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50th Alumni Council |
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Angela Maciel (Griffith) Detweiler
Charlie Cousar
Christopher Barnes
Deandra Brassard
Donna Lorincz
Jennifer Klugh
John Kerr
Kass Hardy
Out of the office, Kass enjoys wandering through the American Wilderness, capturing nature’s sublimity with oils on canvas, climbing granite cliffs, drinking cowboy coffee in the backcountry, and sleeping under a vast ceiling of stars. Glacier Park hosts several of her fondest memories with the SCA- especially her first season in the west’s best. During that season a mosaic of experiences solidified her passion for the National Park Service, she: hiked hundreds of miles in GRIZ country, traveled across alpine glaciers, bagged numerous peaks, learned the intricate techniques and tools of interpretation, was introduced to the best bakery in the Rocky’s, and generated friendships with some of the most genuine people she has ever met. Keith Mars
Lillian Bloch
Rachel Driver
Robert Bart
Sarah Stocco
Sharlissa Moore
Advisor: Pipa Elias, ’02, ’03, ’05, Blacksburg, VA, SCA Board of Directors
If you have any questions, contact Alumni Director Mary Margaret Sloan.
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As SCA celebrates 50 successful years, we look forward to expanding our conservation reach across the country through coordinated efforts with those who know how to fulfill our mission best - our alumni. SCA has pulled together a group of 14 outstanding alumni who served with SCA in the last six years to advise us on our strategies and help SCA achieve our grand vision. This group, called the 50th Anniversary Alumni Council, will be involved in 50th anniversary alumni engagement, fundraising, recruiting, outreach and continued conservation service by our alumni.
Angela was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. As the daughter of a former U.S. Park Service ranger, she grew up playing in creeks, hiking and camping in national parks. In 2001, she received a B.S. in Environmental Studies & Ecology from Appalachian State University. She was an SCA Intern stationed with the U.S. Geological Survey in the Everglades National Park during the summers of 2000 and 2001. During these internships she analyzed alligator diet and nesting parameters, investigated fish colonization patterns in karst wetlands, and performed amphibian surveys. She also assisted SCA in the creation of an international exchange program, the International Conservation Leadership Initiative, between the Everglades National Park and the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park in Brazil. The exposure to several aspects of human impact on water resources in the Everglades National Park led her to pursue a M.S. in Biology, with a focus in applied aquatic ecology, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has experience working with aquatic ecosystems in Alaska, the Venezuelan Andean Piedmont region, and southeastern Brazil. Currently she is a lecturer in the Department of Biology at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
I am currently a junior in the IB program at Stanton College Prep. in Jacksonville, Florida. I did an SCA high school crew during the summer of my freshman year (2005) in Alaska at Wrangell Mt. St. Elias national park. In Alaska I worked on improving ATV trails and clearing brush from several of the hiking trails. Though this work was not the most satisfying or entertaining, I had a great time getting to know the other members of my crew and crew leaders; there were very few dull moments to be had at our camp. When I got back to Jacksonville I realized the importance of spreading awareness for environmental conservation. So I decided to get involved by starting a "conservation" club at my school, which was loosely based on my SCA experience. There's about 25-30 kids in our club, many of them being friends I recruited from the lacrosse team. We work on clean-up and "non-native plant removal" projects with the city of Jacksonville, as well as the Nature Conservancy. This summer we are "adopting" a local state park, Hannah Park, and the city is giving us various jobs to do there. I thoroughly enjoyed my SCA experience in Alaska, and I am glad that I got the opportunity to bring their message to Jacksonville. (The picture is from prom; I don't really wear tuxes everywhere.)
Christopher spent his formative years in the northern Sacramento Valley of California. An abundance of open space allowed him to roam at will and he became comfortable outside at a young age. He began a formal study of natural history in high school while volunteering as an interpretive intern at Lassen Volcanic National Park. At Lassen his appreciating for nature blossomed and his conservation ethic began to take shape. After high school he got a taste for foreign culture, adventure travel, and global biodiversity while spending three months in South East Asia and Nepal. He returned to attend college and major in biology. In 2000, the summer before his senior year, he was an SCA volunteer at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Hiking and maintaining trails resulted in times of deep reflection. His SCA experience helped solidify his everlasting commitment to the environment. In 2001 he earned his biology degree from Humboldt State University. A world of possibilities led him to Seattle where he works as an environmental scientist for King County. Christopher is passionate about natural history and conservation and strives to live each day to the fullest. He appreciates good food, drink, and walks, especially when combined in wilderness.
