Private Land Conservationists Tom Westhoff , Brent Vandeloecht, Jennifer Battson and Regional Supervisor Bob DeWitt. Tom, a 28-year MDC veteran, works in Montgomery City and is an avid hunter, angler and trapper. He also manages for native plants on his 45 acres in Montgomery County. Brent, an enthusiastic outdoorsman and dedicated deer and quail hunter, works in Marshall. Jennifer, a certified forester, wife, and mother of three young children (Celia, 6; Claire, 4; and Stewart, 3), works from Linn. Bob, a 21-year MDC veteran, is based in Columbia. He and his wife, Susan, who is a forester with the Department, manage their Cooper County farm for wildlife and row crops.
Tom Cwynar is both a writer and an editor for the Conservationist. He hails from Michigan, but has lived in Missouri long enough to have enjoyed fishing most of our major reservoirs from what he calls, “The Little Yellow Boat That Could.” His primary tools for enjoying the outdoors are a fishing rod, tent and canoe.
Jeff Cockerham is the Central and Northeast Region outreach and education supervisor and has worked for the Department for 10 years. He is a former middle school science teacher and elementary school principal and enjoys waterfowl hunting, smallmouth bass fishing and carving cork body duck decoys.
Ann Koenig lives in Columbia with her husband and two young sons. She has worked as a Conservation Department forester for eight years. Granddaughter of a stave mill owner, great niece of a WWII-era MDC naturalist, and daughter-in-law to owners of a Century Farm, she has strong ties to conservation.
