Member Bios

Okay, so this is Annie J. Armstrong in a nutshell! She is young at heart, because she is still growing into the adult she would like to be. She loves learning new things and is always up for a good challenge. Annie didn’t always know that working for the Student Conservation Association was something she really had a true passion for until the summer 2012. She had been through a lot career wise, and there were so many things she wanted to work out with herself. She felt torn between becoming a better version of herself and being able to work in environment where she felt motivated, happy and inspired instead of being content and unsettled with what she was doing. So, she applied for a Conservation Corps position listed on the Student Conservation Association website hoping she could change her situation around and start moving into a direction where she could grow, change and excel on her own terms. After not hearing anything for a few months she decided maybe it wasn’t going to happen for her with SCA at time. She was going to have to try other places to start her journey towards personal and professional success. Being the person that she is, she never gives up and never takes no as never going to happen. She always says, “Things don’t happen on my clock, there is a higher power.” With that said, as she so anxiously walked out of the admissions office of her College where she had just enrolled into summer classes towards completing her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management. Annie received a phone call. On the other end was an interview/selections Coordinator. She was calling on the behalf of the SCA to offer Annie a position as a crew member on a Conservation Corps Crew. The Crew would be working in the Angeles National Forest in San Fernando California. The representative went on to tell Annie that the work would be challenging and there were plenty of trainings to help prepare her for the job if she chose to accept. Of course Annie turned the offer down, just kidding! She happened to accept that offer and hasn’t looked back since. “Things always workout just not on your time,” is what she says to people who aspire to be a better a version of themselves.

She hopes to take on more responsibility in her leadership role with SCA this spring and summer. Annie wants to gain new skills that will continue to guide her throughout her professional development. Moreover, she is looking forward to all the new challenges the season has to offer. Annie will push herself out of her comfort zone and believe enough in her to know she has what it takes to make this spring and summer one of the bests she’s ever had.

Okay, so this is Annie J. Armstrong in a nutshell! She is young at heart, because she is still growing into the adult she would like to be. She loves learning new things and is always up for a good challenge. Annie didn’t always know that working for the Student Conservation Association was something she really had a true passion for until the summer 2012. She had been through a lot career wise, and there were so many things she wanted to work out with herself. She felt torn between becoming a better version of herself and being able to work in environment where she felt motivated, happy and inspired instead of being content and unsettled with what she was doing. So, she applied for a Conservation Corps position listed on the Student Conservation Association website hoping she could change her situation around and start moving into a direction where she could grow, change and excel on her own terms. After not hearing anything for a few months she decided maybe it wasn’t going to happen for her with SCA at time. She was going to have to try other places to start her journey towards personal and professional success. Being the person that she is, she never gives up and never takes no as never going to happen. She always says, “Things don’t happen on my clock, there is a higher power.” With that said, as she so anxiously walked out of the admissions office of her College where she had just enrolled into summer classes towards completing her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management. Annie received a phone call. On the other end was an interview/selections Coordinator. She was calling on the behalf of the SCA to offer Annie a position as a crew member on a Conservation Corps Crew. The Crew would be working in the Angeles National Forest in San Fernando California. The representative went on to tell Annie that the work would be challenging and there were plenty of trainings to help prepare her for the job if she chose to accept. Of course Annie turned the offer down, just kidding! She happened to accept that offer and hasn’t looked back since. “Things always workout just not on your time,” is what she says to people who aspire to be a better a version of themselves.

She hopes to take on more responsibility in her leadership role with SCA this spring and summer. Annie wants to gain new skills that will continue to guide her throughout her professional development. Moreover, she is looking forward to all the new challenges the season has to offer. Annie will push herself out of her comfort zone and believe enough in her to know she has what it takes to make this spring and summer one of the bests she’s ever had.

California native, currently adopted by the South.

I began volunteering at a backpacking camp in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains at 16. The Carson-Iceberg Wilderness and Camp Jack Hazard became my home and every summer I found respite from scorching California central valley temperatures. The wilderness smoothed over my cracks and rough edges and the stars sang me to sleep every night. I watched campers grow to love the back country, returning year after year, growing wiser and more aware of their own environmental responsibility.

College school years were spent studying at Modesto Junior College and Humboldt State University. Cultural Anthropology, I specialized in ancient cultures of Central America. Summer 2008, I attended the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca in central southern Mexico as an exchange student. In 2009, I graduated from Humboldt State University with a BA in Cultural Anthropology, minor in Spanish.

