A love of the environment is in Desa Van Laarhoven’s genetic makeup.

A Lakeville native, she grew up on her parent’s 18-acre farm watching tadpoles and fireflies.

“I was fascinated by it all,” she said. “That’s definitely in my DNA.”

And soon she’ll be returning to her agricultural roots.

Earlier this month, Van Laarhoven announced that she would step down as the Marion Institute’s executive director to work full time at the Round the Bend Farm where she has lived for the past five years. The farm, owned by the institute, shares the its mission on sustainability and social improvement.

Founded in 1993, the Marion Institute develops programs that promote positive change in health, sustainability, the environment and other areas. Headquartered on Spring Street, the organization has a global reach with programs as far away as Cambodia and India.

Van Laarhoven has helped grow the Connecting for Change Conference into the Marion Institute’s signature event over the past nine and a half years, eight of which she spent as executive director. She steps down Jan. 1.

“It was a very hard decision to make,” Van Laarhoven said about resigning. “But I’m leaving at a time when great things are happening, and the institute is ready for another leader to take it to the next level.”

Laarhoven said her decision brings her interest in environmental issues full circle.

At Stonehill College she studied biology and environmental science. Before she joined the institute, Van Laarhoven worked as an environmental scientist. She traveled to landfills, power plants and other industrial sites to monitor pollution, but felt she wasn’t making a difference.

That’s when she was invited to volunteer at Connecting for Change.

“I was so charged up about this idea happening in the community and then I just dove in,” Van Laarhoven said. “It was perfect timing for me because at that point I was sort of disillusioned by the corporate environmental world.”

She volunteered at the first conference held in October 2005. Soon after, she was hired as the director of events and membership.

During her tenure, programs such as the Taktse International School in India’s Himalayan Mountains and the Cambodian Living Arts project have thrived. This year, the living arts project successfully became an independent nonprofit after five years of collaboration with the institute.

“One of the best things we do is become obsolete,” Van Laarhoven said. “We pull ourselves away so the nonprofit can serve the people and do the work without us.”

The institute is applying that philosphy to Round the Bend Farm.

The farm, purchased in 2013 by the Marion Institute, will be sold Jan. 1, 2015 to the Bromley Charity Trust. Located on Allen’s Neck Road in South Dartmouth, the 40-acre working farm is an education center that teaches visitors about sustainable agriculture.

“What we’re hoping to do is to be a place where people can come and learn about sustainability hands-on,” Van Laarhoven said. “We want to teach everything from using locally sourced building materials, to beekeeping and raising livestock in a way that’s conducive to the natural system.”

She said the program was partly inspired by Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. That farm teaches sustainable education and Van Laarhoven spends a few weeks there every year. Hopefully, Round the Bend will serve a similar role on the South Coast.

“We want it to be kind of like the [Connecting for Change] Conference and bring in speakers to present different types of topics from around the world,” she said.

It’s not known what her role will be yet at Round the Bend. Van Laarhoven said the Marion Institute board of directors has hired a firm to search for her replacement.

She said she cherished her time at the institute.

“It’s been a pleasure being in Marion,” she said. “This is such a beautiful community, and I felt supported here for many years by so many people.”