Merry Lea Staff
Executive Director - Luke Gascho
Assistant Executive Director and Director of Graduate Studies - Dave Ostergren
Administrative Assistant and Farm Manager - Roberta
Miller
Director of Land
Management - Bill Minter
Collegiate Program Director - Dale
Hess
Coordinator of
Public Programs - Jennifer
Schrock
Lindsey Fellow - Ryan
L. Sensenig
Education Coordinator - Paul Steury
Environmental
Science Educator - Lisa
Zinn
Environmental Science Educator - Carol Good-Elliott
Property - Kerry Goodrich, Hal Kiester
Emeritus Staff - Larry
Yoder, Dave Miller
Dr.
Luke Gascho
Executive Director
B.S. Biology /Education, Eastern
Mennonite College, 1974; M.A., Christian School Administration, Grace Seminary,
1983 ; Ed.D., Nova Southeastern University, 1998.
Dr. Gascho joined us in 1997 as senior administrator. He has extensive experience in science education and school administration including teaching in Grenada and Puerto Rico.
He may be reached by e mail at lukeag@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit his web page.
Carol Good-Elliott
Environmental
Science Educator
B.A.
Biology, Environmental Studies Minor, Goshen College, 1989.
Carol works with scheduling, teaching and writing curriculum for the K-12 education program.
She can be reached by e-mail at carolge@goshen.edu
Dr. Dale Hess
Collegiate Program
Director and Associate Professor of Agroecology
B.A.,
Millersville State College, 1976; M.S., Purdue University, 1984; Ph.D.,
Purdue University, 1989.
Dr. Hess joined the Merry Lea staff in 2004. Dale directs the Summer Agroecology Intensive program. He has extensive experience in sustainable crop production research and training, including more than a decade spent in West Africa.
He may be reached by e mail at dhess@goshen.edu.
Click here to visit his web page.
Kerry Goodrich
Property Supervisor
Mr.
Goodrich, a native of Noble County, has cared for Merry Lea's physical plant
since 1980. He has completed coursework in heating systems, industrial management
and horticulture at IVY Technical College.
He may be reached by e mail at kerryag@goshen.edu
Hal Kiester
Assistant
Property Supervisor
Hal's
roots are in the neighborhood of Merry Lea. He cares for the physical
plant with special emphasis on grounds maintenance. He can
be contacted by calling Merry Lea.
Dr.
David Miller
Program
Director Emeritus, Biology Department Chair
B.A.,
Eastern Mennonite College, 1964; M.S. University of Delaware, 1972; Ph.D.
Michigan State University 1977. Dr. Miller is an entomologist and he
joined Merry Lea in 1988.
He may be reached by e mail at davejm@goshen.edu
Click here to visit his web page.
Roberta Miller
Administrative Assistant and Farm Manager
Roberta joined the Merry Lea Staff in September of 2008. She is the
Administrative Assistant, Volunteer Coordinator and Farm Manager. Previously,
she directed The Garden Project of the Greater Lansing Food Bank in Lansing,
Michigan. There, she oversaw community gardening and gleaning programs
that provided fresh vegetables for human service organizations, senior
citizens and other groups the food bank served. She also worked at Aurora
Services, Inc., a small publishing company in LaGrange County where her
work included office managing, proofreading and layout.
She may be reached at ramiller@goshen.edu
William Minter
Director
of Land Management
B.S.,
Colorado State University, 1980; M.S.F. Purdue University, 1989. A certified
professional forester, Mr. Minter has served on the staff since 1991.
He may be reached by e mail at billfm@goshen.edu
Click here to visit his web page.
Dr. David Ostergren
Director of the Graduate Program
in Environmental Education
Professor in Environmental Education.
Dr.
Ostergren joined Merry Lea in 2008 and serves as administrator and teacher
in the graduate program. His experience includes outdoor education/recreation
since 1980 in Minnesota, West Virginia and Arizona. Dr. Ostergren’s
research includes U.S. Wilderness policy and Russian national park and nature
reserve management.
For questions and interest in the graduate program he can be contacted by email at daveo@goshen.edu.
Jennifer
Halteman Schrock
Coordinator of Public Programs
B.A.,
English, Goshen College, 1983; M.Div., Chicago Theological Seminary, 1990.
Jennifer joined the staff in July 2002. She is in charge of public programs for Merry Lea. She also edits the Merry Leaflet and does grant writing. Formerly she taught English and was a freelance writer and editor.
She can be reached by e mail at jenniferhs@goshen.edu or at merrylea@goshen.edu.
Click here to visit her web page.
Dr.
Ryan Sensenig
Lindsey Fellow and Assistant Professor of
Biology
Ryan received a bachelor’s degree
from Eastern Mennonite University and a doctorate in ecology from the University
of California, Davis. He also has biology and earth science teaching certification.
Sensenig’s doctoral research was conducted in Kenya where he studied
the effects of grassland burning on grazing animals. For the past six years
he has taught ecology at a high school and has won a number of state and
national teaching awards.
Ryan can be reached by e-mail at rlsensenig@goshen.edu or
at merrylea@goshen.edu.
Click
here to visit his web page.
Paul
D. Steury
Education Coordinator for K-12
Bethany
Christian High School 1981, BA in Sociology from Goshen College 1987, MS
in Outdoor Resources Management with an emphasis in Environmental Education
1997.
Paul, who loves world wide adventure, returned home in 1999 to join family, friends, and become part of Merry Lea's staff.
He can be reached by email at paulds@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit his web page.
Dr.
Larry Yoder
Emeritus Merry Lea Director and Associate Professor of Biology
B.A.
Manchester College, 1964; M.A. Indiana University,1966; M.A.T., Indiana
University, 1970; Ph.D., Indiana University, 1972.
A botanist and educator, Yoder has been with Merry Lea since 1981, serving as executive director until 1997 when he assumed his present role.
He may be reached by e mail at larryry@goshen.edu,or visit his home page.
Lisa Zinn
Environmental Science Educator
B.A.
Biology, Houghton College (NY). M. Env. Studies. Miami of Ohio.
Lisa is part of the education team that works with the K-12 education program. She also works as researcher in the MAPS bird banding program and supervises summer Maple Scholar undergraduate researchers. Lisa joined our staff in 2003.
She can be reached by
e-mail at lisarz@goshen.edu
Click
here to visit her web page.