Michigan Envirothon Welcomes Angela Sandusky

Michigan Envirothon is pleased to announce the arrival of our new Michigan Envirothon Coordinator. Recently, Ben Wickerham, our program coordinator for the last two years moved on to another position in the field of natural resource conservation with the Pheasants Forever organization. Even more recently, the Michigan Envirothon steering committee happily discovered the perfect candidate to take on the role of Envirothon Coordinator and to take the Michigan Envirothon program to the next level: Angela Sandusky.

In Ben's words: "Leaving the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts in my role as Envirothon Coordinator was a very difficult and bittersweet decision. Over the past two years, I have fallen in love with the core mission of Envirothon and the impact it has on young people. I hope some of our volunteers' amazing traits of dedication, creativity and passion have rubbed off on me during this time! For the time spent working with the outstanding educators and supporters of Michigan Envirothon, I know I leave the position richer in life experiences and with a greater passion for environmental stewardship than when I began. I hope to continue 'inspiring environmental stewardship in Michigan's high school students' from my new position and hope to stay in touch with the Envirothon community. I've seen wonderful signs that indicate the best years of Michigan Envirothon are yet to come! Best wishes to Angela and best wishes to all in the coming 2012 Michigan Envirothon Competition!"

In Angela's words:"I caught my first fish with my bare hands (it was more of a minnow really) in the creek that flowed through my family's farm in southeast Michigan. This memory and others like it have fueled my life long love of and passion for Michigan's natural resources. I spent the last five years as a non formal, outdoor and environmental educator with the Michigan DNR. I'm passionate about inspiring stewardship and believe that for Michigan's future we must empower and educate our youth. By engaging young people through activities such as the Michigan Envirothon we not only create future stewards, we also strengthen Michigan for all its citizens. Michigan Envirothon has the potential to reach every high school student in the state giving them hands on, real life and life changing opportunities to experience their world and make them engaged citizens and leaders in their community. This is awesome potential and I am honored to have the opportunity to work with such a great program and dedicated bunch of educators, sponsors and team leaders!"

Angela may be contacted at (517) 930-7449 or via email at mienvirothon@macd.org.  For information regarding the 2012 Michigan Envirothon competition, visit www.michiganenvirothon.org.

Welcome Angela!