Katie, a retired 6th-grade language arts teacher, and her husband, Kelley, moved to Newaygo County after being enchanted by the call of a loon on a lake. After co-founding the Newaygo County Environmental Coalition in 2020, Katie discovered and fell in love with vernal pools through an online training provided by the MNFI. An avid hiker, she weaves her love of hiking the North Country Trail and vernal pool mapping and monitoring. When she first started mapping and monitoring, there were no labeled vernal pools in Newaygo County, and she knew that was incorrect, given the county’s abundance of lakes, rivers, and forested land. She decided to make a change to this statistic and initiate an MI Vernal Pool Patrol in Newaygo County.

TSN Conference 2026

January 22nd, 2026 (Thursday) // 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm // Red Cedar Room // Empowering Citizen Scientists: The Newaygo County Vernal Pool Patrol Initiative // In Newaygo County, despite its 234 lakes, 635 miles of river, and 10,000 acres of Manistee National Forest, no vernal pools were recorded until Katie Clark of the Newaygo County Environmental Coalition (NCEC) joined the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) Vernal Pool Patrol (VPP) program. As the Newaygo Region’s VPP Coordinator, Katie has led efforts to map vernal pools, crucial for biodiversity, akin to the “coral reefs” of forests. Through workshops, field sessions, and community engagement, the NCEC team has made significant strides, making Newaygo the region with the 2nd highest number of mapped vernal pools in Michigan. Partnering with the Newaygo Conservation District, they’re expanding their reach, offering free monitoring kits. This initiative showcases the power of citizen science in environmental conservation, highlighting the partnership between NCEC, the community, and local organizations in preserving these vital ecosystems for future generations.