INHF Welcomes Three New Faces

Amanda Mackey, who we introduced as INHF’s Central Iowa Field Assistant earlier this year, is now in a permanent role as the Land Conservation Assistant. Amanda will be maintaining our land project database, preparing legal documents, monitoring conservation easements, creating maps, and other tasks that support our land protection team. Learn more about her background here.

Morgan Georgeff was hired as INHF’s Salesforce and Data Systems Manager. Born and raised along the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa, Morgan spent her childhood hiking, canoeing, and exploring the parks of the Tri-State area. Her passion for the outdoors led to a degree in Environmental Science and spending college summers guiding sea kayak trips on Lake Michigan.

Morgan is looking forward to managing INHF’s data with the same curiosity and attention to detail she brought to exploring the natural world. She enjoys solving complex problems, streamlining systems, and making data work smarter — all while keeping things laid-back, collaborative, and (hopefully) a little fun. She is honored to be a working part of INHF.

“Working for INHF honestly feels like a dream unfolding,” says Morgan. “I’ve always loved being out in Iowa’s wild places, so getting to support our landscapes and wildlife while using my data skills in a role like this — it feels like the perfect fit. I'm so thrilled to be joining the crew!”

Off the clock, you can find Morgan playing tennis, exploring new local trails with her husband and their cat, Bean, and rummaging through thrift stores.

Galen Iverson, who previously served as an INHF land stewardship intern on the Blufflands crew in 2023, has returned as our 2025 Living Lands Fellow. Galen grew up in Decorah, a community with boundless opportunities to fall in love with hunting and fishing — passions that eventually spurred him to pursue a career in conservation. A degree in environmental science, earned from his time at Luther College and the University of Iowa, and experiences at the Raptor Resource Project, Bur Oak Land Trust and INHF solidified that Galen is right where he wants to be.

“I believe nature is a bridge that connects all people, no matter who you are,” Galen says. “Nature and natural resources have given me the best experiences of my life. I want to do my part to preserve those natural resources so that other people can have their own profound experiences.”

As the Living Lands Fellow, Galen is excited to “work with the land, not on the land.” Galen will work 20 hours per week with INHF and 20 with Fayette County Conservation (FCC) to build a range of experiences to support him in his career.

“I’m happy to be back working in a place I love: the Driftless area. I hope to give back to the land over these next few months, further my knowledge in stewardship techniques and plant identification, and forge new connections with the people at INHF and Fayette County Conservation.”

The Living Lands Fellowship was established at INHF by Maynard residents Kathy Steege and her late husband, Jon, to create an opportunity for recent college graduates to engage in stewardship work while searching for a permanent position in the conservation or natural resource management field. This fellowship was made possible through a joint partnership between INHF, the FCC Board, Fayette County Pheasants Forever, the Steeges and other anonymous private donors.