Our Team

Michael Whitaker has been serving the community since November of 2006. However, during his impeccable career, Mr. Whitaker has  held positions as Assistant Director of the National Trail Parks and Recreation District, Clark County, Ohio; Recreation Director in Evendale, Ohio; and Director of Parks, Culture and Recreation in Unalaska, Alaska (commonly known as “Dutch Harbor, Alaska”).   In all of his leadership roles, he has been committed to providing quality parks, facilities and recreation programs to the community. Before moving to Montana in 2006, Mr. Whitaker completed his A.S Degree in Civil Construction Engineering at Clark State Community College (1980), B.S. Degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Wright State University (1989) and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Wright State University (2006). He is currently certified as a Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP), Aquatic Facility Operator (AFO) and AFO Instructor. Mr. Whitaker has completed course work in the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Director’s School Graduate Institute (2013), NRPA’s Aquatic Management School (2011 & 2012), NRPA’s Director’s School (2009 & 2010) and Pacific Northwest Resource Management School (2000 & 2001). In addition, Mr. Whitaker has been involved in the following professional organizations: NRPA’s AFO Exam Review Committee, speaker at state conferences and served on the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association’s Board of Directors. He also gives back to the park and recreation field as an instructor at the collegiate level with MSU-B Outdoor Adventure Leadership Program and instructing the NRPA’s AFO course. Mr. Whitaker’s interests outside of the classroom and field include hiking and exploring the Beartooth Mountains with his wife Angie, sons Jake and Rick, as well as his friends. Mystic Lake has been the greatest adventure hike while in Montana for Mr. Whitaker. He can also share stories about halibut fishing in Dutch Harbor Alaska, skiing at Red Lodge and Snowmobiling in West Yellowstone with his sons. As the leader of our team, Mr. Whitaker ensures we strive every day to provide the City of Billings with quality parks, facilities and recreation programs.

Mike was named the City of Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Park Superintendent in September of 2017 after previously serving as the department’s Parks Supervisor for the previous four years. He has been serving the Billings community since February 2013. Within his job, Mike focuses on providing a safe and inviting place for people to recreate. He’s been residing in Montana the last ten years, spending time with his family and dogs. Mike can also be found wood working, camping, upland bird hunting or gardening. Mike attended Laramie Senior High School in 1982, graduated in 1989 from Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Horticulture. He is currently certified as a Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI). Mike strives to provide the best service to the people and visitors of Billings. He wants the community to enjoy the time they spend in their city parks. He strives to motivate his employees to be their best and to produce parks that they are proud of.

Kory, the Recreation Superintendent as of November 2013, originally started with Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department as a Recreation Supervisor in May of 1992. A Billings West High School graduate in 1987, Kory went on to earn his Bachelor of Science Degree in Recreation from the University of North Dakota in 1991. Having moved to Billings at the age of 3 from Jamestown North Dakota, he provides a grass roots view for the rest of the team in regards to the Billings community. Kory is currently a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP) and a Certified Aquatic Facility Operator (AFO).  He served on the Executive Board of the Montana Trails, Recreation and Park Association (MTRPA) from 2005-2016 where he was the President from 2011-2013. Kory takes his sports very seriously, as he keeps current on a variety of different events. As has coached for both his son Kyhler (baseball, football and basketball) and daughter Kailey (basketball), Kory supports his children’s athletic pursuits from bleachers to sidelines. In addition, he enjoys the various hunting excursions he gets to take with his son, Kyhler. When he’s not attending any of his children’s athletic events, Kory can be found attempting to perfect his golf swing. From 1997-2017, he had also been on the sidelines as an MOA High School Football Official. In regards to his work, Kory enjoys the working relationships he has with his peers in the community. Under his leadership, the Recreation Division continues on their pursuit to provide innovative and quality recreational opportunities for people of all ages. Our team member, Kory, comes to work every day with the love of working in the parks and recreation field. He appreciates the opportunity to work in a department with true professionals that strive to provide the Billings community with quality recreation programs, parks and facilities.

