Stream and floodplain restoration expert
What got you interested in ecology (or your related field)?
I used to play in creeks and ponds as a kid, which sparked my interest. My older sister was a laboratory scientist, and that influenced me at a young age. It evolved into fishing, canoeing, and being on the water, which eventually led me to study ecology.
What do you love/inspires you most about your area of expertise?
Every project is different, whether it's constructing a stream or walking one for the first time. There's always something new or surprising, which keeps things fresh. I really like mentoring, coaching and training people who are newer to the industry about what I'm seeing through my experienced eyes.
What's the weirdest or funniest thing you've seen in the field?
We were delineating wetlands on an island full of phragmites, which is a very tall, invasive grass that's way over your head, and we got kind of lost. I climbed up this scraggly tree to find my bearings, and when I found a perch to see where we were, my field partner heard a 'SNAP’. The branch had broken and when he looked up, I was hanging onto the limb above me, with my feet dangling in the air. It wasn't a good safety moment, but it gave us a good laugh.
What's one interesting fact about you we need to know?
I have 30 years of experience as a traditional German Schuhplattler folk dancer.
What would your wish be for our planet's future?
That we figure out how to live on the planet as part of the ecology, like our native American brothers did, and that we see ourselves as part of nature with a responsibility to take care of nature and live together in harmony.
What's one thing we didn't ask you that you want to share?
I've talked to a lot of young people who are very anxious about climate change, and rightly so. But when I was their age in my twenties, in school and early in my career, our rivers caught on fire. We had acid rain. We had pesticides like DDT that wiped out most of the bald eagles and the Ospreys. Most young people have no knowledge of those environmental disasters of my youth, because we fixed them with the Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act. We can do the same with climate change. It takes time, and it takes a lot of work, but keep striving and working towards a positive outcome. In the long run, it will all work out.