I was born and raised in the great state of New Hampshire where I fell in love with the outdoors. I attended Colby College in Maine and received my degree in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Science and a minor in Mathematics. Since graduating I have had three wonderful SCA experiences: inventorying noxious weeds in the rugged wilderness of Salmon, ID, teaching environmental education to inner city students and maintaining trails in New Hampshire, and leading a high school crew in the Smoky Mountains. I love traveling and have explored much of the U.S., including Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Peru. I currently teach Algebra II and tutor at The White Mountain School in northern New Hampshire. I coach skiing, women’s lacrosse, coordinate a trail project for the school, lead community service trips to Peru, and am the Assistant Director of White Mountain’s Summer Program. I think that SCA is one of the most important organizations out there and I hope to make it a part of my life for many years to come!
Jennifer Klugh attended the University of Florida and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology in 2001. Her adventure with SCA began in Anchorage, Alaska in 2002 as a crew leader with the Fire Education Corps, leading a 6-member wildfire education and outreach team. In 2003 she began a year-long position with the Fire Education Corps, guiding the new SCA crew in their outreach efforts. Jennifer is now the Fire Education and Information Specialist with the Anchorage Fire Department (AFD); a position that evolved from her SCA internships. She also acts as the AFD spokesperson and is an Incident Information Officer for wildfires, structure fires and natural disasters. When asked why she wanted to work with SCA, she said, “During college, I was visiting my best friend, an SCA intern in Channel Islands National Park. We were traveling to Anacapa Island, her “office” 14 miles off the coast of California. Our boat was accompanied by a pod of at least 75 dolphins who the captain pointed out were just as curious to see us as we were of them. At that moment, I knew I had to be a part of SCA.” This Floridian has now been calling Alaska “home” for five years. She enjoys downhill and cross country skiing and is a volunteer ski instructor with Challenge Alaska, Adaptive Ski School. In the summer, she enjoys biking, hiking and camping and also volunteers with the Anchorage Park Foundation to help improve local parks and engage the public in active stewardship of city parks, trails and greenbelts.
After retiring as the long-time spokesperson and fundraiser for WGBH/Boston, John was awarded a position as the first SCA Wolf Ambassador in the remote and beautiful Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park under a grant from the Yellowstone Park Foundation, where he taught some 12,000 visitors about wolves and wolf reintroduction — one of the greatest conservation success stories ever. John now lives in Wyoming and is a seasonal bear Ranger in Yellowstone. In his previous life, John was a Selectman in his home community of Lincoln, Massachusetts, a town well-known for its conservation success. He has three adult children who are all active in the out-of-doors. John has worked closely with SCA volunteers in Yellowstone, and believes strongly in the organization and its purpose. He is interested in expanding SCA’s work to a wider group of people of all ages and backgrounds. 
Kass Hardy, originally from Stillwater, NY, graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies and Government from St. Lawrence University in 2005. Currently, she is Park Interpreter in Glacier National Park, Montana. She has worked seasonally through the SCA in Glacier National Park, MT as a Naturalist and Transportation Interpreter; and in Yosemite National Park, CA as a River Conservation Planner. Other work that she has pursued consists of: environmental planning in Washington, DC; volunteering at Saratoga National Historical Park through interpretation; testing ground-level ozone along the Appalachian Trail in Maine; and processing vegetation as an Ecologist for the Hudson River Project.
My name is Keith Mars and I am a SCA-Yellowstone National Park alumnus of 2003. I currently live in Austin, TX, and work for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as an air quality specialist. My academic background is varied with a B.A. in Biology and Political Science and a M.S. in Forestry and Environmental Policy. I have also studied tropical ecology and reforestation in Australia and transatlantic relations in Germany. On the employment side of life, I have worked for a U.S. House Representative, the University of Tennessee, and a small conservation and sustainability non-profit organization. Despite my current day job, my true interests are in sustainable forest management, conservation and land use planning, ecosystem management, ecosystem services, and international and domestic environmental policy, and I intend on going back for my Ph.D. in the coming years. In my free time I enjoy traveling, hiking, playing disc golf, seeing movies, cooking, reading, or taking in with friends the great city of Austin. 
