Stephen McCracken is the Director of Watershed Protection for The Conservation Foundation. Stephen works primarily on our DuPage River and DuPage County watershed and water quality projects. This includes administering the DuPage River Coalition, the TMDL workgroup (a technical group assessing the health of the DuPage River and Salt Creek), dam modification efforts, thorium removal public education and the revision of the DuPage River Watershed Plan. Stephen also works with the Salt Creek Watershed Network and other watershed groups.

That’s a lot, even for a person as talented as Stephen. He has a master’s degree in Applied Environmental Economics, a second master’s degree in Natural Resource Management (specializing in water resources), and a bachelor’s degree in Geoscience. He has worked for a land trust in Massachusetts, a consulting firm doing environmental and sustainability work in West Africa and other countries, and on his family farm in Ireland.

Stephen and his wife Jennifer live in Willow Springs with their son Henry and daughter Maeve.