• Executive Director

    Michele joined the TLT staff in August 2008 and took over as Executive Director in 2021. She managed special fundraising events, educational outreach, and much of the land preservation projects in her capacity as associate director. She is looking forward to leading the organization. Michele earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural resource management from the University of Kentucky and Colorado State University, respectively. She and her husband, John, returned to Yellow Springs after buying John’s family farm. They have a 24 acre fruit, vegetable, and livestock operation and make maple syrup. They live on the farm with their three children.

  • Associate Director

    Caitlin Brown joins Tecumseh Land Trust as the new Associate Director. She has spent the past six years working in land conservation across southwest Ohio. Caitlin holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree in Biology from Miami University. While at Miami, she studied soil science.

    Caitlin is inspired by the strong conservation legacy here in Yellow Springs and the surrounding region.

  • Office Manager

    As our Office Manager, Cathy manages a wide variety of our day-to-day tasks, including bookkeeping, database management, general office support and pipe unfreezing. She is a lifelong resident of the Miami Valley and a graduate of the University of Dayton. Cathy lives in Springfield with her husband Jim.

  • Madelaine joined the TLT staff in June 2025 as our new Stewardship Coordinator. In this role she will be managing a variety of ongoing stewardship and educational activities. Madelaine earned her A.S. in Biology from Sinclair Community College. Following this, she completed her B.S. in Environmental Biology & M.S. in Biology at University of Dayton. She grew up in the Miami Valley area and now resides in Springboro with her three little furry friends.

  • Office Assistant

    Jenny helps with our website, social media, and events. When she’s not at TLT, Jenny enjoys traveling, being outside, and her furry friends at home in Springfield.

  • Marian Benham

    Marion Benham

    Easement Monitor

    Marian has a degree in natural resources from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. She returned home to live on her family’s preserved farm with her partner Stanley. They have a produce and livestock operation.  Marian also works at Enviroflight in Yellow Springs.

  • Kendra Cipollini

    Documentation Specialist

    Kendra is a professor of Biology at Wilmington College. She received her B.S. in Biology from George Washington University and her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. After working as an ecologist for the US Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago and as Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy of Ohio, Kendra began her tenure-track position at Wilmington College in 2004.

  • Dough Christain

    Doug Christain

    Easement Monitor

    Doug grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota.  He has a degree from Ohio University and operates Smaller Footprint, a vegetable farm in Clark County.  He enjoys hiking, camping and kayaking with his wife Kat and two children.

  • Mike Haubner

    Easement Monitor

    Mike retired as OSU’s Extension Ag Agent for Clark County. We were able to lure him out of retirement with the promise that he did not have to work in the winter. Mike monitors our agricultural easements.

    Mike and his wife, Debbie, spend winters in Florida. He has been known to send the office reports of the glorious weather they are enjoying while the snow is flying in Ohio.FOUNDER

    It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • Chris Hodgson

    Chris Hodgson

    Easement Monitor

    Chris is a retired state forester with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. She also ran a native plant business from her home called Basically Native. Chris enjoys, in particular, monitoring properties that have natural areas as well as farmland.

  • Jim Holcomb

    Jim Holcomb

    Easement Monitor

    Jim is originally from Oakwood, but today lives on a small farm with his wife Cathy and their youngest daughter. He works for Tyler Technologies as a commercial real estate appraiser for their Tax Appraisal Division. Jim has volunteered for TLT for many years prior to joining the Stewardship Team.

  • Alex Klug

    Alex Klug

    Easement Monitor

    Born in Cincinnati, Alex moved to Greene County in 2011 to learn more about farming and conservation in SW Ohio. With a B.S. in agriculture, she spent over a decade working in and around the Dayton community for organizations addressing environmental and food justice issues, with a specific focus on food apartheid.
    When Alex is not enjoying her time monitoring easements with TLT she works full-time for Hall Hunger Initiative and will begin her Master’s in Environmental Policy later this year. 

  • Ben Silliman

    Ben Silliman

    Easement Monitor

    Ben has an undergraduate degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University and a graduate degree in hydrology from The Ohio State University. He currently lives and works in the Cincinnati area.

  • Richard Zopf

    Easement Monitor

    Richard has been a long time supporter of Tecumseh Land Trust. A previous board member, he still serves on the Finance Committee, helps at the annual Sugar Shack event and monitors properties.