Executive Director
Ken Leinbach, an internationally recognized author, science educator, and leader in community-based education is best known for his work creating the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. The Center’s formula of using environmental education as a tool for inspiring urban revitalization has captured the attention of city leaders across the globe.
Ken is the author of Urban Ecology.
Ken and the Urban Ecology Center have been featured in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Orion Magazine, Milwaukee Public Television, and in Richard Louv’s best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods
With his contagious energy, Ken speaks on a variety of topics including green living, urban environmental education, finding abundance, leadership, the practice of play, and the meaning of life based on the letter P – the focus of his in-process second book.
Ken, a certified high school teacher, holds a biology degree from Antioch College, a master’s degree from Prescott College, and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. His awards have followed his work,including the Thomas Jefferson Medal for Natural Science (Virginia), Nature Educator of the Year from the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (New York), and the Martin Luther King Award (Milwaukee),
Ken is a member of the Governor-appointed Wisconsin’s Coastal Management Council and a founding member of the international Academy for Systems Change. He lives in the community in which he works as a member of the intentional community he created with his son, called the Hawk’s Nest.
Because he chooses not to own a car, Ken can be seen commuting to work by bike, unicycle, or on occasion, kayak.
Email us: institute@urbanecologycenter.org
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