Park County Environmental Council is pleased to introduce the Park County community to PCEC’s new Executive Director, Michelle Uberuaga.
Michelle brings over ten years of experience in conservation work to PCEC. She has worked as a biologist in Yellowstone National Park and as an attorney at the Montana Supreme Court. She combines her passion for wild spaces with a fierce desire to advocate and protect the environment for future generations.
Michelle began her conservation career running a grassroots campaign office in Salt Lake City, UT. She learned to work on environmental issues in Utah’s politically complex community and she skied a lot. Michelle’s first home in Montana was Cooke City where she worked conducting field research in Yellowstone National Park and spent long days on solo missions walking through the Lamar Valley. Cooke City felt oddly familiar, as Michelle was raised in a small park service community in Mount Rainier National Park, where her father worked for thirty years.
Michelle has lived in Cooke City and Gardiner, and now calls Livingston home. She runs a part-time legal practice here in Livingston working with local attorneys and nonprofits on environmental issues. Her husband, Bill Zanoni, works with Candace Miller Architects and hand turns wooden bowls in the garage. Somehow they still manage to find sanctuaries of quiet time to spend outside with their two young children Luca (3) and Neva (1).
Michelle has earned national recognition as a fundraiser and she hopes to bring her fearless attitude about fundraising to PCEC. She also has over 20 summits on Mount Rainier and is always searching for someone with free time during the week to climb at Allenspur. Please don’t hesitate to give her a call to talk about PCEC issues or climbing (222-0723). Michelle loves an excuse to banter over coffee. She’ll begin holding regular office hours in February on Tuesday and Wednesdays.