MUCC Welcomes New On the Water Coordinator

lschultz • July 2, 2019

Hello, my name is Emma Nehan, and I am the new On the Water Coordinator. I was born and raised in Troy, Michigan. At a very young age, my parents took me and my sisters camping, swimming, biking and hiking which kick-started my love for the outdoors. I love backpacking and spending countless hours immersed in the outdoors.

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in conservation biology and an associate’s degree in natural recourses technology from Lake Superior State University in 2015. I then decided to stretch my wings out a bit and took an AmeriCorps crewmember position with American Conservation Experience in Flagstaff, AZ. Being deeply immersed in the field of conservation solidified that this is what I wanted to pursue as a career.

One of the best full-circle moments I have had in my career was when I worked at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Los Fresnos as an ACE AmeriCorps intern. When I was an AmeriCorps crewmember, the team I was on had the privilege of installing over 10,000 tree tubes on native thorn scrub species to help restore the migratory green corridor for the American ocelot population in southern Texas at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. I then got an internship at that exact same wildlife refuge and was able to take off all the tree tubes on that exact field and reinstall them on another native thorn scrub species plot. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget being a part of because it was something bigger than myself.

However, the Great Lakes were calling my name so I took a seasonal position as a restoration dunes specialist with The Nature Conservancy at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The main task was to help eradicate baby’s breath from the dunes and to help the endangered pitchers thistle plant thrive in that region of the Great Lakes.

I then switched gears and took a permanent position as the Flagstaff recruitment and member support coordinator with Arizona Conservation Corps. This job placed me into the human dimension of conservation directly interacting with AmeriCorps members and teaching them the basics of field conservation while learning life skills. From teaching members how to fill out an I-9 properly to Leave No Trace practices. The number of skills I learned was indescribable, and the memories I made were priceless in the southwest.

I am very grateful for the experiences I have learned in the field of conservation and the knowledge I have gained from state, federal and nonprofit agencies. I am excited to start a new chapter in my life here at MUCC as the On the Water Coordinator and hope to bring all the knowledge and skills I have learned to MUCC, its staff and dedicated volunteers.

Recent Posts

By Olivia Triltsch April 24, 2025
Historically, Michigan experienced a lumber era in which the state was a leading producer for 50 years starting in 1860.
By Katelyn Helsel April 23, 2025
Rochester Hills, MI — On the Ground, MUCC’s volunteer stewardship program, celebrated its 250th habitat improvement project in Oakland County this past weekend. In partnership with Metro-West Steelheaders and the Clinton River Watershed Council , 62 volunteers removed more than 460 pounds of trash from the Clinton River watershed and surrounding areas, restoring more than 80 acres of fish and wildlife habitat. Volunteers focused on picking up trash and other debris in the river near Yates Park and along various walking trails near the Yates Cider Mill. Many different items were collected, including a couple of tires, fishing line, old cans, a sign, and even a car bumper. “We definitely wanted to clean up as much trash as possible because that's going to help the watershed as a whole, and it’s going to clean up the river for both humans aesthetically, and also the animals that live in it, and create safer drinking water” said Olivia Triltsch, MUCC’s Habitat Program and Partnerships Coordinator.
By Olivia Triltsch April 17, 2025
In addition to their impact on water quality, these three orders of insects are an important part of the diet of game fish, making anglers, especially fly fishermen, interested in the conservation of these small animals.
More Posts