STAFFING Updates

SUSANNA GLASS Land Protection Specialist

HeadWaters has a new Land Protection Specialist! Susanna has experience in many facets of conservation including habitat restoration, prescribed fire, and wildlife research and management. She is very excited to take on the new role of protecting land through conservation easements. Susanna hopes to not only connect with conservation easement landowners, but also help them connect with the wildlife, plants, and natural features on their property. One great way to do that is to participate in citizen science! Citizen science is when everyday people help scientists collect scientific data that would otherwise be hard to find or document. Citizen science done on private property is especially valuable because researchers rarely have access to private lands. There are many opportunities to help researchers get a better understanding of the range and distribution of the species and features that can be found throughout beautiful Michigan. Some examples of mobile apps for citizen science include eBird, iNaturalist, HerpMapper, MIHerpAtlas, and Seek. The data submitted to these apps can aid conservation organizations in protecting rare and endangered species, as well as identify the most important habitats to preserve. Susanna hopes to use citizen science data to help our CE landowners know what species may be found on or around their property. So get outside and do some exploring!

JOY MITTIG Stewardship Manager

Joy Mittig joined HeadWaters Land Conservancy in January 2023 in the new position of Stewardship Manager, where she will be overseeing the planning and management of HeadWaters' nature preserves. Joy is passionate about sustainable, holistic land management with a focus on bird and insect population recovery and landowner education around forestry.

Joy graduated from Michigan Technological University with a B.S. in forestry in 2018, and was promptly hired by the Michigan DNR as a forest technician, where she worked for three years. During her time with the DNR, she recorded forest inventory and conducted timber sales over thousands of acres of state land, performed initial attack on wildfires, operated and maintained heavy machinery, and performed reforestation activities after harvests. In 2021, Joy was hired by American Bird Conservancy as a private lands forester in northern Michigan, providing site visits, technical assistance, and enrollment in federal cost-share programs to landowners looking to manage their land.

In addition to those duties, Joy gave numerous presentations on sustainable forestry with a focus on birds, and had an active role on the steering committee that produced the new guidebook, “Forestry for Michigan Birds”. Joy served on HeadWaters' board and lands committee during this time as well.

Joy remains on the Kirtland Warbler Conservation Team's human dimensions subcommittee and continues as a member of the Northern Pine Plaines Partnership.

DIANNE FARNER Deputy Director

Dianne has been with HeadWaters going on three years. Recently, Dianne has accepted a promotion to Deputy Director. She oversees all outreach programming, grant writing, project management, communications and more.

“I look forward to the ongoing growth of the organization as a whole. We love the work we do and enjoy sharing our wins with the communities we serve. A win for us is a win for northeast Michigan regardless how big or small.”

-Dianne Farner