After growing up in New York City and attending college at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Lillian developed a passion for the ocean and its inhabitants. She never imagined she could also love the desert until she spent nine months in the hottest and driest one in the US. Through SCA’s Corps program, she escaped the urban jungle and spent nine months in the Yuha desert of Southern California. It was an inspirational experience after which she returned to the ocean and led a SCA-CORE high school crew in Olympic National Park. Along with six feisty marine-loving high school students and her co-leader she spent a month backpacking pristine coastline, helping the park scientists establish a marine monitoring program. After re-confirming a love of the ocean and a desire to protect marine resources, she returned to Philadelphia and earned a Master of Science degree in biology at Villanova University – studying the ecology and evolution of a unique clam species. Both SCA experiences exposed Lillian to the beautiful landscapes of the West coast and she currently lives in San Francisco, working as a research associate in a lab that investigates aspects of Mad Cow and Creutzfeldt-Jacobs disease. She is grateful for her experiences with SCA. "I would never have believed that there are so many of you out there who care about our environment and I would have never understood the magic that is hot sauce."
At the moment, I am making the most of living the big city life in Chicago as the head manager for LUSH, a small wine shop. Although tasting wine, talking about wine, and being encompassed by all wine all the time may seem the ideal situation, I am itching to dig my bare toes into deep, dark, moist earth again. After frolicking in the woods with SCA, I was enticed to complete a Masters Degree in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. Previously, I received my undergraduate in Anthropology at the Univ. of Arkansas. During the interlude between my academic endeavors, I participated in SCA's Massachusetts Parks Corps 10-month residential program, working as an environmental educator and trail worker in Hawley, MA and then again as a high school Crew Leader in Virginia and Tennessee. I am drawn to nature, as my roots reach back to being born within the Ozark National Forest. I grew up in the midst of mountains and forests of Arkansas, where I gained an affinity for the outdoors. I continue to engage in outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing, and playing ultimate frisbee and soccer. I am thrilled to be a part of this 50th Anniversary Council, pulling those very important strings of connection to people and the land that the SCA creates.
I am currently earning my Masters in Education and hope to be teaching high school social studies in Oregon this fall. Before deciding to pursue a career as a high school teacher, I led 4 SCA crews which greatly impacted my decision to become a teacher. Originally from Upstate New York, I have lived mainly in the western US, with a brief 2 years in Washington, DC where I finished my undergraduate degree in International Affairs at The George Washington University. In addition to teaching and working for social change, my main passion in life is whitewater kayaking. I have used this passion as a tool to travel around the world running rivers in foreign countries. My last trip took me to Peru and Ecuador, and I am currently marketing trips for a rafting company in Arequipa, Peru. We are the only company in the world to raft the Cotahuasi Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in the world. I hope to return to Peru next summer to guide a commercial trip, as well as, further explore Peru and Bolivia. 
My name is Sarah Stocco, and I’m thrilled to be participating in SCA’s 50th Anniversary Alumni Council. I was born and raised in Minnesota, but I currently reside in Oakland, California where I live with my partner, Andrew. During my days, I teach Kindergarten to a fantastic group of twenty kids who love to sing along with me on my guitar. Some of my favorite things include twilight, the smell of jasmine, out of control tail wagging, morning coffee, and looking at maps. Some not so favorite things include eating pretty much anything from the sea, and those teacher vests and sweaters that have apples, schoolhouses, and cutesy things on them. I first served with SCA as a high school volunteer in 1995, and since that time have worked with SCA as an AmeriCorps member in New Hampshire, as a crew leader for the Oakland CLC program, and as a summer crew leader four times (my fifth crew will be this summer on Isle Royale in Lake Superior). Obviously, SCA has had a big impact on my life and continues to be of great importance to me! I am honored to be serving SCA as a member of the Alumni Council, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of looking forward to the next 50 years of SCA.
Sharlissa serves as the Program Manager of Student Pugwash USA, which raises college students’ awareness of ethics and social responsibility in science and technology. She is deeply committed to sharing the importance of the ethical role of science in society with students. Before coming to SPUSA, Sharlissa worked for the Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Prior to that, she served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the Appalachian Mountains. She interned for the SCA in 2002 as a Transportation Interpreter at Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska and is excited to be a part of the 50-year anniversary.