Hannah Mico

Originally from Michigan, Hannah Mico (she/her) still lives and works there, on Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi lands.

Hannah joined the team at River Network in 2020. As the Resilient Communities Manager, she assists organizations across the Great Lakes and beyond with building capacity in themselves and their communities. Her experience in equitable program design, education, and training informs how she guides organizations through accessible programming and community-centered planning. Hannah studied Natural Resource Management and Photography at Grand Valley State University, and after completing her degree in 2016 she started work immediately in the environmental sector, serving in various roles related to environmental education and community outreach for local nonprofit organizations in West Michigan. Outside of work, Hannah is an avid gardener, aspiring scuba diver, and proficient bagel-maker. She is a co-founder and co-owner of Midwest Movement Collective, an intentionally inclusive dance and movement space for adults. She also serves on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Urban Forestry Committee for the City of Grand Rapids.

What called you to work in water?

A rainy September trip to Beaver Island in Northern Lake Michigan; my rule is that if you go to the Big Lake, you have to get in the Big Lake (at least a little bit).

Growing up in the Great Lakes, water was always an integral part of my identity. I was less than a year old my first time out on a boat in Lake St. Clair, and grew up spending every season on the water: summers on Seaway, Strawberry, and Harsen’s Islands; winters pretending to ice skate outside my dad’s ice-fishing shanty; falls and springs with toes in the water because it was too cold to jump all the way in and swim. “Working” in water, whether it’s paid work or not, is an obligatory part of my existence. In words I am graciously borrowing, “water is a relative,” and raised me with intention. Being called to work in water is an iteration of being in relationship with water over the course of my life.

What was your earliest memory around water?

Trekking Wilderness State Park in the winter, looking out on the Straits of Mackinac.

When I was a baby I called my bottle, “bubba.” On a boat ride in Lake St. Clair, we hit a wave and bubba went flying out of my hands and into the Lake. I consequently started yelling, “bye bye bubba!” and waving to my bubba off the back of the boat. It became a joke in my family for years, and to this day my parents will remind me of my bubba if we’re out on the boat together. Ironic as it is, my first memory of water is accidentally littering plastic into a fresh water body.

From a paddle in November 2024, where rainy and sunny skies produced a rainbow over the Au Sable River in Michigan’s northern lower peninsula.

If you didn’t work in water or conservation, what would you be doing?

I’m very interested in becoming a scientific diver, but that’s still water work, isn’t it? If I’m ever not working in water, I sincerely hope I am simply resting, baking bread, gardening, and pursuing creative interests like photography or poetry.

How do you recharge outside of work?

I enjoy kayaking, taking photos in my kayak, napping in my kayak on the water, and spotting birds and wildlife from my kayak.