The Nature Conservancy: Arkansas Prescribed Fire

To A Great Season

Jeremy Gottfried

Fire Management Specialist Interior Highlands

Jeremy has spent four seasons with TNC Arkansas. He started as
a burn crew member, then led the crew for a season before spending two
seasons as a fire management specialist. Before working in Arkansas
Jeremy spent a summer doing monitoring and prescribed fire with TNC
Texas. He now spends his summers out west working for the federal fire
suppression agencies.

Jeremy got his Bachelor's in Environmental Studies in 2005 from Hendrix
College in Conway, AR. He is originally from Sewanee, TN.

Mcree Anderson

Fire Restoration Project Director/Project Leader-Fire Learning Network-South-Central Region

McRee has been intimately involved with fire management professionals since 2001, who are interested in developing large landscape-scale fire restoration projects for ecosystem health and sustainability, with a diverse partner base. The South-Central Fire Learning Network encompasses 15 landscapes in four ecoregions across four states, totaling 333,887 acres.

McRee has also worked in Latin America where he was Ignition Boss on the first ‘prescribed fire’ in  Mexico and is currently assisting with the development of a pine-oak ecosystem fire restoration project in Honduras. McRee received a Master degree in Water Resources from Portland State University and is certified as a RXB2 burn boss. McRee grew up in the Ouachita Mountain in west central Arkansas and loves burning places he once built forts as a kid.

Mike Melnechuk

Fire Manager TNC-AR and LA/Burn Boss/Assistant Director of Stewardship

Mike has worked for The Nature Conservancy-Arkansas Field Office for 10 years, started as Burn Crew Technician, then moved into the Assistant Land Steward position, Stewardship Ecologist, then into his current position as Fire Manager/Assistant Director of Stewardship.
Prior to his work with TNC-Arkansas chapter, he worked for TNC-Nebraska on the Niobrara Valley Preserve as a Ranch/Fire Technician. He has also worked on the South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas fire programs. 

Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI 1997. He is originally from London, Ontario and was born in Newmarket, Ontario Canada.
He moved to Sterling Heights, MI in 1985.