About Us

Small Waters Education was established as a nonprofit organization in 2005.

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We are an organizational member of Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. 

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We provide assistance to Conversación de Conservación (C de C), a partnership between environmental organizations and Latino community organizations in McHenry County.

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We were the recipient of the 2022 Theta Award from the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County

Jack and Judy moved from the Big City in 2002 and made their home near the headwaters of the Nippersink Creek with a vision of helping people reconnect with the Earth.  They applied their previous experience with grassroots education and community organizing to new opportunities in ecological restoration and sustainable living skills.  They retrofitted a former hunt club using natural and green energy-efficient design, and planted permaculture gardens and a food forest.  Judy studied permaculture design with Midwest Permaculture and a holds a certificate in ecological restoration from McHenry County College and the McHenry County Conservation District.  Together, Jack and Judy have been volunteering as site stewards with the Conservation District since 2003, helping to restore the globally-endangered oak savanna ecosystem.  They have been leading experiential programs in deep ecology since 1999.  They are recipients of the 2008 Chicago Wilderness Habitat Project Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award. 

Denice was fortunate to grow up in McHenry County at a time when many kids spent long summer days playing outdoors. Through exploration of nearby fields, ponds and woods, they learned the intrinsic value of open land and became acquainted with the beauty and rhythm of nature.  Although there has been an increasing disconnection between society and the natural world since that time, Denice is thrilled by the vibrant environmental community that thrives in McHenry County today.  Love of nature and curiosity about the interrelatedness of all life inspired her to major in Biological Science at Mundelein College, Chicago (now Loyola University) and is also the thematic basis for her work as an artist.  

Now retired as the Volunteer Coordinator for McHenry County Conservation District, Denice’s career revolved around helping people discover meaningful volunteer outdoor activities that restore health to the environment as well as our local human communities.  Believing that strong heartfelt connections will encourage people to live gently on the Earth, she continues to support and work with environmental and social justice initiatives and agencies that promote understanding, healing, compassion and responsibility toward all living things.

Anna was born and raised in McHenry County, now living on her family’s sustainable vegetable farm in Harvard. An Environmental Studies graduate from Lake Forest College, she now works as their Environmental Studies Department Assistant. She spends much of her time in the field doing ecological restoration work and studying the plants of the Chicago region, as well as in the garden helping at her family’s farm. She enjoys cooking with fresh vegetables as well as wild edibles, spending time in the local forest preserves, and making ceramic art.

Meagan has always felt deeply connected to nature. But when she crossed paths with Small Waters Education, she realized how truly deep that connection is.  It was like finding a part of herself that she had unknowingly been looking for.  She has been involved with ecological restoration, helping to plant pollinator gardens, learning the ecological importance of native plants, and the benefits of permaculture.  Through volunteering, she has developed a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of everything and is empowered to do her part in caring for the land and live more mindfully and sustainably.  She finds it very rewarding to share this knowledge and connection to the natural world with others so that they too can experience and deepen their relationship with the planet.  She has served on the Small Waters Education board of directors from 2020 to 2023, and worked as an Ecological Restoration Technician with Red Buffalo Nursery and is now transforming a home and land in Edgerton, WI into a permaculture paradise.

Holly holds a bachelors degree in environmental science from George Williams College in Williams Bay, WI.  She has a certificate in permaculture design from Midwest Permaculture.  Her skills include research in food production using permaculture design, growing native and edible gardens, ecological restoration and water quality testing.  She served on the Small Waters Education board of directors from 2016 to 2020 and worked as a project manager for Suburban Labs in Geneva IL. She currently works as a Senior Sustainability Consultant for Goby/Conservice in Chicago, IL.

Nathan is a herpetologist and wildlife photographer who is studying wildlife and conservation biology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.  He is also a research participant with the Illinois Natural History Survey.  Utilizing photography as a medium for both education and the documentation of fieldwork, he hopes to bring light to traditionally misunderstood biota and the continually diminishing environs they inhabit.  Nathan has helped stewards manage their land to provide habitat for amphibians and reptiles.

Shelby was a summer intern for Small Waters Education in 2019.  She graduated in 2021 with high honors in wildlife ecology and management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  She is currently a Masters student in marine and environmental biology at Nicholls State University in southern Louisiana.  She has been involved in monitoring wildlife populations, especially those of concern.  She is also interested in managing wildlife habitat by removing invasive species and restoring natural landscapes.