Michelle Stevens

I received a bachelor’s degree in botany and journalism from Humboldt State, and began a lifelong love affair with plants. My master’s research was on a wet meadow/ tall grass prairie on the Leopold Reserve; that was the beginning of my devotion to the land ethic and Leopold’s vision for building community between people and the land. After working for US EPA in the 404 program in Idaho, and as a Senior Wetlands Ecologist for WA Dept of Ecology, I returned to graduate school at UC Davis in Ecology. My dissertation embraced ethnoecology, restoration ecology, and the literature/ poetry of ecoregion. I began working with California Indian people, traditional knowledge systems and resource management of wetlands. Since receiving my doctorate, I have worked for consulting firms, CA Dept of Water Resources, Imperial Valley Community College, and now am an Assistant Professor at CSU Sacramento in Environmental Studies Department. I love teaching wetlands ecology, restoration ecology, ethnoecology and international environmental studies, and our wonderful students. To my surprise, for the past ten years, I have worked on the eco-cultural restoration and community based conservation of the Mesopotamian Marshes in Iraq. I founded a nonprofit corporation Hima Mesopotamia, working on equitable water allocation, social justice and conservation/ restoration of biodiversity throughout the Middle East. In invite you to our Hima Banquet and Celebration on April 20 at 6:30 at the Redwood Room at CSU Sacramento. www.hima-mesopotamia.org

In my personal life, I follow vernal pools and the yearly well-being of CA Tiger Salamanders, and am a docent at Jepson Prairie. I’ve been trained in the California Rapid Assessment Methodology, and participated in field testing the meadows module and with the . We are initiating an Iraqi Rapid Assessment Method later this year with a fourth module of culturally important sites. I have a peace garden in the back yard of native plants, and share my home with Luna the Wonder Dog, two kitties, and my fiancé.
“I’ve known Rivers,
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world
And older than the flow of human blood in veins
My soul has grown deep like the rivers”
-Langston Hughes