watershed Academy project, the Michigan Shoreland Stewards project, and other educational and outreach opportunities within our service area. Eli went to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. He then interned at the AuSable Institute of Environmental Studies where he taught natural history as well as Michigan history. He grew up in Grand Haven, Michigan where he spent his summers working on his family’s blueberry farm. He loves fishing of any kind, but fly fishing in Northern Michigan’s waters is his favorite pastime. |
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Jen DeMoss
Communications Director Jen joined the Watershed Council in January 2020. As the Communications Director, Jen is responsible for public communications about Watershed Council initiatives. Her job involves creating press releases, educational and promotional tools, and other materials that highlight the Watershed Council’s work with monitoring, policy, and education. Jen became interested in science communication during her time as a doctoral student in the Anthropology and Integrative Conservation programs at the University of Georgia, where she graduated in fall 2019. She also participated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Fellowship in summer 2019. She spent many happy years as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and lived in Traverse City for a few years during dissertation fieldwork. She is very happy to participate in conversations about the Northern Michigan waters she loves so dearly. |
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Kate Cwikiel
Communications and Development Specialist Kate grew up in Harbor Springs, MI and has spent every summer swimming, boating, sailing, and kayaking on small inland lakes and Lake Michigan. Kate joined the Watershed Council staff in 2015 after completing her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan. Kate now works with both the Development and the Communications teams updating the membership database, planning events, and managing the Watershed Council's email communications and website. During her time in school, Kate was able to participate in two study abroad programs which fueled her love of travel. Kate now works remotely from Idaho, spending her free time biking, hiking, and skiing, but she travels back to Northern Michigan as frequently as possible to spend time on the lakes and with family. |
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Debbie Esposito
Membership and Development Coordinator Debbie joined the team in January 2014. Debbie’s primary focus is to catalog all of the information that is collected through our water quality surveys and other fieldwork into one comprehensive database. She also puts her data analytical skills to work updating membership database so that all of our information on file is as recent as possible. Outside of the Watershed Council, Debbie and her husband, Michael have two daughters. Her hobbies include trail running with her dog Solo, spending time outdoors, and keeping up to date on the latest baseball and soccer games and statistics. Debbie’s favorite water related activities are boating, fishing, and swimming. |
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Kevin Christman
Finance Manager Kevin joined the Watershed Council in April of 2020 after retiring from a career spent in the public accounting field. He works part time in his role overseeing the financial activities of the Watershed Council. He attended Michigan State University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. Kevin has been a resident of Petoskey since 1982 and he and his wife Cindy have two daughters. He enjoys spending his free time downhill skiing, walking, and hiking in the woods. |