In 2010, I moved to San Jose, California to join AmeriCorps and work for a non-profit called Our City Forest where I worked on a team that focused on managing and enhancing the health of the urban forest.

Early 2012, I began researching opportunities to get my hands dirty with the Student Conservation Association and found myself working in beautiful northern Georgia on lakeshores leading a team conducting visitor use surveys. This year, I have returned to lead the leader crew in Tennessee and am excited about the opportunity to support the development of future SCA leaders.

Eva originally grew up and is from a small town nestled in the Upper Valley of Vermont. When she's not outside looking up at the sky or getting her hands dirty, she's inside... preferably listening to some jazzy new tunes and sharing them on www.ruckusrhythms.com, a pretty funky music blog y'all should check out. Graduating from UVM, Eva skipped around a bit and lived in India for 5 months working for an organization called Shikshantar, where they focused on upcycling, conservation, and opening up alternate avenues of education and learning. After returning to the States, Eva decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, taking 5 1/2 months for her journey. Completing the hike this past October, Eva jumped at the opportunity to serve for the SCA and to live in a new and totally different environment that is Nashville, TN. And so- here she is!

With extensive leadership experience and a furious hunger to learn from her peers, Eva will bring to the team a love for exploring the culture and music of Music City. With an artsy background and a love to experience the new, Eva hopes to add a splash of creativity and fun to the surveys and conversation projects that will be administered this Spring.

Eva is extremely excited to be a part of the SCA and living in the South. Having a furious love for boiled peanuts and music, it is a prime location to explore her passions. Eva is also super excited to experience the sweltering heat she keeps hearing about. She even got a little spray fan thing for those really swampy Tennessee days! What she is most excited about is integrating herself within the quaint and quirky community of East Nashville, getting to know her neighbors, and to learn more about her conservation ethics within and outside the SCA.

Leah Cantor is the leader for this wonderful Georgia based crew. She is originally from New York and has a Bachelors Degree (BS) from Florida State University in Secondary English Education. (6th -­‐12th) She also has a Masters Degree (MAT) from CUNY Queens College in Elementary Education (1st-­‐6th). She brings a varied background to this crew- having experience teaching in both indoor and outdoor settings. With NorthWest Youth Corps, she worked as an AmeriCorps teacher at an Outdoor Alternative High School. She worked for over a year at Pok­‐O­‐MacCready Outdoor Education Center in which she was able to get paid to take students Kindergarten to College aged on hikes, bike rides, rock climbing and other fun and exciting outdoor activities. She has also worked for The SCA doing various programs for the past four years. The one she started with and has the most experience with is National High School Crews. She started her wonderful SCA career in Natchez Trace Parkway, MS teaching students how to do various forms of trail work-­‐ the main focus being on building a bridge for Bridle pass (horses). Her next gig with The SCA was in Chattahoochee National Forest, GA. Leah and her crew focused on trail closures, re­‐routing, building new trail, and fence construction. Next, she had the pleasure of leading with the greatest agency contact of all time (Mr. Steve Lowe) in Harpers Ferry, WV. She enjoyed her time so immensely, that she decided to go back there for a second summer as well. Here her crew focused on tree removal, trail building, (Re-­ routing, building, laying mulch), and Historic Virginia worm-­fence construction. Her next experience with The SCA was attending the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Convention in Texas. Here, along with four others, she focused on getting the public involved with planting native grass and removing trash in a local park. Her next gig with The SCA was with leader teams. She was lucky enough to be put on a Fall 2012 Virginia Crew with four other wonderful people. Here, she was able to step up her trail skills and she was working with peers- as opposed to high school students, which was a fun change of pace. In this crew they focused on creating a new trail where the owner of the park had been hoping one would be built for years. We focused on fence construction out of rustic timber that we chainsawed down. Our team also built a dead-­man retaining wall out of rustic timber we also cut down. The next SCA leader team she was given a chance to be a part of was something she will never forget. She was lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of the wonderful Hurricane Sandy Relief Team. Here, the crew focused on tree removal with chainsaws and general trail maintenance on both hiking and biking trails. This crew went around to 6 different state parks in New Jersey during the 14 days. She felt accomplished in doing her part to help the general public after a major natural disaster.
Her personal goal for this program is to re-­center her focus on moving forward with her outdoor education life, while gaining experience supervising her peers. Her professional goal for this program is to become a better leader for The SCA, learning how to adapt her ways to maximize the potential for each of her members.