Greg Reisig - Board Chairman

Greg Reisig helped form Fen's Rim Publications in 1990. The small Elk Rapids-based company published The Lake Country Gazette from 1990-2000. As editor and assistant publisher he wrote over 200 stories about northern Michigan most of them based on conservation/environmental work, land use and water quality in the region. He also co-authored a number of watershed handbooks and other conservation-related publications.

He was a founding board member of The Watershed Center and served from 1994-2004 on the board of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Beginning in 2001 Greg tracked two major wetland violations close to Grand Traverse Bay by developer Bill Clous. He worked to create greater community awareness of these violations and developed continuing communications with both the Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging them to enforce both state and federal wetland laws at both sites. In July of 2001 he was responsible for bringing both Congressman Bart Stupak and Governor-elect Jennifer Granholm to view wetland violations at the Elk Rapids Preserve development site.

Prior to 1990, Greg taught English and Communications at a suburban Chicago high school for twenty years. He has been a member of NMEAC since the 1980s.

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Bob Marshall - Emeritus

Bob has been a member of NMEAC for about ten years, a Board Member for about four years, and is presently Secretary. He is a resident of Leelanau County and a member of the County Board of Canvassers. He is a member of the MLUI Leelanau Coalition interested in orderly development of Leelanau County.

He is a retired Medical Engineer from the University of Michigan Departments of Neurology, Electroencephalography and Psychiatry working in signal processing and instrumentation related to epilepsy and analysis of subliminal cognitive functions.

With the Willow Run Labs and the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, he was a Research Engineer involved in the development of remote sensing and processing of aircraft and spacecraft multispectral data for applications in agriculture, geology, hydrology and land use planning. In this activity, he collaborated with various local, state and federal departments to apply processing techniques to recognize and map crops, crop conditions, species in National Parks, aquatic conditions related to wildfowl nesting and subsurface hydrological conditions.

He is the author or co-author of two books and a number of articles, as well as holding three patents in the above fields.

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M'Lynn Hartwell - Treasurer

M'Lynn has lived in NW Michigan most of her life. Her career has been in advertising, marketing, media production, and public relations since founding Utopian Empire Creativeworks in 1970. M'Lynn is a firm believer in community volunteerism and is devoted to social justice, human rights, environmental advocacy; and developing organic, sustainable resources locally, nationally, and worldwide.

Immediately prior to joining the NMEAC Board M'Lynn served as the Special Events and Education Chair on the Traverse City Human Rights Commission.

M'Lynn has also founded the highly informative web site Jobs and Energy.

She is also the founder of several non-profit organizations including We Are Traverse City, Inc. M'Lynn is is proud to serve the Triangle Foundation on their Board of Advisors

In her spare time M'Lynn enjoys camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, sailing, roller blading, single track mountain biking, snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, eco-travel, and much more.

Her accomplishments include working to halt the first wave of so-called “clean” coal plants, including several in Michigan.

As a public interest intervener, she is working to include currently uncounted costs such as health effects from burning coal and biomass, including, but not limited to, mercury contamination, air and water pollution, global warming, water use and future constrained water supplies, environmental justice, and toxic chemicals in groundwater.

What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. Our efforts do make a difference, even when they are miniscule in comparison to the magnitude of the problem.

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William Hansen

Bill Hansen is retired and lives with his wife near Williamsburg. He has been a Michigan resident for over 35 years and chose to retire here to pursue a lifelong interest and love of the natural environment. He received a Masters degree from the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan with an emphasis on Environmental Education.

Soon after receiving his degree he became Executive Director of an environmental education center in the Lansing area where he served for 12 years. His background also includes a BA degree in psychology and religion as well as an advanced degree in theology and ten years of employment in a hospital psychiatric unit.

Since moving to the Grand Traverse region eleven years ago, Bill has found NMEAC to be one of the most effective voices for fostering the preservation of the natural ecosystems of northern Michigan so the negative impact of growth and development can be minimized.

Bill is a volunteer instructor on the Inland Seas Education Association's schooner schoolships and has crewed on the schooner Madeline of the Maritime Heritage Association.

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Brad Boals

Brad was born and raised in the Grand Traverse region and attended Elk Rapids Schools.

He was a member of the Planning Commission of Whitewater Township/Grand Traverse County for several years. Brad has been involved in several environmental related lawsuits with a neighboring fruit processor (Williamsburg Receiving & Storage/Cherry Blossom).

He owns some 50 acres of wooded swampland,which is managed for wildlife,next to the Petobego Nature Area. Brad enjoys deer hunting and outdoor photography.

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Emmy Lou Cholak

Life time lover and advocate for those that cannot speak for themselves, our natural environment! Active since an early age (8) speaking up for animal mistreatment. Now, after many years of study and leading nature hikes, teaching nature, retired from paying work, to become more fully involved in saving our shrinking world. NMEAC is the activities answer for its record at holding steadfast to its goal of preserving the land and all its glory for our grandchildren and theirs.

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John Nelson

John grew up in Traverse City. His roots are five generations deep in the Leelanau County region. John graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served five years of active duty and 15 years in the Naval Air Reserve to retire as a Commander in 1986. John received a Masters in Science Education from the University of Michigan in 1971. He taught in the public schools of South Portland, Maine for 28 years, retiring in 1997. While living in Maine for thirty years, he raised a very special daughter with his wife Linda.

John served the community of Freeport, Maine for seventeen years as a local elected official. He served on the school board for three terms, chairing the board for two years. He was elected to the Town Council for three terms and chaired the Council for two years. The Greater Portland Council of Governments honored him in 1993 as the region's citizen of the year. John served on the Governor's Regional Transportation Advisory Council in Maine from 1992 to 1996.

John returned to Traverse City in 1997 to live with his wife Lynne. He is very involved in local civil issues. He serves on the Garfield Township Planning Commission, sits on the Boards of Directors for The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay and the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council. John is also the chair of the Coalition for Sensible Growth. Lastly, John has served as the Grand Traverse Baykeeper since January 2001. He is presently a trained and certified mediator with the Conflict Resolution Service of Traverse City.

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Ann Rogers

Ann is a mother, grandmother, teacher, and former Traverse City Commissioner. She is a board member of NMAIL (Northern Michigan Alliance for Independent Living) and has been a Member of NMEAC for 20 years, board member since 1997.

Ann is a life-long lover of the environment and is active in the relocalization movement in NW Michigan. She is passionate about the environment and shares her vast knowledge openly with all who will listen.

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Ken Smith - Executive Director (Ex Officio)

Ken has been on the NMEAC board since 1986. He served as NMEAC chair from 1989 to 1992, then again from 1995 to 2003. He currently serves as NMEAC's Executive Director on a volunteer basis. In 1996 he helped to found the Coalition for Sensible Growth, which has mobilized more than 600 businesses, town planners, local officials, community groups and grassroots environmental activists to combat urban sprawl and build stronger communities in the Grand Traverse region.

A former senior engineer for General Motors, Ken is president and CEO of The Resource for Great Programs, Inc., a national consulting firm dedicated to providing strategic support to networks of community based organizations working in arenas having great impact on our society. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Engineering and a Ph.D. in Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning from the University of Michigan.

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