Jennifer joined the City of Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department full time in 2019.  Some of you may know her from Fit by Design, Zumba Gold or Discovering Nutrition.  She grew up in Billings, MT and graduated from Billings Senior High in 1998.  She has close to two decades in healthcare most of which she spent serving the Billings area senior population. She started her career as a Certified Nurses Aid and Unit Secretary at Billings Clinic.  After several years of service she decided she wanted to work more with preventing individuals from having to come into the hospital in the first place. She has a wide range of medical and health education background making it a perfect fit to create fun and effective senior programs. Jennifer holds a Master’s degree in Public Health Nutrition & Health Promotion and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition Science from Liberty University and Kaplan University respectively. She holds certifications in Gerontology, Healthy Aging and is finishing her group fitness and personal trainer certifications in the coming 2020.   Apart from her accomplishments as a fitness instructor and health education specialist, she is also is a Certified Lactation Counselor, Pound Fitness & Licensed Zumba Instructor Specialties, to mention a few. This simply means she has been trained to provide safe, fun and cost-effective programs for all ages.  Fun Fact: In 2018 she helped create and performed in a “flash mob” for RiverStone Health’s 10-year employee celebration.  Her passion is dance, healthy relationships with food, fun fitness and spending time with her family. She loves being outdoors with her husband and daughter and is a lifetime learner. She loves to laugh; which may be heard across the Senior Center most every day. They say laughing is the best medicine and it sure is for Jennifer.  She truly believes in making the healthy choice the fun and easy choice.

Mark has been in his current position since March of 2005. With this position, Mark has had the opportunity to stay close to what he enjoys in parks and recreation by means of planning and developing parks, open spaces and trails for our community to exercise, recreate and enjoy the Montana landscape. Mark himself has been enjoying Montana’s beauty the last 9 years as a resident. After graduating from Pleasant Grove High School, he went on to receive degrees from Utah State University in Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. He is a registered Landscape Architect holding licenses in Montana, Missouri and Kansas. He is also a Certified Playground Safety Inspector since 2006. Mark’s current professional memberships include: American Society of Landscape Architects since 1997, National Recreation and Parks Association since 2005, and Montana Trails, Recreation and Parks Association since 2007. In his free time, Mark enjoys gardening, hiking, woodworking and biking. As a valuable team member Mark strives to make decisions every day that will add to the quality of life and livability of Billings. He believes that parks, trails and public spaces are for the community to enjoy, socialize and recreate in, in order to renew and invigorate our mind, body and soul.

Steve McConnell has been on board since January of 2017. Immediately prior to Steve’s move to Billings, Steve worked as a Regional Extensions Specialist in Forestry for Washington State University. Housed in Spokane, he covered most of north- and southeast Washington and, as most of the population of eastern Washington (84%) lives in cities, it was in that position that Steve began his urban forestry career in earnest. Steve’s formal education includes a B.S. in Forest Resources Management from the University of Washington, an M.S. in Forest Ecology from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology and Management from the University of Idaho. Steve is a long-time member of the Society of American Foresters an organization in which he has held numerous leadership positions and was a persistent advocate for bringing urban forestry into the fold, now an official position of the SAF. Steve is also a past member of the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals and a new member of the International Society of Arboriculture. Steve has 5 children, 2 of them now off in college, and collectively they have been his passion and recipient of whatever time was not allocated to work and the business of living for the past 20 years. With them he has ridden bikes, chauffeured aspiring gymnasts, dancers, artists and soccer/football/basketball players to practices, games and performances and watched everything from Dragon Tales, Disney Channel to Breaking Bad with them as their interests changed over the years. He has also had memorable fishing trips which sometimes led to great success at catching fish but more often than not were highlighted by trying to re-capture worms let loose by younger siblings and watching favorite lures disappear to ill-advised casts into trees. Before kids, Steve loved reading, fishing, bird watching and biking and one day soon will do all of those things once again. For now, outside of his children, nothing brings Steve more joy than planting trees into an area that lacks them, working with his crew to maintain the trees Billings already has and helping city residents better appreciate their urban forest by communicating to them the multiple benefits trees provide and the many ways they improve our quality of life.

