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Board of Directors

Leah Darst - President

Owner of Nature Enthusiations LLC and Naturalist/Educator with the Monarch Joint Venture, Minnesota Zoo, Wood Lake Nature Center, and other organizations. Loves creating biofacts and teaching tools (like dragonflies in resin) and repurposing/reducing waste whenever she can.

Dave Doyle - Vice President

Retired Principal Reliability Technician at Medtronics Inc. Volunteer at Tamarack Nature Center. Into Odonata photography for 12+ years.

Cathy Perkins - Treasurer

Works for HealthPartners in the Patient Accounting department. Attended Rio Grande College (OH) in Recreation. Her hobby is photography with an emphasis on shooting macro “odes”. Cathy is also the editor of the MDS newsletter.

Michael Moen - Secretary

Minnesota Master Naturalist, and long time volunteer for Three Rivers Parks. Currently working as a Systems Engineer in industry, and have a BSME from the University of Minnesota.

Emily Schilling

Associate Director of the University of Minnesota's Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories. Freshwater ecologist and lover of all things aquatic.

Katherine Dickerson

University of Wisconsin: Stevens Point Graduate with a major in Wildlife Ecology; Research and Management. Currently a seasonal with Three Rivers Park District. Lifelong passion for learning and exploring the outdoors.

Kurt Mead

Kurt Mead is currently the Interpretive Naturalist at Tettegouche State Park. He is the author of the field guide, “Dragonflies of the North Woods” and was the lead of the Minnesota Odonata Survey Project from 2005-2012. Kurt has surveyed dragonflies and damselflies in 67 of Minnesota’s 87 counties.

Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus

is the Head Naturalist for the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog. His interests range far and wide, and like many naturalists, loves anything and everything about the natural world. Specific interests include conservation of rare and endangered species, prairie and bog ecosystems, odonates, orthoptera, moths, spiders, lichens, mosses, fish, amphibians and reptiles.... the list goes on!

Jeff Fischer

Master Naturalist, photographer and dragonfly enthusiast

Ron Lawrenz