Chad Agler is a Noble County native who currently resides in Columbia City, Ind., with his wife and young son. He grew up on the shores of Bear Lake--one of the lakes that borders Merry Lea. Chad enjoys working with his hands and has prior experience in maintenance at Bear Lake Camp and the Noble County Jail. When he has free time, Chad enjoys fishing, traveling, games with friends and playing with his son. Read more »
Krista brings experience as both a classroom teacher and a business owner to her role as an environmental educator. Most recently, she has built Great Minds Tutoring and Mentoring, a company that serves local students in PreK-High school. In her free time, Krista enjoys camping and gardening with her family. They live in Churubusco, Ind. Read more »
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 also chairs the Creation Care Council of the Mennonite Creation Care Network and is the author of Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth. He became Executive Director of Merry Lea in 1997. Read more »
Carol has 20 years experience educating people of all ages about the natural world. She is especially fond of working with young children. When not scheduling, teaching or writing curriculum for the PreK-12 education program she can be found hunting fairy shrimp in a temporary pond or spotting birds to add to her birding team's list. Carol came to Merry Lea in 2001. Read more »
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. His real passion, however, is working outdoors. Kerry is an avid hunter and observer of wildlife. Read more »
Tom came to Merry Lea as a student in the Master of Arts in Environmental Education in 2011. In the MAEE, he carried out a research project on sediment contamination in the Elkhart River. Upon his completion of the MAEE in 2012, he was added to the Merry Lea staff in order to provide programmatic and educational support to the Sustainability Leadership program. Other aspects of his work include teaching in the K-12 programs, webpage maintenance, and promotion of Merry Lea's residential collegiate programs. Read more »
Doug Kaufman divides his time between pastoring at Benton Mennonite Church and serving as director of pastoral ecology for the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions and Mennonite Creation Care Network. Goshen College is a partner in the former organization and Merry Lea is a primary sponsor of the latter. Doug creates curriculum and retreats for pastors willing to wrestle with climate change. Read more »
Bill is a certified professional forester who has served on the staff since 1991. He 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. Read more »
John is a biogeochemist with special interests in systems thinking and the relationship between agriculture and climate change. John oversees Goshen College's Food Systems major and Merry Lea's Agroecology Summer Intensive. He will work with undergraduate research and help Merry Lea build its research capabilities. John also teaches a course in Earth Science, Climate and Meteorology. John and his wife, Ruth, arrived at Merry Lea in January 2017. Read more »
Ruth's roles include teaching courses for the Agroecology Summer Intensive and further developing animal husbandry on the Merry Lea Sustainable Farm. Cover crop research is one of her areas of expertise. Ruth especially values apprentice-style learning--working beside her students and coaching them in the field. Ruth and her husband, John, arrived at Merry Lea in January 2017. Read more »
Dave is your first stop if you are interested in Merry Lea's graduate program. In addition to his administrative work, Dave teaches policy courses in the Sustainability Leadership Semester at Merry Lea and on the Goshen College campus. Areas of research include U.S. Wilderness policy and Russian national park and nature reserve management. He began his work at Merry Lea in 2008. Read more »
Joel directs Merry Lea’s PreK-12 Environmental Education Program. He also teaches the Practicum in Environmental Education courses in the MAEE Program and the Field Experience in Environmental Education course for Goshen College Education majors. Before coming to Merry Lea, Joel served as a science coordinator in Wyoming’s public schools. He also worked as an interpretive naturalist and guide in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Joel finds deep joy and inspiration in the diversity of the natural world and the human experience. Read more »
Ellie grew up in Goshen, Indiana, and is a 2015 graduate of Goshen College where she studied environmental science. Her first memories of Merry Lea involved coming to the Enchanted Forest public program as a child. As a college student, she participated in bird banding research and worked with the woody perennial polyculture project while living at Merry Lea's Rieth Village. Ellie began her role as the assistant farm manager in March 2017. Read more »
Jonathon is primarily a teacher and researcher at Merry Lea for Goshen College. At ML he teaches natural history for the Master's in Environmental Education program and also advises master's students as they pursue their research projects and develop curriculum. He is part of the teaching team for the Sustainability Leadership Semester and guest lectures in the Agroecology Summer Intensive. On campus he teaches courses in the interdisciplinary Sustainability Core, and also coordinates faculty in that effort. Jonathon's responsibilities also include ecological and educational research and direction for the Institute for Ecological Regeneration. He joined the Merry Lea faculty in 2012. Read more »
Jennifer has served Merry Lea in a variety of capacities since 2002. Current responsibilities include website management, editing the Merry Leaflet and nurturing congregations in ways that also nurture the earth. In the past, she has also written grants, coordinated the public programs, served on the team that developed the Sustainability Leadership Semester and taught a course entitled Faith, Ethics and Eco-justice. When outdoors, she focuses on plants and birds. Read more »
Ryan teaches ecology, biology and environmental science courses and is the chair of the Biological Sciences Department at Goshen College and he also conducts field research at Merry Lea. Ryan’s doctoral research focused on the effects of grassland burning on grazing animals in Kenya, and he continues to research the relationship between grazing animals and healthy prairies. Ryan started at Merry Lea in 2007. Read more »
Katie Tipton enjoyed Merry Lea’s Master’s in Environmental Education program so much, that she has returned as an employee. She graduated in May 2016 and joined the staff in July of the same year. Katie grew up both in Elkhart, Indiana, and Muskegon, Michigan, where she enjoyed spending time with her family outside. Katie’s passion for environmental education grew during her time serving as an AmeriCorps member for the U.S. Forest Service in Elkins, West Virginia in 2015. Read more »
Marcos joined the Merry Lea team in 2016, and brings more than 10 years of experience in informal and environmental education settings. He graduated from Goshen College with majors in Biology and Environmental Studies, and has worked at nature centers and museums in Colorado, New York, and Minnesota. He completed a Masters in Nonprofit Management, where his thesis focused on nonprofits engaging in urban farming practices. Marcos oversees the Public & PreK-12 Environmental Education programs at Merry Lea, and works with MAEE students in their practicum experience. Read more »
Maria returned to the Merry Lea staff in 2012. She graduated from Goshen College in 2002, served with the Elkhart EnviroCorp from 2002 to 2004 and then served as a Merry Lea intern from Fall 2005 to Spring 2006. She now serves as the administrative assistant and also coordinates all the volunteers who assist in our education and land management efforts. Maria's experience both in environmental education and administration enable her to bring support and expertise to the wide range of Merry Lea programs. Read more »
Jon arrived at Merry Lea in Spring 2013. He has a master of science degree in plant and soil science from the University of Vermont and completed an undergraduate degree at Calvin College. In his job at Merry Lea, Jon oversees the Agroecology Summer Intensive program, and helps with many aspects of the Merry Lea Sustainable Farm alongside Farm Manager Kate Friesen. Jon also assists with agriculturally-related student research projects at Merry Lea and increasingly is involved with outreach regarding Merry Lea programs and issues of sustainable food systems. Read more »
Dave is an entomologist who joined Merry Lea in 1988 and has served in many roles since then, including program director. Most recently, he taught a natural history class in the graduate program in environmental education and chaired Goshen College's biology department. Dave retired from Merry Lea in 2008, but continues to oversee Merry Lea's insect collections and answer occasional entomology questions. Read more »
A botanist and educator, Larry became Merry Lea's executive director in 1981, serving until 1997 and continuing in other roles until retiring in 2007. Currently, Larry devotes his time to his family farm near Huntertown, IN. Larry also continues as a guest lecturer on soils and geology. Read more »
