ANCA CONNECTS: New Member Orientation: December 2024 by Daniel Auer

Breakout Room Questions

ANCAmembership — 2024-11-15 15:37:31 UTC

How long have you been in your current position?
Did you always want to work in this field?
What is the best part of your job? Least favorite?
What are you most looking forward to in the year ahead and know you will need help with?
How do you think our industry will be different in the next five years?
What has changed the most in this field since you started?
What skills should someone new in the field develop to be successful in their career?
When you are not at work, what are you doing?

Leslie Albrecht

2024-12-19 16:41:28 UTC

My name is Leslie Albrecht and I am the education coordinator for the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve & Learning Center in Corpus Christi, TX. I plan field trip opportunities for schools, homeschool groups, and adults. I also teach our Growing Up WILD program for ages 3-7, and Homeschool Days for ages 7-13.

Caroline Creel

2024-12-19 17:10:56 UTC

Hi, my name is Caroline Creel. I am the Director of Education for the Fayette Environmental Education Center, a project of Southern Conservation Trust. I lead a small Education team, including a EE Programs Manager, EE & Docent, Volunteer Coordinator & Animal Care Coordinator. My team is in charge of field trips, homeschool programs, other EE programs, scouts, community programs, and environmental art programs. Thanks!

Mark Freedlund

2024-12-19 18:46:20 UTC

My name is Mark Freedlund, and I am the Director of Education at the Boone County Conservation District in Belvidere, IL. We offer school programs at a small nature center. We host a 5-week summer camp and also offer Scouts BSA and Girl Scout programs during the year. We have about 250 volunteers annually giving ~3,500 service hours, including restoration activities at our sites.

Shaunna CM

2024-12-19 19:04:14 UTC

Hello everyone! My name is Shaunna CM and I am the Executive Director here at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana. Our facility is not quite a zoo and not quite a nature center, but a combination of both as well, as a behavioral analysis research facility. Definitely hoping to learn a lot from other adjacent institutions!

Hi, I'm Rachael Taylor and I'm the Maui Programs Manager for the Hawai'i Nature Center. We run school programs and school intercession programs across the island. We are relaunching programs after a 2-year hiatus. Mahalo!

2024-12-19 19:04:59 UTC

Carolyn Waters

2024-12-19 19:05:09 UTC

I am the principal consultant with Ranger Rabbit Consulting in Louisville, Kentucky. I work with organizations regionally to increase capacity for environmental education and community engagement related to parks and public lands.

Kay Carlson

2024-12-19 19:12:24 UTC

Hi everyone, I am a fairly recent retiree from the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes in Cleveland, OH, where I served as President & CEO for 15 years (after serving on their board for 4 years). I am also an ANCA Board member, and chair the Governance Committee and serve on the Development Committee. I am now doing some nonprofit consulting work, mainly focusing on facilitating peer groups and 1:1 coaching, plus a few other projects (succession planning, strategic planning, etc.)

Kelly Carpenter

2024-12-19 20:26:38 UTC

I just became the first COO (Operations Cultivator) for a non-profit in rural Northeast Texas called Cultiv8Community. We have five focus areas including environmental education for kids, respite in nature, native habitat restoration, building connections in rural communities, and housing for people to become first-time home owners. Our org started in 2022 and I started in November 2024.