SOUTHEAST INDIANA – In advance of Earth Day, Liz Brownlee, the executive director of the Oak Heritage Conservancy, has been named a Hoosier Resilience Hero by Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute.
A sustainable farmer and conservationist, Brownlee is connecting Hoosiers in Southeast Indiana to the natural wonders of the region and helping build a network of young farmers who share her desire to make agriculture part of the solution to climate change.
As the sole employee of Oak Heritage Conservancy, Brownlee helps landowners protect wildlife habitat, hosts nature programs, and helps steward the land trust’s 1,100 acres.
Brownlee and her husband, Nate, spent years working on farms in the Northeast. They returned to Indiana in 2013 to turn her family’s farm into Nightfall Farm, a small-scale, diversified operation committed to local food and carbon-sequestering practices, such as rotational grazing.
She co-founded the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition to build a community of sustainable farmers in Indiana. Brownlee’s example on the farm—and among the nature preserves of Southeast Indiana—is inspiring a new generation of Hoosiers and helping revitalize rural communities.
Hoosier Resilience Heroes are individuals and groups committed to ensuring a safe, healthy environment for their families, their neighbors and future generations. This year’s cohort includes professionals and volunteers dedicated to sustainable agriculture, clean energy development, environmental justice, and other aspects of environmental protection and resilience.
“From farms, to suburbs, to urban neighborhoods, everywhere you look you find people working to make Indiana a healthier, more environmentally sustainable place to live,” said ERI Director Janet McCabe. “Our heroes are leading the charge against ongoing threats to our state, such as climate change and long-term social and environmental inequities. We applaud their efforts and are inspired by their contributions to our state.”
To learn more about ERI’s 2021 Hoosier Resilience Heroes go to: https://eri.iu.edu/who-we-work-with/residents/2021-hoosier-resilience-heroes.html.
About the Environmental Resilience Institute
Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute brings together a broad, bipartisan coalition of government, business, nonprofit and community leaders to help Indiana better prepare for the challenges that environmental changes bring to Indiana’s economy, health, and livelihood. Launched in May 2017, ERI is working to deliver tailored and actionable solutions to communities across the state of Indiana.
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