Program Manager Dr. Vanessa Perry is responsible for land protection projects and program development in the Mississippi Headwaters and Metro areas.

She brings nearly 20 years of experience in natural resource management, with a particular focus on community engagement, land use planning, and applied social science research. As the Rural and Natural Resource Planner for Ravalli County, Montana, she helped establish the Ravalli County Open Lands Program to protect working lands and wildlife habitat on private property with conservation easements. She assisted communities throughout Minnesota with sustainable land-use planning and protection efforts as the Program Director for the non-profit Envision Minnesota. Further, Vanessa has experience with local, state, and federal government, as well as international resource management projects.

Vanessa has a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from The Ohio State University, and earned both a M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Natural Resource Science and Management. Vanessa has a particular interest in applied research that links communities and science to develop best practices for effective management of resources. Her graduate studies focused on individual and community decision making related to natural resource management challenges in both urban and rural areas across Minnesota, including work with farmers in the Red River Basin of Minnesota, new immigrant communities in the Twin Cities Metro, and resource decision makers in the Duluth, MN area.

Vanessa can be reached at 651-917-6296 or vperry@mnland.org