Michael Brown – Executive Director
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Michael has served as Executive Director of the Ecology Action Center since November of 2007. He has a diverse background in environmental work over the past 30 years including training of volunteers in ecological monitoring for the Illinois EcoWatch, service as a Peace Corps volunteer at Pirin National Park in Bulgaria, management of a 320-acre educational park for the Peoria Park District, work in environmental health with the Peoria City/County Health Department, and restoration of natural areas for Peoria Wilds. He served on the Board of the Illinois Recycling Association from 2010 to 2013, on the Board of Directors of the ParkLands Foundation from 2010 to 2019 acting as chair of stewardship efforts, and on the ISU Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning Community Consulting Board from 2018 to 2020. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Peoria Wilds, on the Environment and Climate Justice Committee of the Bloomington Normal Chapter of the NAACP, and is a volunteer with the McLean County Medical Reserve Corps. Michael is a 2006 recipient of Peoria’s 40 Leaders Under Forty Award, 2013 recipient of the Illinois Recycling Association’s President’s Award, 2014 recipient of the McLean County Public Health Award, the 2015 inaugural recipient of Illinois Central College’s Alumnus of the Decade award, and 2024 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association.
Katie Vogler – Education Coordinator
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Katie officially joined the EAC team in September of 2022 as the Educational Coordinator after serving as their Ecology/Sustainability Staff Intern in 2020. Katie graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2022 with a B.S. in Biology. Katie’s interests are in science communication, clean water programming, and youth education. Katie serves as a board member on the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association and is a member of the Central Illinois Community Educators group. In her free time, Katie enjoys cooking, reading in her hammock, rock climbing, and playing board games.
Kelsey Bremner – Program Technician
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Kelsey joined the EAC team in August of 2022 as a Program Assistant and became a full-time Program Technician in February 2023. She is focusing her efforts on the EAC’s solid waste program initiatives, clean air programming, and greenhouse gas inventory. Kelsey earned her B.S. in Environmental Health from Illinois State University in 2012 where she worked as a student researcher and later as a teacher’s assistant in the Bioenergy Research Lab. She then interned with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 office located in Denver, Colorado. Kelsey serves on the Friends of the Constitution Trail Board of Directors and is a member of ISU’s Institutional Biosafety Committee. Outside of work, you can find her hiking with her dog, gardening, learning to sew, and baking desserts for friends and family.
Deborah S. Pitcher – Development Coordinator
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Deborah joined the EAC team in June of 2022 as Development Coordinator. She is working with the Executive Director and Finance Resources Committee to increase EAC’s financial support from individuals, foundations and corporations with emphasis on endowment fund growth. She earned her BS in Speech and Hearing Therapy at Miami University (Oxford, OH), her MS in Audiology at East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, TN) and Au.D (Clinical Doctorate in Audiology) from Salus University (Philadelphia, PA). She worked in schools, hospitals and physicians’ offices for many years and in 1990, she established the first Audiology private practice in Central Illinois, Bloomington-Normal Audiology. She managed and grew the practice until her retirement. She was active in the Illinois Academy of Audiology and was elected to the Presidency in 2013. Dr. Pitcher also served on the Westminster Board of directors for many years. She has a passion of environmental concerns and serves on her church’s Green Team and is a regular volunteer at the School Street Food Pantry. Her husband, Red Pitcher is now retired from Radio Bloomington (WJBC/WBNQ/WBEN.) Deb became well connected to the Bloomington-Normal community through their joint attendance at many radio-station sponsored events. She is an avid gardener and enjoys walking, lap swimming, biking, traveling and is currently learning to play golf. Deb most enjoys spending time with her adult son and daughter and their families. She is a proud grandmother of five.
Tess Wallace – Tree Coordinator
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Tess Wallace joined our team as Tree Coordinator in April 2024. She leads our Tree Corps programing – planting 10,000 trees every year in the Bloomington-Normal area and providing Free Trees to residents in West Bloomington. Tess spent 6 years in Idaho doing conservation advocacy and voter outreach work at Conservation Voters for Idaho. That work included advocating for public lands and waters, promoting the Boise Climate Action Roadmap and other clean energy commitment initiatives, and helping to elect dozens of green candidates to state and local offices. In that time she has uncovered the many threads that connect community health and our environment. All of us want to find beauty and be proud of the communities we live in. Planting trees shows that we care about our neighbors and our futures!
Tess believes in appreciating the small things and giving back to the places you live and benefit from. In her free time you might spot Tess enjoying a book at the park, riding her bike, or trying out new bites in town.
Michael Bay – Energy Coordinator
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Michael joined the EAC team in September 2024 as the Energy Coordinator. He graduated from Illinois State University in May 2024 with a B.S. in the Sustainable & Renewable Energy program, as well as a minor in Environmental Science. Michael’s focuses involve running the BNEnergyBright program, which promotes energy efficiency in the Bloomington-Normal area, and to perform energy audits on houses in the area to ensure their efficiency. Michael is also involved with creating a Community Strategic Energy Plan, or CESP, for Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County. In his free time, Michael enjoys running, trying new coffee places, collecting vinyls, spending time with family and friends, and rooting for Da Bears.
Peg Mercer – Admin Assistant
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Peg joined the EAC in May of 2023 and manages the organization’s financial records and transactions. Peg is a volunteer with the McLean County Human Society and an active member of the Bloomington-Normal Meditation group.
Eric Marshall – Program Assistant
Eric assists the EAC on a part-time basis while working on his small farm near Downs. He is interested and experienced in a wide range of resource management disciplines, from large scale rainwater collection, improving pollinator and wildlife habitat, to renewable energy generation. Eric’s previous farm had a 10,200 gallon rainwater collection system and his current farm power is supplied by a 9.9kW solar array purchased through the Solar Bloomington-Normal program. He also loves to volunteer to maintain parks, help local food pantries, and build nesting boxes for wildlife rehabilitators.
Nathan Bair – Stewardship Coordinator
In addition to his full-time work for the Town of Normal, Nate has been EAC’s part-time Stewardship Coordinator since 2020, managing monthly workdays for the Sugar Creek Stewards program. This group removes invasive plants and brush and restores native wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs at three restorations sites along Sugar Creek.
Missi Adams-McCarthy – Program Assistant
After her recent retirement from teaching, Missi joined the EAC in July of 2024. She maintains the landscaping at the EAC and assists with the rainbarrel workshops and composting workshops.
Chuck Burns – Program Assistant
Chuck coordinates monthly clean up events for the EAC’s mCLEAN UP Crew.
