William Farr
Bill is an attorney practicing in Grand Rapids. He is a former President of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, a Fellow of the American Bar Association Foundation, a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, and a Master of the American Inns of Court. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for the past several years, and received the Michael S. Barnes Award in 2007 for Pro Bono Service. Politically, he has served as Chair of the Kent County Republican Party and the 3rd District Republican Party; as a delegate to a Republican National Convention, at which he was one of two persons from Michigan who served on the Platform Committee; and he was the Republican candidate for Attorney General of Michigan in 1970. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Pere Marquette Watershed Council, and has been a member of the Mayor’s Environmental Advisory Council. Also, he has served on several church, community, and business boards over the years, and continues to do so today.
Christopher Kolb
Chris Kolb assumed the presidency of the Michigan Environmental Council on January 1, 2009. An environmental champion in the legislature and a veteran of the environmental management field, Kolb was one of the legislature’s most consistent and vigorous defenders of clean water, clean air and public health during his six years as State Representative from the 53rd District. He was instrumental in important environmental legislation, including joint planning commissions, land bank authorities, lead poisoning prevention for children, regulation of dangerous polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs), establishment of a fund to help clean up leaking underground storage tanks, and numerous land use initiatives.
Christine Manninen
Christine Manninen is the Communications and Web Programming Director at the Great Lakes Commission, which includes managing the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) and leveraging new web technologies to integrate and interpret Great Lakes data. In 2003, she was a Principal Investigator on establishment of the Great Lakes Observing System, one of 11 regional associations of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System. Over the last decade, Christine has been a consultant to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on building a Water Resources Web Portal for the Americas and participated in UNESCO-led trips to Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil and France. As a Smithsonian guest lecturer, Christine presented a suite of educational programs on the cruise ship Clelia II in summer 2010. Christine is past president of the Isle Royale and Keweenaw Parks Association. She is also active in the International Water Resources Association, American Water Resources Association, International Water Web Consortium, International Association for Great Lakes Research, and the Society of Environmental Journalists. Prior to joining the Commission, she worked in corporate communications at Consumers Energy, one of the nation's largest combination utilities. Christine has a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Michigan Technological University and a master's degree in environmental journalism from Michigan State University. She is a 2011 inductee to the Michigan Technological University Presidential Council of Alumnae.
Robert Martel, President
Bob has been a principal with the consulting firm of Dunbar and Martel, L.L.C., based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, since 1992. He specializes in developing large medical office building projects for physician groups.
Bob has more than twenty-five years of business experience, including work with the Consulting Divisions of Arthur Young & Company (now Ernst & Young), and Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche); Bob also served as the chief financial officer of several companies, including a publicly held computer start-up, and was integral in several ventures, which include an interstate trucking company and a tourist-oriented television station in New Orleans. Bob and his business partner own and manage a portfolio of real estate properties in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area.
Bob has served on a number of non-profit boards, including The Ann Arbor Art Center, The NEW Center, Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan, The Washtenaw Land Trust, and The Washtenaw Affordable Housing Corp.
Bob received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1980, with a concentration in corporate finance, and his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University at Albany (SUNY) in 1978, with a concentration in marketing and economics.
Rob Sisson, Treasurer & Secretary
Rob is president of Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a national grassroots organization dedicated to restoring the GOP’s great conservation legacy to the party.
Prior to joining REP, Sisson spent 22 years in the financial services industry in west Michigan, primarily as a commercial banker. In the year 2000, the United States Small Business Administration named him Michigan’s Small Business Advocate of the Year. He served two terms as mayor of the City of Sturgis. Prior to leaving office in 2007, Sisson had turned the city into a national model for conservation practices. Rob is a 1982 graduate of Albion College with a degree in Economics and Management. He has published two books, Financing the Small Business and The Legend of Chief White Pigeon and The Old Sauk Trail. He is married to Theresa, a pharmaceutical research professional. They have twin eleven-year-old sons, Nathaniel and Benjamin.
