Who We Are

Christine Kosmowski has worked in the environmental field for over thirty-five years, specializing in the protection of water resources. Christine earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from Oakland University and a Master of Science degree in Earth Science from Western Michigan University. She has been active in the development of the many plans and events that help protect water within Calhoun County and the State of Michigan.

Christine is currently the President of the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council. She is a past President of the Michigan Water Environment Association and the past Chair of the Battle Creek Area Clean Water Partners.

Christine works for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as their Emerging Contaminants Specialist.

Ken has been a lifelong outdoorsman. He became directly involved in environmental protection as a township planner which led to helping found a watershed council of one of the subwatersheds of the Kalamazoo River. He became involved with the KRWC indirectly through community involvement with the Allied Paper, Portage Creek, Kalamazoo River Superfund Site and the Enbridge Oil Spill. He is an enthusiastic advocate for the Kalamazoo River and its tributaries. An avid canoeist, he has participated as a river guide in the Kanoe the Kazoo program every year since it’s inception in 2003.
Ken has served on the board of the KRWC since 2013 and is a Past President. He has also served as Planning Commission Chairman, Prairieville Township, Barry County 1989-2013; Founding Member and Board Officer of the Four Townships Water Resources Council since 1994. Ken is a retired clinical veterinarian.

Dr. Steven L. Kohler: Treasurer

Dr. Kohler is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and past Director of the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. He joined the KRWC board in 2017. He represents the KRWC on Michigan’s Water Use Advisory Council, which advises MI-EGLE on Michigan’s water withdrawal assessment program.

Dr. Kohler is an aquatic ecologist whose research focuses on the nature of interactions among species and the consequences of these interactions for the dynamics of populations and the structure of communities. These questions are addressed with experimental and observational approaches over a broad range of temporal and spatial scales, using trout streams as a model system, including several Kalamazoo River tributaries. Dr. Kohler is also interested in the responses of stream systems to environmental perturbations and restoration activities at local to watershed scales.

Renee Mulcrone, Ph.D.: Secretary

Renee Mulcrone grew up in Illinois and spent summers visiting relatives who lived at the mouth of the Kalamazoo. These visits and great biology teachers influenced her to focus on a career in aquatic biology. She has an undergrad degree from the University of Illinois and worked for the state of Illinois where she became interested in native freshwater mussels. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan focusing on mussels in the Lake Erie drainage. After grad school, she went on to work with an environmental firm helping the DEQ (now EGLE) oversee some of the PCB river clean up on the Kalamazoo. She recently moved into the West Portage Creek watershed and works with ASTI-Environmental, conducting mussel surveys all over the state. She also works with the Upper Grand River Watershed Alliance, where she has learned a lot about the headwaters of the Grand, which aren’t very far from the headwaters of the Kalamazoo in Jackson County. Renee has enjoyed time on all parts of the river from the upper Kalamazoo to the mouth of the river.

Shannan works for the City of Kalamazoo as their Public Services Program Manager. She manages the City’s Drinking Water and NPDES Permit compliance monitoring programs. She worked as a Biologist and Chemist in previous positions and brings a unique skill set to the KRWC Board of Directors. Shannan is passionate about protecting water resources and her favorite part of being on the Board of Directors is working together with others who value our natural resources and are engaged in finding solutions to environmental issues.

Shannon joined the KRWC Board of Directors in November 2020.

Dr. Robert Shuchman joined the KRWC Board in 2020. Dr. Shuchman is the Co-Director of the  Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), is a Research Professor in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University. His areas of expertise include Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications, Multispectral and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, Applied Photo Imaging, Sea and Lake Ice, Environmental in situ Sensing. His research interests include: Great Lakes Remote Sensing, Ocean Optics, High Latitude Oceanography, Dynamic Decision Support Systems, Water Quality of Inland Lakes.

