The People of NICHES Land Trust

Shannon Stanis

Executive Director

Shannon Stanis serves as the Executive Director for NICHES Land Trust. Shannon was hired in December 2021 after being closely involved with the organization since 2016 as a volunteer, member, and community partner. Shannon has an extensive background in ecological restoration and community organizing. They have a deep love for west central Indiana that is firmly rooted in the Wabash River. Before this role at NICHES, Shannon was the watershed coordinator for the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation in Lafayette. In that role, they worked with local governments, farmers, and other community members to improve water quality in the Wabash. Shannon has a Master's degree in Forestry from Purdue University and a Bachelor’s in Integrative Biology and Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. As Executive Director of NICHES, Shannon leads the organization through the implementation of our 2030 strategic plan, working locally in our service area and serving on the board of the Indiana Land Trust Alliance to advance conservation statewide.

Sam Cody

Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

Growing up in southeastern Indiana, Sam Cody developed a deep passion for nature by exploring local woods and streams and spending time with parents whose careers centered on environmental education and biology. Those early experiences inspired a lifelong appreciation for conservation and connecting others with the natural world. 

Sam earned degrees in Environmental Science and Wildlife from Purdue University, along with minors in Communication and Anthropology. While in college, he volunteered and interned with NICHES Land Trust, gaining firsthand experience with the organization's mission and community-based conservation efforts before joining the staff as Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator in 2019. Outside of NICHES, Sam enjoys community organizing and creating opportunities for people to connect through celebrations of music, art, food, and nature. 

In his role at NICHES, Sam enjoys building relationships with volunteers and creating meaningful opportunities for people of all ages to connect with nature. It is his belief that the sustained protection of our local ecosystems hinges on the public, especially children, being aware, involved, and passionate about the challenges facing the natural world.

Becki Reibman

Administrative Assistant

Becki has always enjoyed being outside and has fond memories of hiking with her family as a child in New Jersey. She graduated with a BA in History from Duke University and began her career in academic publishing. Since then, she has survived a pandemic, moved to Indiana, and found refuge during tough times in her connection with Nature. As NICHES administrator, Becki keeps things running behind the scenes and supports the staff and Board in promoting NICHES’ mission. When not at work or outside, Becki teaches yoga and loves to read.

Bob Easter

Stewardship Director

Born and raised in Tippecanoe County, Bob has developed a deep sense of place in West-Central Indiana, the area that his family has called home for several generations. Bob has a detailed understanding of our region’s natural and human history through extensive research and his experience stewarding natural areas since 2012.

Bob attended Purdue University in an undecided major for a year after graduating high school in 2001 and decided to enter the workforce with his educational path still unclear. Bob worked in retail and managed a local restaurant before returning to Purdue after eight years to pursue a passion for plant science. Bob helped start the Purdue Student Farm around 2011 and spent the summer of 2012 as an intern with Ecologic Indiana, stewarding natural areas across southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. He graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Plant Studies in December of 2012.

Bob joined the NICHES team as a volunteer in 2012 and has served the organization as a Land Steward, Stewardship Manager, and his current position of Stewardship Director since 2019. The experiences gained and relationships made through his work with NICHES Land Trust have had an immeasurable impact on Bob and his family. Bob’s goal is to serve NICHES for the rest of his career and leave behind a stewardship program that will maintain the highest possible standards for generations to come. 

Justin Harmeson

Stewardship Manager

A fourth-generation Fountain County resident, Justin developed a passion for local ecosystems through hunting, fishing, and exploring his family’s woods. 

Justin graduated from Wabash College in 2018 with a degree in biology. While obtaining his degree, Justin spent a summer interning for NICHES where he was introduced to hands-on management and the importance of active stewardship. Upon graduating, Justin joined the NICHES stewardship team full-time. 

Justin loves seeing the community grow around NICHES’ mission, the impact that a collective group can have towards conservation in our service range, and the resilience of our local ecosystems. Justin is committed to producing quality stewardship work for NICHES properties well into the future. 

Cassidy Steininger

Land Steward

Cassidy Steininger grew up in central Indiana and has fond memories of catching critters in her backyard pond and going camping with her family at McCormick’s Creek State Park as a child. These experiences sparked a curiosity for nature and an interest in learning about the world around her. 

Cass went on to study at Ball State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources in 2022. During her time at Ball State, she had many field-based internships and classes, and this cultivated a love for maintaining and preserving the environment for wildlife and humans alike. After graduation, she served as a Watershed Coordinator at the Washington County Soil and Water District in Southeastern Indiana, where she worked to improve the water quality of the South Fork-Blue River watershed and enjoyed creating meaningful relationships with the local farmers. In 2025, Cass moved to Lafayette to work as a seasonal worker for NICHES. During her time as a seasonal worker, she enjoyed learning about the importance of protecting native plants and animals. Now a full-time Land Steward, Cass is excited to continue to protect and restore the land of West-Central Indiana.

In her free time, Cass enjoys hiking, card-making, and painting rocks she finds while creek stomping.

Ann Fields Monical

Development Director

Ann Fields Monical grew up on a farm in northern Tippecanoe County and has fond memories of playing “Little House on the Prairie” with her two younger sisters. She grew up appreciating the diversity of ecosystems found on her family’s farm, including river bottoms along Moot’s Creek and wide open pastures.

As a budding environmentalist, Ann first planted trees and pulled garlic mustard as part of Battle Ground Middle School’s Earth Club. She graduated from William Henry Harrison High School in 2006 and Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts in 2010. Following her undergraduate studies, she completed a master’s degree at the Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs, where she focused on cultural policy and nonprofit management.

Ann joined the NICHES staff after a decade of working in the arts and cultural sector in Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Lafayette. City-dwelling has inspired an interest in urban ecology and sustainable development. In addition to being a lifelong learner, Ann enjoys riding her bike, cooking, gardening, and making art.

Zach Neff

Stewardship Manager

Zach grew up hiking, fishing, and camping in central Indiana, which sparked an early interest in understanding the natural world. He taught himself how to identify most of Indiana’s native trees, which laid the foundation for the botanical skills he uses today, and established an enduring curiosity for ecology and the relationships that shape ecosystems. These experiences fostered a deep connection with natural areas, and a recognition that they need to be more interconnected and easier for people to access and enjoy.

While studying natural resources and environmental science at Purdue University, Zach began volunteering with NICHES Land Trust to develop hands-on ecological management experience on spectacular NICHES preserves. Inspired by the dedication of NICHES staff and volunteers to protecting natural areas close to home, he worked as a seasonal land steward throughout college before joining the staff full time after graduating in 2023.

As NICHES' Stewardship Manager, Zach enjoys applying his knowledge and passion for west-central Indiana’s flora and fauna to guide land management decisions that enhance the quality and diversity of NICHES preserves. He is committed to using persistent, adaptive, well-timed, and resource-informed stewardship practices, along with in situ monitoring, to support the expression and long-term persistence of high-quality species in unique, irreplaceable habitats for future generations.