MonicaDayO

I have a Master of Science from MSU’s Resource Development Department and a Bachelor of Arts from Knox College. In college I majored in ecology and in grad school I did research on public involvement methods for environmental decision making. I am a graduate of the Great Lakes Leadership Academy Advancement Program 2009-2010.

I love bringing community members together to work on beneficial environmental projects. I’ve been trying to “build stools” with the three pillars of sustainability: social justice, environment, and economic vitality since I started to work in my field. For example, my senior college project earned the State of Illinois “best downtown development award” because it looked for ways to do community and economic development in such a way that would help the people left behind when industry moved overseas by proposing the development of a local farm market.  I am also passionate (and serious) about restoring natural landscapes as I am awed by biodiversity. In 1997 I received the best plant find award for 1997 when I found a population ofMonarda Punctata, a state listed extirpated species. While I worked at the city nature preserve, I found volunteer opportunities in restoration work for the local vocational education students, garnered public support followed by city legislation, for allowing necessary prescribed burning for restoration purposes. I moved into watershed advocacy and protection on the Sandusky River where I enjoyed creating “spaces” for watershed residents and workers to devise plans for protecting riparian corridors and woody debris in streams, reducing agricultural impacts, and celebrating the river. I now work in development for sustainable research projects. All told, over my career I have prepared and written proposals yielding $2.3M in grants for environmental stewardship and economic development.

In my free time, I enjoy playing games, kayaking, visiting friends and family, canoeing, baking, cooking gardening, and restoring the woods, fields and wetlands on our 12-acre homestead with my husband, Larry and my 10 year old step-daughter, Morgan.

My dream is to work with others to protect and restore the great lakes in such a way that is really good for people and communities too.