Dan started with the City of Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department in March 2020. Dan grew up in Corvallis MT, graduating in 2005. After high school, he started a 14 year run as a baseball coach, beginning with the Bozeman Bucks American Legion program in 2006. While coaching the summers in Bozeman for 4 years, he spent the school year attending New Mexico State University. At NMSU, he was a student baseball coach and Director of Operations for the Aggies, graduating with a degree in Individualized Studies. Dan moved back to the Treasure State in 2010 to attend graduate school at Montana State University Billings while serving as a graduate assistant for Yellowjacket baseball and finished his Master’s Degree in Exercise Science and Sport Leadership. During his time in Billings, he coached the Billings Scarlets/Cardinals for 3 years. Upon graduation, he served 3 years as an Assistant Coach and Sports Information Director at Miles Community College in Miles City, MT and spent two seasons coaching legion baseball in Rapid City, SD and Miles City, respectively. In 2016 he moved to the Bay Area and worked for San Francisco State University as a coach and within their athletic department. Furthermore, he worked for the City of San Mateo Parks and Recreation where he helped run the largest adult softball league in Northern California. He spent two years in Reno, NV as a baseball instructor and recreation program specialist for the City of Reno before returning to Billings in the summer of 2019. Prior to joining Parks and Rec, he was the Assistant Recreation Director at MSUB and continued to coach and mentor. Dan enjoys coaching, fly fishing, hunting, traveling, the great outdoors, watching the Atlanta Braves and spending time with his wife, family, and friends. He is excited to help offer recreational opportunities and quality programs to Billings and happy to be back home.

Chris began with the City of Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department in May of 2019. Chris is born and raised in Billings and lives here with his wife and three children. Chris graduated from Billings West High School in 2002 and Montana State University Billings in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Finance. He played baseball for the Billings Scarlets American Legion Baseball Team in high school and continued on to play for the Montana State University Billings Baseball Program in college. His love of baseball then led to coaching. After graduating college, Chris coached the Billings Cardinals and Scarlets for 7 years, and the MSUB Yellowjackets for 4 years as the Assistant Coach. Chris then began his career in Recreation with MSUB in the Recreational Activities Department where he worked for 5 years. Chris enjoys golfing, running, hiking and many other outdoor activities. While indoors he likes woodworking, cooking, and playing drums. Most of his time is spent with his wife and three young children. They all enjoy taking trips to local parks, ice skating, bike riding, and being with friends and family.

Officer Nate Schara is a Montana native who has been a Billings resident for the majority of his life. Before pursuing a career in law enforcement, Nate attended Montana State University and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature.  Nate was hired by the Billings Police Department in December 2015. While being employed as a patrol Officer with the Billings Police Department, Nate became a certified as a bike Officer. Currently Nate is a CIT instructor for the state of Montana and is also a board member on the South Side Task Force. Nate enjoys spending time with his wife and their two dogs in Billing’s many parks and bikeways. Nate is a strong advocate for community policing and public relations.

Melonie takes care of the City of Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands department financially with her impressive skills as our Administrative Secretary/Administrative Assistant II. She has held her position since July of 2006 and finds the diverse staff to be quite the team. She’s lived in Montana for forty-two years where she’s graduated New Life High School, became trained in Child Development, beginning Accounting, Certified Professional Rescuer, and computer programs such as Microsoft Office. Melonie’s interests include gardening, baking, church involvement, family gatherings, and spending time caring for her precious granddaughter. Melonie comes to work each day with the community in consideration as she ensures her financial duties are completed in a timely manner and our department utilizes our funds wisely.