Meet the Staff
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Katie Wolf
Executive Director Katie Wolf joined the Watershed Council as executive director in March 2022. Throughout her career, Katie has worked for many environmental nonprofits and earned multiple awards. Prior to working for NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the first national marine sanctuary federally designated in the Great Lakes, Wolf worked in leadership roles with the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan Humanities Council, and the Governor’s Cabinet Council on Human Investment. She also served as director of the National Medal for Technology and Innovation, a presidential honor bestowed upon our nation’s top technology innovators, and earlier as the director of external relations for the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network, a NASA-funded, research-based organization focused on the human dimensions of global change. |
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Natalie Walts
Office Manager Natalie joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in August of 2019 after relocating from southeast Michigan. As Office Manager, Natalie is responsible for ensuring that the office and building are running smoothly, and will provide support to the Watershed Council’s outreach and education programs. Prior to joining the Watershed Council, she was a middle school science teacher for 11 years. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Western Michigan University and a Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. She grew up in Plymouth, MI and spent many summers at her family cottage on Munro Lake. Natalie loves most outdoor activities including skiing, backpacking, kayaking and hiking. |
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Jennifer McKay
Policy Director Jennifer McKay joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in May of 2005. As Policy Director, Jennifer is responsible for federal, Great Lakes Basin wide, state, and local policy and advocacy to improve the level of protection for our water resources. She has been appointed to the Great Lakes Commission and the Michigan Underground Storage Tank Authority by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She previously served on the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, being appointed by former Governor Rick Snyder. She also serves on many local boards and committees including the Emmet County Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Northern Michigan Area Committee, as well as Vice Chair for the Michigan Environmental Council Board of Directors. Before joining the Watershed Council, she worked for the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan and the State of Michigan Senate and House of Representatives. She graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Studies and Political Science. |
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Jennifer Buchanan
Associate Director Jen joined the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in 2004 shortly after moving to Northern Michigan. As Associate Director, she helps to direct the work of the Watershed Protection Team, including fundraising to support on-the-ground restoration efforts, water quality monitoring programs, watershed management implementation, as well as management of many of the Watershed Council’s important water quality protection projects. Jen’s focus areas include shoreline and streambank restoration efforts, green stormwater infrastructure initiatives, and watershed protection outreach and education efforts in Northern Michigan. After earning her Bachelors of Science in natural resources from the University of Michigan, she assisted with research projects in forest ecology with the University of Michigan and later as an aquatic ecologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. In 1999, she earned her Masters of Landscape Architecture from the Ohio State University. Following graduate school, Jen spent three years in Columbus working for both a landscape architecture firm and a restoration ecologist. |
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Caroline Keson
Monitoring Programs Coordinator Caroline joined Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in 2018 as the Water Resource Specialist. Originally from Manistee, MI, she began her love of water playing in streams, ponds, and swamps at her family’s centennial farm. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies and Agriscience at Michigan State University in 2011. After working on surface water quality for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians for seven years, Caroline is ready to apply her knowledge to restoration and education at the Watershed Council. Her projects include Watershed Action Volunteer Experience (WAVE), avian botulism monitoring, phragmites surveys, and various habitat and water quality assessments. A local since 2011, Caroline is excited to continue living along Lake Michigan, enjoying skiing, biking, boating, fishing, gardening, and making pies. |
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Lauren Dey
Watershed Management Coordinator Lauren joined the Watershed Council in May 2021 and is responsible for writing watershed management plans, running watershed advisory committees, and dealing with invasive species. She grew up in Harbor Springs and developed a deep appreciation of everything Northern Michigan has to offer. She attended Lake Superior State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology. Lauren spent the past six years working for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in the water quality program and is excited to be able to continue to protect Northern Michigan’s waters for future generations. Lauren enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with her husband and their two boys. They can be found in the woods, or on the water, in any season. |
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Noah Jansen
Restoration Coordinator Noah will be promoting and designing greenbelts and rain gardens and providing support on managing invasive species at the Watershed Council, among other tasks. He is joining us with experience as a conservationist with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, as well as a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Calvin College and a master’s degree in forest ecology from the University of Florida. His fave thing about the Watershed Council? “I would say that’s probably the collaborative nature of the job,” reported Jansen. “We work with a lot of different organizations, which is important for conservation and watershed protection.” |
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Eli Baker
Water Resources Education Coordinator Eli joined the Watershed Council in 2016 after serving as a volunteer through the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program. Eli's primarily responsible for working on the Watershed Academy project, the Michigan Shoreland Stewards project, and other educational and outreach opportunities within our service area. Eli went to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. He then interned at the AuSable Institute of Environmental Studies where he taught natural history as well as Michigan history. He grew up in Grand Haven, Michigan where he spent his summers working on his family’s blueberry farm. He loves fishing of any kind, but fly fishing in Northern Michigan’s waters is his favorite pastime. |
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Kate Cwikiel
Communications and Development Specialist Kate grew up in Harbor Springs, MI and has spent every summer swimming, boating, sailing, and kayaking on small inland lakes and Lake Michigan. Kate joined the Watershed Council staff in 2015 after completing her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan. Kate now works with both the Development and the Communications teams updating the membership database, planning events, and managing the Watershed Council's email communications and website. During her time in school, Kate was able to participate in two study abroad programs which fueled her love of travel. Kate now works remotely from Idaho, spending her free time biking, hiking, and skiing, but she travels back to Northern Michigan as frequently as possible to spend time on the lakes and with family. |
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Debbie Esposito
Membership and Development Coordinator Debbie joined the team in January 2014. Debbie’s primary focus is to catalog all of the information that is collected through our water quality surveys and other fieldwork into one comprehensive database. She also puts her data analytical skills to work updating membership database so that all of our information on file is as recent as possible. Outside of the Watershed Council, Debbie and her husband, Michael have two daughters. Her hobbies include trail running with her dog Solo, spending time outdoors, and keeping up to date on the latest baseball and soccer games and statistics. Debbie’s favorite water related activities are boating, fishing, and swimming. |
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Kevin Christman
Finance Manager Kevin joined the Watershed Council in April of 2020 after retiring from a career spent in the public accounting field. He works part time in his role overseeing the financial activities of the Watershed Council. He attended Michigan State University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. Kevin has been a resident of Petoskey since 1982 and he and his wife Cindy have two daughters. He enjoys spending his free time downhill skiing, walking, and hiking in the woods. |
