Ryan Sensenig
Interim Executive Director
Email: rlsensenig@goshen.edu
Phone: 260-799-5869
Office: Learning Center Building at Merry Lea
Ph.D. University of California, Davis - Ecology, 2007
B.S. Eastern Mennonite University - Biology, International Agriculture, 1992
Biology Teaching Certification, Eastern Mennonite University, 1992
Earth Science Teacher Certification, James Madison University, 1998
In addition to serving as part-time interim Executive Director at Merry Lea, Ryan is also a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. Previously, he served as professor of biology at Goshen College for 16 years where he taught a variety of courses including ecology, research seminar, restoration ecology, science teaching methods and marine biology. He served on the Merry Lea board as the President’s appointee from 2020 to 2022.
His research focuses on tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Indiana (including Merry Lea’s Goodrich Prairie) and savanna conservation in Kenya. In both habitats, he and his students study how fire and grazing influence soil carbon processes. With his family, he lives on Little Bluestem Farm in Goshen, Ind., which includes 11 acres of restored tallgrass prairie.