Val Reisen | she/her
val.reisen@macd.org

Val was born in Pennsylvania, where she learned to love nature while growing up on her grandparents’ dairy farm. She graduated as salutatorian from Connellsville HS and went on to attend the University of Notre Dame, where she earned her B.S. in biological sciences. Val spent her summers during college working with animals in different jobs across the country.

She worked in a veterinarian’s office, as a wildlife educator in New York, and in the country’s largest reptile store in East Bay, CA. Val went on to study biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University, where she earned her master’s degree. During graduate school, Val taught a lab on cell and molecular biology and worked in a research lab studying Smith-Magenis Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that causes developmental delay and physical abnormalities.

Val worked as the Head Technician for Transfer Biology at Lansing Community College, coordinating the preparation of lab supplies for LCC’s biology courses, and as a research technician at Michigan State, studying the physical and molecular characteristics of Arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family.

​ Val moved to Charlotte in 2010 and became involved in the community through volunteering in the schools, as a Cub Scout den leader, and as a member of GFWC-Charlotte. Val currently serves as the treasurer of Troop 45, the webmaster of the Lakewood Area Choral Society, a member of the Charlotte Area Recreation Cooperative, and the secretary and choral director of GFWC-Charlotte. Val is passionate about conservation, sustainability, and permaculture and hopes to fulfill her dream of planting a food forest in the community. She lives in Charlotte with her husband, Corigan, and her sons, Baron and Oliver.