MICHIGAN CITY | Nicole Kamins, a leader in environmental restoration in Chicago's Calumet region, has been named executive director of Save the Dunes.
Kamins, 39, worked 11 years with the city of Chicago's Calumet Initiative, a project that acquired and restored more than 3,000 acres of open space in southeast Chicago.
As part of that work, Kamins secured millions of dollars in grant funding and implemented the area's largest restoration project at Hegewisch Marsh.
She also led planning for the future Ford Calumet Environmental Center, a 38,000-square-foot environmental education center focused on exploring the connections between nature, industry and community through environmental education and research.
Kamins comes to Save the Dunes from the Chicago Department of Environment. In 2007, Kamins received the U.S. Department of Interior Cooperative Conservation Award, the first recipient in an urban area of the United States.
As one of Indiana's oldest environmental groups, Save the Dunes is focused on preserving, protecting and restoring the Indiana Dunes and all natural resources in Northwest Indiana's Lake Michigan Watershed.
The group advocates for clean air, land and water as well as land stewardship and environmental education in the region.