Malissa graduated from Michigan State University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Zoology with a focus on Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology. Malissa worked for Binder Park Zoo as an conservation educator where she gained a passion for public outreach and spreading environmental awareness. Malissa started working for the City of Kalamazoo Public Services Department in 2012 and started partnering with the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council on TMDL projects analyzing phosphorus concentrations along the Kalamazoo River and coordinating River and area wide cleanup events. Malissa has enjoyed engaging with and educating the public regarding drinking water quality, source water and wellhead protection and Kalamazoo River conservation concerns throughout her career. Malissa is an active member of the Kalamazoo Environmental Health and Advisory Council and the Lake Allegan/Kalamazoo River Watershed TMDL committee. She is currently the Environmental Services Programs Manager for the City of Kalamazoo.

Monica Day is currently serving as the Director of Center for Sustainability and the Environment at Albion College. She brings to the watershed council expertise in watersheds, group process and decision making and nature interpretation. Formerly she was the coordinator of the Sandusky River Watershed Coalition where she engaged hundreds of watershed citizens in planning and actions through grassroots organizing and engagement. She earned her Master of Science from Michigan State University’s Department of Resource Development. Her thesis explored through quantitative and qualitative methods how leaders can discern when groups have reached stable and lasting decisions. The context of the research was cleanup of dioxin from the Tittabawassee River floodplain. During her tenure with Michigan State University Extension she provided water management educational materials and workshops for local officials and other community leaders. She was called to serve as an expert witness by the Environmental Law and Policy Center in the contested case regarding the 2020 rules for combined animal feeding operation because of her leadership in developing a field-scale pay for performance model and tool for producers to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen loads from agricultural fields in the River Raisin watershed. She started her river and watershed work while working for the Ohio Scenic Rivers Program as a stream quality monitoring coordinator conducting public programs on assessing stream health by assessing macroinvertebrate biodiversity in riffle areas on the Sandusky and Maumee rivers in northwest Ohio.

Ryan is a graduate of Michigan State University, and currently is employed at the Calhoun Conservation District. He grew up in Marshall, Michigan and frequently paddled the Kalamazoo River and tributaries growing up. He became very interested in water quality and recreation, he is very much looking forward to being a part of this organization.

Dr. Hamilton is a Professor of Ecosystem Science at Michigan State University, where has been based at the Kellogg Biological Station since 1995 and is a member of the Department of Integrative Biology. He also works as Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York and is an Adjunct Professor at the Australian Rivers Institute.

Dr. Hamilton’s principal research interests involve ecology and biogeochemistry, including wetlands, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds, as well as agricultural cropping systems and their effects on water and climate. At the Kellogg Biological Station, he has recently been the Lead Principal Investigator of the NSF Long-term Ecological Research site and is a Project Leader in the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

Dr. McLaughlin joined the KRWC as Executive Director in 2022.

Doug  joined the KRWC Board in 2019. He has over 30 years of experience as a water resources scientist and practitioner. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Land Resources from the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He conducted his research in the Water Chemistry program, evaluating environmental and engineered changes in polychlorinated biphenyls found in contaminated river sediments. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Aquatic Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. He worked for 15 years as a Principal Research Scientist at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc, where he developed national expertise in the science needed to support water quality criteria and standards. More recently, he worked as a senior scientist and science advisor at Kieser & Associates, LLC in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Prior to joining NCASI, he was a Senior Scientist for Blasland, Bouck, and Lee, Inc. in Syracuse, New York and DePere, Wisconsin where he was responsible for developing and communicating scientific information to inform contaminated sediment remedial alternatives. Doug is also currently the Founder and President of WaterWays|SEM, L3C, a low-profit limited liability company focused on improving and sustaining water resources through broad stakeholder engagement in water-related science, education, and management activities.

Contact: krwc@kalamazooriver.org, 269-447-1580 (office)

Bela joined KRWC in 2024.

Bela has been a volunteer with KRWC since 2021 and became an intern in 2024. She has an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Western Michigan University and holds a Master of Science degree in Water Resource Policy from Grand Valley State University. Increasing diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion in water-related decision making and recreation as a means to foster community cohesion, environmental awareness/stewardship, and improve quality of life is what drives her. As an avid paddler, outdoor recreator, and lifelong resident of the watershed she is thrilled for the opportunity to provide support for KRWC’s events and partners. Reach out to Bela if you are interested in partnering with KRWC or have any questions about our events.

Contact: programs@kalamazooriver.org