Ken Jacobsen | Commerce Township, MI
2024 Board Candidate

I have more than 30 years of experience as a sales, marketing, and management professional. Since doing an internship with The Nature Conservancy in college, I have been a volunteer involved in land preservation and conservation issues in Michigan. As a former board member of Michigan Audubon, staff and board member of Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Sierra Club Outings Leader, and as a private citizen, I worked with The Nature Conservancy, Little Traverse Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, West Michigan Land Conservancy and other organizations as a volunteer to preserve more than 250 acres and 10,000 feet of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan shoreline. Although I am a published nature photographer, I only engage in nature photography for pleasure rather than for financial benefit.

Why do you want to serve as a board member for Michigan Audubon, and what would you like to contribute?

I am currently seeking an opportunity where I can combine my extensive sales, management, and marketing background with my environmental, arts and public service interests. As a member of Michigan Audubon’s board, I would like to help the organization in its efforts to protect birds and their habitats as well as strengthen the relationship between our communities and the ecosystems of which we all are a part. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” John Muir

What is your favorite bird and why?

The Common Loon is my favorite bird. I have always associated loons with northern Michigan and wilderness. In my 20s, I spent a summer as a loon researcher and seasonal biologist after graduating from Wayne State University’s Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing. It seemed an interesting choice for a summer internship, but it was one of the best summers of my life and launched a lifetime interest in birds and environmental activism.