Merry Lea Staff
Executive Director - Luke Gascho
Assistant Executive Director and Director of Graduate Studies - Dave Ostergren
Administrative Assistant and Farm Manager - Roberta
Miller
Director of Land
Management - Bill Minter
Collegiate Program Director - Dale
Hess
Coordinator of
Public Programs - Jennifer
Schrock
Lindsey Fellow - Ryan
L. Sensenig
Education Coordinator - Paul Steury
Environmental
Science Educator - Lisa
Zinn
Environmental Science Educator - Carol Good-Elliott
Property - Kerry Goodrich
Emeritus Staff - Larry
Yoder, Dave Miller
Dr.
Luke Gascho
Executive Director
B.S. Biology /Education, Eastern
Mennonite College, 1974; M.A., Christian School Administration, Grace Seminary,
1983 ; Ed.D., Nova Southeastern University, 1998.
Luke joined us in 1997 as senior administrator. He has extensive experience in science education and school administration, including teaching in Grenada and Puerto Rico. Luke's interests include leadership, sustainable building design and creation care from a faith-based perspective. Luke oversaw the design and construction of Rieth Village, a facility at Merry Lea that earned a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. He is the author of Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth.
He may be reached by e mail at lukeag@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit his web page.
Carol Good-Elliott
Environmental
Science Educator
B.A.
Biology, Environmental Studies Minor, Goshen College, 1989.
Carol works with scheduling, teaching and writing curriculum for the K-12 education program.
She can be reached by e-mail at carolge@goshen.edu
Dr. Dale Hess
Collegiate Program
Director and Associate Professor of Agroecology
B.A.,
Millersville State College, 1976; M.S., Purdue University, 1984; Ph.D.,
Purdue University, 1989.
Dale joined the Merry Lea staff in 2004. Dale directs the Summer Agroecology Intensive program. His experience in sustainable crop production research and training, includes more than a decade spent in West Africa.
He may be reached by e mail at dhess@goshen.edu.
Click here to visit his web page.
Kerry Goodrich
Property Supervisor
Kerry,
a native of Noble County, has cared for Merry Lea's physical plant since
1980. He has completed coursework in heating systems, industrial management
and horticulture at IVY Technical College.
He may be reached by e mail at kerryag@goshen.edu
Dr.
David Miller
Program
Director Emeritus, Biology Department Chair
B.A.,
Eastern Mennonite College, 1964; M.S. University of Delaware, 1972; Ph.D.
Michigan State University 1977.
Dave is an entomologist who
joined Merry Lea in 1988 and has
served in many roles since then. Currently he teaches a natural history
class in the graduate program in environmental education and oversees Merry
Lea's insect collections. Dave may be reached by e mail at davejm@goshen.edu
Click here to visit his web page.
Roberta Miller
Administrative Assistant and Farm Manager
Roberta joined the Merry Lea Staff in September of 2008. She is the
Administrative Assistant, Volunteer Coordinator and Farm Manager. Previously,
she directed The Garden Project of the Greater Lansing Food Bank in Lansing,
Michigan. There, she oversaw community gardening and gleaning programs
that provided fresh vegetables for human service organizations, senior
citizens and other groups the food bank served. She also worked at Aurora
Services, Inc., a small publishing company in LaGrange County where her
work included office managing, proofreading and layout.
She may be reached at ramiller@goshen.edu
William Minter
Director
of Land Management
B.S.,
Colorado State University, 1980; M.S.F. Purdue University, 1989. A certified
professional forester, Mr. Minter has served on the staff since 1991.
Bill has restored over 100 acres
of wetland and prairie at Merry Lea. When not practicing land management,
he teaches courses on related subjects to both Goshen College undergraduates
and Merry Lea's graduates in environmental education. Bill takes a special
interest in oak savanna ecosystems. He may be reached by e mail at billfm@goshen.edu
Click here to visit his web page.
Dr. David Ostergren
Director of the Graduate Program
in Environmental Education
Professor in Environmental Education.
Ph.D.
Forest Resources Science; Recreation, Parks and Tourism Resources, West Virginia
University, 1997. M.A. Political Science; Policy Analysis, West Virginia University,
1997. M.Ed. Outdoor Education, Emphasis in Special Education. University of
Minnesota, 1992. B.S. Biology; Chemistry Minor, University of Minnesota, 1982.
Dave joined Merry Lea in 2008 and serves as administrator and teacher in the graduate program. His experience includes outdoor education/recreation since 1980 in Minnesota, West Virginia and Arizona. Dr. Ostergren’s research includes U.S. Wilderness policy and Russian national park and nature reserve management.
For questions and interest in the graduate program he can be contacted by email at daveo@goshen.edu.
Jennifer
Halteman Schrock
Coordinator of Public Programs
B.A.,
English, Goshen College, 1983; M.Div., Chicago Theological Seminary, 1990.
Jennifer joined the staff in July 2002. She is in charge of public programs for Merry Lea. She also edits the Merry Leaflet and does grant writing. Formerly she taught English and was a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Just Eating?: Practicing Your Faith at the Table.
She can be reached by e mail at jenniferhs@goshen.edu or at merrylea@goshen.edu.
Click here to visit her web page.
Dr.
Ryan Sensenig
Lindsey Fellow, Assistant Professor of
Biology and Director of Environmental Science
Ph.D.
University of California, Davis, Ecology, 2007
B.S. Eastern Mennonite University, Biology, International Agriculture,
1992
Ryan
teaches ecology, biology and environmental science courses at Goshen College
and heads up research efforts at Merry Lea. Ryan’s doctoral research
was conducted in Kenya where he studied the effects of grassland burning
on grazing animals. Before moving to undergraduate teaching, Ryan taught
high school science and won several state and national teaching awards.
Ryan can be reached by e-mail at rlsensenig@goshen.edu or
at merrylea@goshen.edu. Click
here to visit his web page..
Paul
D. Steury
Education Coordinator for K-12
Bethany
Christian High School 1981, BA in Sociology from Goshen College 1987, MS
in Outdoor Resources Management with an emphasis in Environmental Education
1997.
Paul, who loves world wide adventure, returned home in 1999 to join family, friends, and become part of Merry Lea's staff. He teaches pedagogy and environmental issues classes in Merry Lea's graduate program and oversees the K-12 program.
He can be reached by email at paulds@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit his web page.
Dr.
Larry Yoder
Emeritus Merry Lea Director and Associate Professor of Biology
B.A.
Manchester College, 1964; M.A. Indiana University,1966; M.A.T., Indiana
University, 1970; Ph.D., Indiana University, 1972.
A botanist and educator, Larry became Merry Lea's executive director in 1981, serving until 1997 and continuing in other roles until 2007. Currently, Larry devotes his time to Yoder Farm. Each February and March, he welcomes Merry Lea school groups to the Yoder Sugarbush.
He may be reached by e mail at larryry@goshen.edu,or visit his home page.
Lisa Zinn
Environmental Science Educator
B.A.
Biology, Houghton College (NY). M. Env. Studies. Miami of Ohio.
Lisa is part of the education team that works with the K-12 education program. She also works as researcher in the MAPS bird banding program and supervises summer Maple Scholar undergraduate researchers. Lisa joined our staff in 2003.
She can be reached by
e-mail at lisarz@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit her web page.