Michelle Beeman has an extensive background in natural resources and environmental protection. She has served as director of conservation strategy out of Minneapolis for The Nature Conservancy’s Canada/U.S. Partnership; as director of legislative affairs for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and as a Minnesota assistant attorney general for the natural resources and environmental protection divisions. She was appointed by Governor Pawlenty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Citizens Board where she served for four years until taking her current position as Director of Environment and Natural Resources for Dakota County.

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Princeton University, 1983; Master’s degree, Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1989; and J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 1988.

Hobbies: Hiking, gardening, traveling, wine appreciation.

Interesting book: Encounters with the Archdruid, by John McPhee

Favorite animal: Giraffe

Last memorable vacation: April in Paris — “If only the Twin Cities could incorporate the Mississippi into the life of the city the way the Seine is part of Paris!”

FMR Board member since: 2007

Board committees: Executive, Policy and Planning

Favorite Mississippi River place, experience or memory:

“For 12 years I lived in the Minneapolis Longfellow neighborhood, one block from the Mississippi River gorge, and loved to walk the paths that led down to the river, particularly near the Lake Street bridge. As I would leave my house and descend down below West River Road, the urban world would seem to just recede, and I could sit near the wooded bank and just stare at the river going by, reconnecting to a piece of nature, even if only for a half hour.”

Quote:

“Although it seems a cliché, in this increasingly fast-paced, technologically-driven society, we all need to keep a connection to something wild, something changing, and something that will exist long after we are gone. That’s particularly true in the cities, and the Mississippi is the central artery connecting us to wild places. FMR does very important work in protecting, educating, and marketing the importance of this beautiful resource within our midst.”