2019 ANNUAL MEETING | PLENARY SESSION DETAILS Moving Mountains: Advancing Relevancy One Stone at a Time Monday, September 23 | 8:00 - 9:45 AM
The theme of this year’s plenary session is “Moving Mountains: Advancing Relevancy One Stone at a Time."
This year’s Plenary Session will explore fish and wildlife organization relevancy across multiple dimensions with one unifying theme – change, validation, and mission congruence take time. Ms. Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will explore relevant change in partner relationships, states and the Service over a continuum of trust and communications constructs. Dr. J. Drew Lanham, Clemson University, 2019 Audubon Medal Recipient, will reflect on the relevance of fish and wildlife institutions through the lens of a rural, African-American cultural upbringing. Dr. Courtney Schultz, Park Rx America will help us consider the restorative or healing value of “prescriptive” outdoor experiences, especially to those of urban North America.
Agenda
8:00am | Welcome and Color Guard Minnesota DNR Enforcement Honor Guard
8:15am | A Minnesota Greeting Sarah Strommen, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
8:30am | Welcome from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies Ed Carter, President
8:40am | Working Together to meet the Challenge of Relevancy Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
9:00am | Conservation and Culture: The Case for a New Convergence Dr. J. Drew Lanham, Professor, Clemson University
9:30am | Healing in Our Nature Spaces: A Scalable Park Prescription Model Courtney L. Schultz, PhD Research Associate, Park Rx America
9:50am |Adjourn
Presenter Bios
Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Before joining U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in November 2018, Margaret served as Ducks Unlimited’ s Chief Policy Officer. Margaret received her Bachelor of Science in biology, with a concentration in marine biology from St. Francis College and her J.D. from Vermont Law School (VLS).
Margaret has served in a variety of roles that touch wildlife, conservation and natural resources matters. Prior to joining DU, Everson worked as a consultant for state agencies, as well as an assistant attorney general of Kentucky and general counsel for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. From 2006 to 2008 Margaret was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to serve as counselor to Dale Hall then director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Prior to joining the FWS, Margaret was with the Department of the Interior’s Solicitor’s office for four years. Margaret is the former chair of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP).
Dr. J. Drew Lanham, Professor, Clemson University A native of Edgefield, South Carolina, J. Drew Lanham is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies, including The Colors of Nature, State of the Heart, Bartram’s Living Legacy, and Carolina Writers at Home. An Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher at Clemson University, he and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk’s downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.
Dr. Courtney Schultz, PhD Research Associate, Park Rx America Courtney L. Schultz, Ph.D. is the Research Associate for Park Rx America, a non-profit organization whose mission is to decrease the burden of chronic disease, increase health and happiness, and foster environmental stewardship, by virtue of prescribing Nature during the routine delivery of healthcare by a diverse group of health care professionals. With over 8 years of experience, Dr. Schultz has developed an expertise in the design and execution of behavioral research across the lifespan specifically for improved health outcomes. In addition to her work with Park Rx America, Dr. Schultz is the Executive Director of Health and Technology Partners LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to improving wellbeing through cooperative partnership with healthcare providers, communities, and natural resources. Courtney holds a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from NC State University, along with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Parks and Recreation Management from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Sarah Strommen, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, Sarah Strommen became DNR commissioner on Jan. 7, 2019. Strommen, a former DNR assistant commissioner, oversees a DNR staff of about 2,700 located in St. Paul and around the state, with the mission of working with Minnesotans to conserve and manage the state's natural resources, providing outdoor recreation opportunities, and providing for commercial uses of natural resources in a way that creates a sustainable quality of life.
Prior to coming to DNR in 2015, Strommen served as assistant director at the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) before becoming acting deputy director. She previously served as policy director for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and as associate director of the Minnesota Land Trust.
Strommen holds a bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College, where she majored in biology and Latin American studies. After graduating from college, she used a Fulbright research scholarship to do field work in Costa Rica, and subsequently earned her master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University.
She served several terms on the Ramsey city council and was elected mayor in 2012, a position she stepped down from in May 2018. She is an avid outdoors person, spending family weekends fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, camping, and hiking.
Strommen lives in Plymouth with her husband, son, and two dogs.