Mitch has been with Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy for 12 years. Mitch’s role at SWMLC is to work collectively with staff, volunteers, board, and community to steward 5,000 acres of nature preserves under the care of the organization. This includes everything from ecological surveys to volunteer coordination to grant writing to prescribed burns. Mitch also serves to guide the direction to the organization strategically as it related so conservation on the landscape. Mitch began his career with a love of animals, fell in love with birds as a teenager, then continued down the slippery slope of becoming a naturalist and became interested in everything!

Stewardship and restoration ecology became a perfect and addicting way to roll this variety of disciplines into a central mission to care for, repair, and recreate habitat on the landscape with community. Mitch lives in Kalamazoo in a 130-year-old house that he and his wife are restoring – just like the landscape!

TSN Conference 2026

January 22nd, 2026 (Thursday) // 11:35 am – 12:35 pm // Red Cedar Room // Student Pathways Session // The landscape of careers in stewardship and sustainability is diverse and rapidly changing. How can you identify and form your career path? What professional development do you need to grow or transition among the options, from academia to business to government and non-governmental organizations? This session provides a supportive environment to share questions and learn best practices from each other and from professionals with different experiences.