Jeff Michael

Jeff Michael is Deputy Secretary for Natural Resources, managing the North Carolina Zoo, Division of State Parks and Recreation, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina Aquariums, and Division of Land and Water Stewardship.

He was previously director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute since 2003. Prior to that, Michael was executive director of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit focused on multiculturalism and collaborative leadership. He previously served as executive director of the Land Trust for Central North Carolina (now Three Rivers Land Trust) and the Yadkin-Pee Dee Lakes Project (now Central Park NC). He has served on the boards of Morrow Mountain State Park Advisory Committee and Preservation North Carolina, among others. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and master’s in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a J.D. from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.