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Board Members
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Leslie Lorance
Director-At-Large
Leslie Lorance is an educator and video producer/editor who has enthusiasm for sharing stories and connecting people with nature. Her favorite accomplishments include developing an ADA accessible app for the blind, getting the Museum Dance Off Most Creative video award and teaching Environmental Education to thousands of school children. She works with various nonprofit organizations helping them share their conservation messages.
An avid naturalist and life long learner, Leslie believes the best way for people to learn about nature is to experience it, whether that’s through being outdoors, watching wildlife or dissecting owl pellets. She enjoys spending time camping, hiking and traveling.
Darci has spent the last 32 years as the educator for the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District, working with both adults and youth. Her job has taken her to classrooms, rivers, lakes, streams, ag fields, woods, and wetlands. (Tough job, right?) She was one of the organizers of award-winning educational raft trips for high school students in northern Indiana and has continued rafting with youth for over 25 years. Her current passions include serving as Indiana Envirothon’s Immediate Past-President, an international environmental competition for high school students and Chairperson of the Arrow Head Country RC&D Education Committee. She coordinates a Master Naturalist program, which recently received the Host of the Year Award. She is a firm believer of progress through partnerships, and has worked with a variety of lake associations, STEM Academies, soil and water conservation districts, municipalities, watershed groups, colleges and universities. She is also a self-proclaimed soil geek, birder and kayaker.
She is a past director, secretary and president of EEAI, and has been the recipient of both the Joe Wright and Howard Michaud awards. EEAI is her favorite organization and she has been a life member for many years.
Megan Gunn
Director-At-Large
Board member since 2020
Megan Gunn earned her B.S. from Purdue University in Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Science in 2012. She minored in fisheries and aquatic sciences which is where she got her start with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR). From 2013 to 2020, Megan served as the manager for Dr. Reuben Goforth’s Aquatic Ecology Research lab which included managing graduate and undergraduate students in the lab. She spent the summers leading teams of undergraduate technicians, in ideal and sometimes less than ideal conditions, on field sampling expeditions ranging from conducting population assessments of fish and macroinvertebrates in the tributaries of the Wabash River to tracking Asian carp from Logansport to Covington, Indiana and everything in-between. In the winter, she taught undergraduates different processing techniques as well as analyzing the data collected during field season.
As the recruitment and outreach specialist for FNR, Megan is focused on increasing enrollment in FNR's 3 majors (aquatic sciences, forestry, and wildlife) and providing experiences for youth to experience hands-on activities related to natural resources and learn about the vast career opportunities that are available. Using her expertise from the lab, she is also involved in several outreach events in the community demonstrating fish and macroinvertebrate sampling techniques to different age groups as well as explaining to them the importance of biodiversity and stream ecosystem health to ecosystem services. Additionally, Megan works with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant as an Aquatic Education Associate educating youth in NW Indiana and NE Illinois about Lake Michigan and its wonderful resources.
Additionally, Megan is the project leader for The Familiar Faces Project (TFFP), a program designed to increase the interest in natural resource science careers by bridging the gap between underrepresented minority youth communities and professionals in the field that look like them. She has also been the advisor for the Purdue Student Chapter of Environmental Education since Fall 2017.
Alison Zajdel serves as an independent contractor for nonprofits in Indiana including Earth Charter Indiana, Stamm Koechlein Family Foundation, and several others. She served as the Executive Director and Development Director for Cope Environmental Center for a total of 16 years before deciding to start her own business. She attended DePauw University majoring in Studio Arts and holds a certificate in Fund Raising Management from The Fund Raising School (IU's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy) and a Certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from the O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs. She has completed additional training in planned giving, grant-seeking/writing, major gifts, and annual fund development. Alison contributes to her community by volunteering for a wide variety of organizations and chairs the Richmond Environmental Sustainability Commission. Alison received the prestigious Indiana Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders in 2004 and has been an avid jump roper for 30 years!
Mary Cutler
Director-At-Large
Board member since 2019
Mary had a baby sheep growing up, which influenced her to become an environmental educator. It had very white fur and would always follow her to school. She eventually became the chief environmental educator of Tippecanoe county.
Mindy Murdock
Director-At-Large
Board member since 2019
Mindy is Director of Recreation Services for Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department. Prior to her promotion she was Park Naturalist/Manager for the Zionsville Nature Center since 2014. A transplant from Northeast Ohio, Mindy worked as a Naturalist with Cleveland Metroparks for 13 years as well as several other park districts in Ohio. She became a Certified Environmental Educator through the Environmental Education Council of Ohio. She is also a Certified Heritage Interpreter and Certified Interpretive Guide through National Association for Interpretation. Recently she began studying for her Certified Park and Recreation Professional CPRP.
Mindy received her Master of Science in Biology at University of Akron, and has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Kent State University. In addition to the EEAI board, she is also on the steering committee for Indiana Children and Nature (ICAN). Mindy is passionate about helping and encouraging others to get outside and discover the wonders of nature in their own backyard. In her free time you can usually find her out playing in a park, gardening, and exploring nature with her husband and their four year old daughter.