Michael Brown – Executive Director, Ecology Action Center
Michael has served as Executive Director of the Ecology Action Center since November 2007. He has a diverse background in environmental work including training volunteers in ecological monitoring for the Illinois EcoWatch, service as a Peace Corps volunteer at Pirin National Park in Bulgaria, management of a 320-acre educational park for the Peoria Park District, work in environmental health with the Peoria City/County Health Department, and restoration of natural areas for Peoria Wilds. He served on the Board of the Illinois Recycling Association from 2010 to 2013, on the Board of Directors of the ParkLands Foundation from 2010 to 2019 acting as chair of stewardship efforts, and on the ISU Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning Community Consulting Board from 2018 to 2020. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Peoria Wilds, on the Environment and Climate Justice Committee of the Bloomington Normal Chapter of the NAACP, and is a volunteer with the McLean County Medical Reserve Corps. Michael is a 2006 recipient of Peoria’s 40 Leaders Under Forty Award, 2013 recipient of the Illinois Recycling Association’s President’s Award, 2014 recipient of the McLean County Public Health Award, and the 2015 inaugural recipient of Illinois Central College’s Alumnus of the Decade award. In his spare time, Michael is an avid cyclist, in 2017 completing a 250-mile ride across Death Valley National Park as part of the “Climate Ride.” Michael is the BN-CARE project manager.
L.C. (Liangcheng) Yang, Ph.D., Professor, Illinois State University
Dr. Yang is an Professor of Environmental Health and Sustainability in the Department of Health Sciences. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2009 and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. After graduation, he worked as a postdoc researcher at The Ohio State University for about ten months, and then joined Illinois State University as an Assistant Professor in August 2014. Dr. Yang’s primary research focus is air quality and waste management. He is the quality assurance manager for this project.
Alicia Wodika, Ph.D., CHES
Alicia is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Illinois State University in the Health Promotion and Education Program. She teaches Program Planning and Evaluation and Introduction to Public Health, Global Health, and Health Education Strategies. Her research focuses on environmental impacts affecting public health, student engagement strategies, and addressing loneliness and isolation in the college community. She holds a B.A. degree in biology from Aurora University, an M.S. in Biology from Western Illinois University, and A Ph.D. in Health Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Alicia is the community engagement and education coordinator of BN-CARE.
Kelsey Bremner, Program Technician, Ecology Action Center
Kelsey joined the EAC team in August of 2022 as a Program Assistant and became a full-time Program Technician in February 2023. She is focusing her efforts on the EAC’s solid waste program initiatives, clean air programming, and greenhouse gas inventory. Kelsey earned her B.S. in Environmental Health from Illinois State University in 2012 where she worked as a student researcher and later as a teacher’s assistant in the Bioenergy Research Lab. She then interned with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 office located in Denver, Colorado. Kelsey serves on the Friends of the Constitution Trail Board of Directors and is a member of ISU’s Institutional Biosafety Committee. Outside of work, you can find her hiking with her dog, gardening, learning to sew, and baking desserts for friends and family. Kelsey manages the data for the BN-CARE project.
