Maria Lemke
Director of Conservation Science, Illinois
Peoria, IL
Maria Lemke Maria Lemke, Director of Conservation Science, works in Illinois on the Mackinaw River project, photographed on the Franklin family farm near Lexington, Illinois. © Mark Godfrey/TNC
Areas of Expertise
Freshwater Ecology
Publications
Biography
Maria Lemke currently directs the science program for The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. Since 2002, much of her work as a freshwater biologist with TNC has revolved around working with partners to implement and quantify effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices in the Mackinaw River watershed and conducting floodplain wetland research at Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms preserves in central Illinois.
Prior to working for The Nature Conservancy, Maria worked for several years with the Illinois Natural History Survey. She was stationed at the Illinois River Biological Station in Havana, Illinois, and focused on monitoring larval fish and zooplankton production in backwater lakes on the Illinois River.
Maria received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied the response and recovery mechanisms of aquatic insect communities to flooding and drying disturbances. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama, where her research focused on population and production dynamics of wetland microcrustaceans.
Maria's Work
Small Wetlands, Big Benefit: How to Harness Nature to Filter Agriculture Runoff
Maria led a long-term study on an Illinois farm shows that constructed wetlands can reduce excess nutrients in agricultural runoff by nearly 50%.
Peoria Magazine: Women Of The Nature Conservancy
Peoria Magazine spotlights Maria Lemke, Krista Kirkham and Megan Baskerville of The Nature Conservancy in Illinois.
The Mackinaw River Watershed
Maria is part of a team working with partners in the Mackinaw Watershed to help guide the use of conservation-oriented agricultural techniques.