Our Team
Amy Beyer
Director
Amy recalls gaining her way into Michigan Technological University’s engineering school by writing an essay on her personal passion for camping. Five years later she was heading to northern California with Masters and Bachelors degrees in chemical and environmental engineering, anxious to learn of all the best-hidden spots between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Lakes. In her career, she has migrated consistently toward business management and development, first in the consulting engineering world, and later at CRA, where she has been the Director since 1992. Amy’s true passions circle around outdoor sports like fishing, skiing, biking and tennis, and a lifelong love of books, travel, and especially things that still need to be discovered. She sees CRA as a great scene for her, where the “problems” revolve around world-class waters and landscapes, and where people from all walks of life pitch in to solve them. Amy lives in Suttons Bay with her husband, Chuck, and their two children.
Kimberly Balke
Program Director/Biologist
Kimberly attended both Wayne State and Michigan State Universities and has a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife. She has lived in northern Michigan for 25 years with family ties to the area several generations back. Summer trips to family farms in Bear Lake and Arcadia strengthened the desire to make northern Michigan her home someday. Kimberly loves the beaches along Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore and enjoys hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and gardening. She appreciates the new learning opportunities in taking care of our creeks and rivers at CRA, and every year offers exciting challenges!
Kat Hanson
Development Director
Kat has always loved the beauty of northern Michigan and feels extremely blessed that she gets to work & raise a family in this paradise. She attended Michigan State University, where she graduated with a BA in Communication and a BA in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from James Madison College. Kat is very involved in the local community and serves as a Traverse City Chamber Ambassador and is a member of the Zonta Club of Traverse City. She loves the fresh fish her family catches from the surrounding waters. Kat loves watching her daughter, Annabelle, explore the great wonders of northern Michigan. She met her husband Tyler, at MSU. You can find them cheering on their Spartans at home football games in the fall.
Gavin MacDonald
Development & Communications Coordinator
Gavin is a nonprofit professional with multiple years of marketing, administrative and fundraising experience from organizations across the state of Michigan. He also brings with him photo and video production skills, with a history of producing for statewide and national clients. In addition to a Master of Science in Administration, Gavin holds a B.S. in psychology, a minor in professional sales and a certificate in corporate video creation from Central Michigan University. Growing up in Alpena, he fostered an unwavering appreciation for Michigan’s pristine natural resources and wild places. He spends his free time biking, kayaking and hiking. You may even find him on his 16-foot Hobie Cat catamaran sailing the Great Lakes!
D.J. Shook
Senior Project Manager/Biologist
DJ decided to dedicate his career to ecological restoration while earning his degree in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan. His work includes improving habitat and fish passage for the imperiled western Salmon and Steelhead populations and providing aquatic habitat restoration technical assistance to local tribes and other regional partners. He is honored to live and work in the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe people, Traverse City and Northwest Lower Michigan. While not working, DJ enjoys spending time with his family around a campfire on a local beach, fishing, hunting, canoeing, hiking, and playing his banjo with anyone willing!
Chris Pierce
Senior Project Manager/Biologist
Spending his summers growing up at the family cabin on Saginaw Bay, Chris became absorbed in the amazing wonders the woods and water presented him. His travels have carried him through 49 states and after playing in the mountains, oceans, and rivers of the West, he found his way back home in Michigan. Chris earned a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Michigan State University with a focus on fisheries and watershed management. He now greatly enjoys getting his son and daughter, Riley and Macy, into the great outdoors to see where their experiments and travels take them. If he is not spending his spare time at the cabin, you might be able to find him with his family seeking the peace and solitude found in the woods and waters of northern Michigan.
Nate Winkler
Project Manger/Biologist
Nate is a native to Michigan’s North Country and has had a lifelong love for the region’s creeks, rivers, lakes, and woodlands. This love and a sense of duty inspired the pursuit of a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Management which he obtained from Lake Superior State University in 1996. Next to spending time with his wife Jenna and children, Max and Brook, Nate‘s interests include trout fishing, canoe racing, wildland fire, and deer hunting.
Michael Seefried
Project Manager
Mike Seefried spent most of his childhood in northern Michigan, where he grew fond of the woods and waters alike. Whether it was fishing, biking, or enjoying recreational watersports, being outside was his number one priority. After graduating from MSU with a degree in Math, he spent a few years in rural Wisconsin working with farmers, where he realized his true calling in conservation work. He graduated from NMC’s Freshwater Studies Program and is seeking a career in the conservation field around the Traverse City area. In his spare time, Mike enjoys hiking, biking, paddling, and fishing in northern Michigan with his wife, as well as spending time with his family in Gaylord.
Sue Antaya
Accounting
While Sue is not technically a “native,” she does consider Traverse City to be her home after having lived here for thirty years. Spending her high school years living in the old AuSauble Hotel in Frederic, Michigan fostered Sue’s love of the history of northern Michigan. When not managing CRA’s accounting, Sue enjoys spending time with her grandkids and living on “the farm.” “I love that the work we do at CRA is helping to make rivers what they once were.”
Aubri Brown
Administrative/Development Assistant
Aubri has always been a helper, and her time with CRA has been no different. A long-time athlete, she grew up being active and working well with others. Since moving to northern Michigan a few years ago, her love of recreation and all things outdoors has grown. She happily cares for indoor plants and has begun outdoor gardening as well. Through working with plants, sustainability and regenerative choices have become cornerstones of her and her boyfriend’s lifestyle; Their long-term goal is to become homesteaders and live as naturally as possible. CRA’s mission to be stewards of the land is right up her alley, and she’s thrilled to be part of the team!
Eddie Yago
Seasonal Resource Technician
Eddie is a recent graduate from Michigan State University, holding a B.S. in Integrative Biology and a minor in Environmental Sustainability Studies. His appreciation for wildlife, forestry, and all things ecological began during his late teenage years after a solo-camping-trip to Michigan’s upper peninsula. Since then, Eddie has camped and backpacked all over, from as far north as Canada’s Bruce Peninsula to as far south as Texas’ Rio Grande. Eddie spends much of his free time reading and writing about the outdoor world. His goals for the future include hiking central Europe, getting a novel published, and enrolling in a graduate degree program.
Andrew Kranz
Seasonal Resource Technician
Andrew is a passionate nature enthusiast who is excited to continue his education at Michigan State University’s College of Natural Resources and Agriculture. He is pursuing a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife, with a keen interest in the Northwestern rivers of Michigan and their diverse fish species. Andrew’s family cabin, nestled along the picturesque Big Manistee River, serves as his personal sanctuary where he spends his evenings fishing and cultivating a profound connection with the natural world.
Lydia Balke
Seasonal Resource Technician
Born and raised in Traverse City, Michigan, Lydia is currently pursuing an associate’s degree in General Science and Arts at Northwestern Michigan College. She soon plans to transfer to Michigan State University to major in Environmental Studies and Sustainability. Eager to contribute to meaningful projects that advance environmental conservation, Lydia finds great joy in collaborating with her colleagues. Not only is Lydia dedicated to environmental stewardship, but she is a talented musician with eight years of piano under her belt!
Support Our Work
Investments in CRA ensure that we can continue to bring together landowners, businesses, organizations and government agencies to plan and implement the steps necessary to preserve, develop, or responsibly change the land within our region.