Mark McKnight

Mark received the 2021 Association of Nature Center Administrators “Outstanding New Leader Award.” He brings more than 15 years of outdoor recreation industry expertise to bear as the President of Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center. While serving as Marketing Director for outdoor retailer Rock/Creek for more than a decade, Mark led an expansion online and into regional brick-and-mortar. While there he co-founded RootsRated, a media startup answering the question of where to go outdoors. He and his partner Chris run a greeting card subscription business called Lost Art Stationery.

Mark enjoys sharing success stories from Chattanooga, especially where lean teams punch above their weight by working together in a smarter way. He has been a featured speaker at tech events like Oracle’s OpenWorld and Twitter’s global sales conference in San Francisco as well as outdoor industry events like the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance trade show in Knoxville.

Mark uses photography and storytelling to highlight the natural beauty of this region. He first discovered Chattanooga during college while working in Mentone, Alabama for a summer camp. Leading the nature center and encouraging people to spend more time outside reconnecting with nature feels like the perfect continuation of that work.