Central Regional Director

Michele Richards

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For almost a decade Michele has worked at Ft. Custer Training Center as a natural resources specialist for Michigan Army National Guard. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Earth Science and Environmental Studies from Western Michigan University earned in 1998. Natural resources management at Ft. Custer includes prescribed fire, invasive plant management, ecological restoration, endangered species management, avian studies and the occasional foray into wetland ecology and issues.

Michele has served broadly in organizations relevant to the maintaining the military mission through responsible environmental stewardship. She has served/is serving as chair, secretary and outreach coordinator for the Michigan Prescribed Fire Council, as natural resources team lead on the Army National Guard Environmental Advisory Council’s Conservation Committee, and participates in the Michigan Climate Coalition, The Joint Fire Sciences Program’s  Lake States and Tallgrass Prairie Consortiums and Michigan Invasive Species Coalition. From very local concerns, to national issues, Michele stays connected and provides valuable interconnectedness between the groups and people who depend on them for information, decision support, and research.

In her life outside work she’s raising two lovely daughters, Rowan and Sage, with her husband Peter on their 1877 homestead (which includes a flock of chickens and a sprouting orchard).