Brooke DeVault

About Brooke

Brooke DeVault grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, swimming in Lake Michigan and visiting nature centers with her grandmother. These childhood experiences resulted in a love for the natural world and a desire to steward our environment.

DeVault graduated from the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management and Writing. While attending the University of Michigan, DeVault had two summer internships focusing on education and ecological restoration in the Golden National Recreation Area (San Francisco Bay Area) with the National Park Service. These internships led to a riparian restoration position after graduation with the same recreation area.

DeVault spent the following 18 years in northern California. She worked as a naturalist for Woodleaf Outdoor School; a researcher for the Salmon and Steelhead Research Monitoring Project (California Department of Fish and Wildlife); and a botanist for the Tahoe National Forest.

DeVault’s fish passage work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife became the basis for her master’s project. She graduated from Humboldt State University with a Master of Science in Fisheries Biology. Upon finishing her master’s degree, she worked as a fish and aquatic species biologist for the Enterprise Unit of the USDA Forest Service for ten years. In this position, she worked on environmental analysis for land management projects all over the western and midwestern United States. Additionally, DeVault led efforts to assess the status of fish passage across two National Forests. While working for the USDA Forest Service, DeVault and her husband established a small farm, which they ran for two years, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

DeVault and her family returned to Michigan in 2016, settling in Traverse City. She began working for Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2019. Currently, DeVault is the Sustainability Ecologist within the Sustainability Department. She leads a variety of projects including pollinator garden installation, lakeshore restoration, aquaponics, rain garden installation, and habitat surveys. She also co-teaches the Agriculture Science and Regenerative Biology Documentary Studies courses at Interlochen Arts Academy and is part of the Green Team effort for campus wide sustainability planning.

DeVault loves to spend as much time outside as she can, mountain biking, skiing, and gardening with her family.