Eric manages the Great Lakes Commission’s Coastal Conservation and Habitat Restoration program. His primary duty is to advance habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes Basin through project implementation and coordination. He provides expertise and input on coastal conservation and habitat restoration issues to local, state, provincial, and federal partners throughout the Great Lakes Basin, in addition to a diverse array of non-governmental stakeholders. He works with these partners on a variety of coastal strategic planning efforts. Eric also represents the Commission on the bi-national Great Lakes Coastal Assembly. Eric has a diverse background in habitat restoration, collaborative natural resource management, and grant writing. He has worked as a wildlife biologist for the Ruffed Grouse Society and Conservation Resource Alliance and was the Manager of Natural Resources and Regulatory Compliance for the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority. He lived in Mongolia for a number of years volunteering with the Peace Corps as a parks/wildlife specialist and later guiding fly fishing and horse riding trips for a travel company. He has previously served on the board of the Ohio Conservation Federation and on the Pigeon River Advisory Council. Eric is a native Michigander who received his bachelor’s degree in resource ecology and management from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources. He has a deep affinity for Great Lakes islands and has visited or worked on various conservation projects on 18 different islands over the years.
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