Partnering to conserve the monarch butterfly migration
Meet Our Staff
Wendy Caldwell
Executive Director (she/her)
From helping draft the North American Monarch Conservation Plan to coordinating community science, teaching teachers, and supporting monarch research, Wendy has built an extensive background in monarch conservation over the last nearly 15 years. In growing the partnership to over 100 organizations today, Wendy has led the MJV through many transitions as the partnership diversified, staff grew and the organization transitioned from a University program to become a standalone nonprofit. Through 2018, the University fostered the MJV’s growth and development, enabling it to embark on a new path to where it is today as a thriving nonprofit entity.
Growing up on a farm in west central Minnesota, Wendy understands the value of hard work and perseverance. While pursuing degrees in environmental science and entomology at the University of Minnesota, she worked as a program coordinator for several initiatives at the University’s Monarch Lab. While she has worked directly on monarch conservation in some capacity since 2007, Wendy also has broader conservation and research experience through positions held with The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and the Illinois Natural History Survey. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family doing just about anything - sports, hiking, kayaking, gardening, invasive species removal, bird watching, and more!
