Our Team
Owner David Mifsund
David Mifsud “Turtle Dave” is a certified professional wetland scientist through the International Society of Wetland Scientists, a certified professional ecologist through the Ecological Society of America, and Certified professional Wildlife Biologist through the Wildlife Society. He has worked for over 20 years in wildlife biology, wetland ecology, and habitat conservation and management, with an emphasis on herpetofauna. He is an authority in Michigan on conservation and management of amphibians and reptiles.
Learn More About Dave
Aidan Navarre
Aidan Navarre is a graduate of Central Michigan University and was a member of the Applied Technology in Conservation Genetics Lab. Aidan has conducted undergraduate research pertaining to camera trapping and animal behavior studies of White-tailed Deer. In addition, Aidan was a receiver of the 2020 Michigan Sea Grant Internship in which he developed maps of habitat suitability for rare herpetofauna of Michigan utilizing land cover data and species’ occurrences with the MaxEnt modelling software. As a senior field technician for HRM, Aidan has experience in herpetological field surveys, geospatial information systems (GIS), and animal husbandry. Aidan seeks to further his career through continued involvement with HRM as well as through a GIS focused graduate program in the future.
Melissa Sano
Melissa has been a part of HRM’s team since 2018. She assists with general operations, animals care, and field surveys. Sheis formely a zookeeper at Potter Park Zoo, and currently a Supervisor at Emergent Biosolutions. She has a Bachlors in Zoology from Michigan State University and a Masters in Conservation Biology from Prescott University.
Zach Johnson
Originally from Novi, MI, Zach developed a fondness for herps early on. In his youth he could be found chasing toads and garter snakes through his front yard. He’s thrilled to now be pursuing that passion professionally! In 2021, Zach received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Genetics and Genomics with a minor in Gender and Women’s studies. He is particularly interested in the intersection of these fields and hopes to study reproductive biology as it relates to wildlife conservation. Previously, Zach worked with herpetofauna at the Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling, WV, where he cared for their head-start Eastern Hellbenders.
Sam Lisak
Sam is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he completed his Master of Science. His research focused on assessing the impact of a railway on the mammalian community of the Terai Arc Landscape in western Nepal. He graduated from Kenyon College with Biology and Environmental Studies majors. Sam has previous experiences with radio telemetry, camera trapping, as well as herpetological and mammalian field surveys. Sam hopes to further his goals of becoming a Wildlife Biologist through his work at HRM.
Jenny Kovach
Jenny comes to HRM from a small town in Western Pennsylvania where she grew up hiking, backpacking, and taking yearly camping trips and road trips across the USA visiting as many National Parks as possible. Her passion for herpetology began in the summer of 2017 where she was first introduced to field research with herpetofauna, and after that summer she was hooked on studying wildlife (particularly snakes) and decided to make this her career. Jenny received her undergraduate degree from Chatham University in Biology and a graduate degree from Grand Valley State University. She successfully defended a thesis studying Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake immune response to Snake Fungal Disease and graduated with a Master’s of Science in Biology.
