Member Bios

This is my first experience serving with the SCA, but is not my first time living far from what I know. I have taken opportunities to live and work in various places across the country in order to experience local cultures and landscapes. This year I look forward to gaining experience in a potential career field and a new place.

As a recent graduate in Geography and GIS, I am looking for direction and am hoping this experience will help illuminate my path to the next step in life. In the meantime, I enjoy many activities across the wide spectrum of outdoor recreation.

I have always loved the outdoors and the environment, participating in the Boy Scouts in High School and later in my Universities' outdoor club. Naturally, I decided to pursue an internship that will allow me to work in the outdoors, for the preservation of the environment. I am excited for the opportunities that the position will afford me. I am hoping to pursue this type of forestry work in the future through the Peace Corps.

Hello to all, I am Melissa Whistleman, daughter of Margaret Stewart and sister of Jeremy Whistleman. I am currently studying Biochemistry at Radford University in Virginia. Ever since I can remember I have felt a strong connection to the outdoors; camping, hiking, planting, and just wandering through nature. I feel as though the mission of my life is to help; whether that is restoring a national park, repopulating the earth with vegetation, or by learning from and helping others with the daily issues that face us all. I believe that by joining the SCA I will be able to proceed further with helping, learning, and educating individuals as well as the world about conservation and the act of restoring the earth’s natural wonders through hard work and dedication.

My name is Tomoya Paul Lamberson. I was born and raised in Yorktown, Virginia and am currently a senior at the University of Mary Washington majoring in Sociology. I originally joined the SCA to further my experiences in different fields of work outdoors along with opening myself up to different career opportunities. After my experience last summer as a trail maintenance intern I knew I would continue my service with the SCA. This summer, as a native plant corps member I plan on expanding my knowledge on the local invasive and non-invasive plant species along with invasive removal techniques. Other than that I am positive I will have a great experience and form many new friendships.

As a child of the Earth, I feel a sense of belonging to the natural world. Everything that sustains all the diverse species is graciously given to us from the land beneath our feet. Knowing that I wanted nothing more than to be a steward to the Earth, I attend SUNY ESF (State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry), which exposed me to this altruistic organization known as the SCA. This summer, I hope to become immersed in the beauty of this sacred land, through working in the field and by learning from the different agencies involved. I consider myself to be lucky to be working in the wilderness that is Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Growing up in New York City allowed for a great but extremely refreshing contrast for me this season. My name is Jane Zhu and I hope to improve our world.