Meet the Executive Director

Danielle Zoellner, PhD
Executive Director

269.908.4139

Over 30 years ago, our family moved to the NW corner of Calhoun County to a beautiful piece of property we call “The Zoellner Back 40”. 

Thankfully, I enrolled at Kellogg Community College (KCC) to finish my associate’s degree and was lucky to take “Field Botany” and “Field Investigations in Environmental Studies”.  As a first-generation college student, I cannot emphasize enough how important my time on the Back 40 and at KCC were to my budding passion for conservation and pursuit of a career in natural resources.

Since then, I’ve learned and worked across the country but recently had the privilege of founding a small ag business on the Back 40. During my time as a graduate trainee and professional I led ecological research projects, coordinated impactful education and training programs, and supported conservation efforts as a seasonal technician and volunteer.  Not only has this broad experience given me a strong background in botany, invasive species, wetland ecology, forest ecology, and natural resource management best practices, but I also developed skills in funding and grant acquisition, budgeting, process design and implementation, data management and analysis, and educating students of all kinds.

I look forward to putting these skills to work for the people of Barry County so, together, we can grow and support a culture of conservation through collaboration in Barry County and SW Michigan.