Dave, a Fairborn native, attended Wright State, earning a bachelor’s and later a master’s in biology. co-founded Beaver Creek Wetlands Association in 1988. For 30 years, he dedicated his career to conservation with Five Rivers MetroParks, then returned to volunteering with BCWA, serving as board president from 2018 to 2022. This summer, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of conservation work, both as a professional and a volunteer. Dave says,
“Nature fills me up, gives me joy, and a passion to live life to the fullest. The Beaver Creek Wetlands are a splendid example of the amazing wetlands that were once abundant in our region, but nearly all were destroyed long ago. Here we have a chance to protect, restore, care for, and teach people about a very large (for our area) system of wetlands, a ribbon of beauty full of life’s diversity.”
Dave likes to fish, bird, walk, spend time with his family, spend time quietly enjoying the natural world, and play guitar. He has been married to Catherine Queener since 1981, and they have a son, Jacob. They currently reside in Washington Township.