SCA NH Corps 2013

Hi my name is Michael Milkavich and I am one of your 2013 SCA Manchester CLC Leaders. I have lived in Southeast Virginia all of my life, and have been living in Williamsburg since I was seven.  Conservation and the outdoors have always been an interest of mine, and I fulfilled that curiosity through scouting.  I joined scouts in 1996 and received my Eagle Scout award in 2007 having had many leadership positions and adventures along the way.  After High School, I attended a local community college and spent some time studying geography at James Madison University in western Virginia.  I also continued in scouting spending two summers working at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico, the first teaching proper tool usage and trail building techniques while leading projects, and the second summer studying invasive plants while educating others about them.  I am looking forward this year to be able to share my skills and experiences with the local students, and I hope to instill in them the same sense of adventure and stewardship that has led me here today.

I’m Nicole. Growing up, I enjoyed exploring outside, hiking and camping. Six years ago I moved from northeast Ohio to Chicago to go to school and I stopped spending as much time outdoors. In 2010, I graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in Sociology and minors in Environmental Studies and Women & Gender Studies. I hadn’t thought I would love the city but I do! After graduation, I began gaining some experience in teaching environmental education in a non-formal setting. I enjoyed my work with the Girl Scouts, with museums and with the Park District in and near Chicago. However, I also began to wonder about urban settings and what environmental education could include there. I missed being outside and wanted a change from the city. I wanted a new and entirely different space where I could be immersed in a new community and lifestyle. These thoughts and goals led me to investigate the internship options with the SCA. Ultimately, I landed here in the SCA NH Corps at Bear Brook. I hope to spend these next ten months in the woods, teaching, learning, baking bread, mastering wood chopping and soaking up each day!

Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, I found joy in scrabbling up the rough branches of the Japanese Maple behind my house, pushing my fingers through cool mud beneath drainpipes, and watching slugs leave trails of slime on my knees.  The natural world has always been a place of magic for me, where found shards of Coke bottles become Native American pottery and the tufts of tall grasses brushing my shins become a landscape of clouds.  As an intern with the US Forest Service, I spent this past summer bouncing through the forest and turning over logs with children in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.  My name is Rachel Kaufmann and I love sharing the joy and wonder of the natural world with children.  We need the earth, not only for the life-sustaining resources it provides, but also for the peace and stability that comes from a connection to the land.  With the SCA New Hampshire Corps, I hope to bring children that feeling I get when standing on top of Mt. Pisgah, surrounded by mountains in all directions. 

Hello my name is Bryan Campbell, but I prefer to go by my middle name. That’s right, Bryan “Danger” Campbell. I’m just kidding about the danger part, but I truly do prefer to go by my middle name Spencer. So hello again, my name is Spencer Campbell and I am from the south suburbs of Chicago. I have lived there with my family my entire life.  I have two older bro-bros, a younger sister, a momma and a papa. My family keeps me grounded, but they also make me crazy. Speaking of crazy, they think I am crazy for moving out to New Hampshire in the middle of the winter. It took some convincing but they understand the importance of community service and the valuable lessons and trainings I will most certainly gain from this experience.  I recently graduated with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Management. I focused on how to persuade government and business leaders to adopt sustainability practices. I was basically training to become a lobbyist. In my final semester at college I took part in an internship program in Washington D.C. in order to gain some practical experience in the working world. I learned a tremendous amount about the way our government in run and how to weave within in it, but ultimately knew deep within my heart that this was not the field for me.  Which brings me to Bear Brook today! I am excited to learn and work alongside my other SCA/Americorps members while we perform direct service for the Manchester, NH community. Thanks for reading!

Hey folks, I’m Tyler, one of the SCA Manchester CLC Leaders for this year. I grew up amongst the oak woodlands and redwood forests on the central coast of California. My second home was the Sierra Nevada mountain range, home to the majestic Sequoiadendron giganteum - the giant sequoia tree. It was here that I learned to love camping, backpacking, stargazing, campfire music, and nearly everything else that can be done outdoors.  This is my second year with the SCA New Hampshire Corps, and I’m extremely excited to work with the students who take part in the high school program this year. Before serving with the SCA, I worked on recycling programs, taught an organic gardening class, and advised environmental groups at my alma mater, the University of California, Santa Cruz.  In my free time I like to do yoga, play guitar, and explore the bounteous natural world of New Hampshire. My favorite trail tool is a pick mattock – you just can’t beat its multifunctional utility. I’ve been told that my spirit animal might be a golden retriever, but as of now, I’m still trying to make up my mind.  

 Field Report by Steve Gang, Discover the Power of Parks Interpreter...Over the past three weeks the eight interpreters have been busy showing 12 different schools, 948 kids around Bear Brook State Park. These are the schools that the corps taught in from February to April. A typical field trip day begins at 10:00 with the school divided into four groups each with two interpreters. Once in the field the bug spray and sunscreen comes out and temporarily clears the area of bugs.   Once the kids and adults have their protective shields on two groups head down to spruce pond while the other two begin a nature hike. Down by the pond one group heads to the vernal pool while the other goes to the beach. The group then learns what a macroinvertebrate is and how to catch it. While these groups are exploring the other two are going on short hikes around Bear Brook where they do activities and learn about the natural area as well as the human history with the CCC. After an hour all groups head back to the main lodge for lunch. During lunch the interpreter that taught at the school explains the process of recycling and composting what they don’t eat.    After lunch the hiking and ponding groups switch places and have the chance to do the other activity. Around 1:00 the groups all rendezvous at the busses and circle up with their group to debrief the days activities. The kids then board the bus and wave to the interpreters as they drive away down the 3-mile driveway back to school.        

As the Program Director, Teresa is responsible for managing the “behind the scenes” aspects of SCA NH Corps. This includes providing support to staff and corps members, building partner relationships, managing program risk, and coordinating overall program development.  While this may seem too “behind the computer” for some people, Teresa likes to describe it as the best “office job” ever!  After all, the main office is in Bear Brook State Park and surrounded by the wonderful NH Corps community!  Teresa moved to New Hampshire in January 2013 from Minnesota.  She grew up in southwestern Illinois and lived/worked in St. Louis, Missouri for about 8 years.  While her educational background is primarily in social work, she recently entered into the experiential education field and combined her interest of working with people and her love of the outdoors!  Her experience includes working with diverse populations in afterschool programs, trail-building with the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, working in hospitals, volunteering with a youth circus, facilitating groups on challenge courses, instructing with Outward Bound, and working on an organic farm.  Beyond having some pretty awesome work and volunteer experiences, Teresa also enjoys hiking, running, and canoeing with her family and friends during her “down” time.

In his role as NH corps Conservation Manager Jeremy supports our conservation crews. From planning in the winter to training crews in the spring to support in the field throughout the season, Jeremy facilitates a safe, productive and meaningful conservation season. He grew up in a small farm town in central NY and has spent the last 16+ years working on trails and with youth and young adults throughout the woods of the northeast. Jeremy’s introduction to SCA was building trails in Alaska and has since worked for a number of different trails organization, state and federal agencies, non-profits and owned his own business building stone structures. He enjoys passing on long standing conservation work skills and completing meaningful projects in a crew setting while working and living in the woods of the north east.

Darin is a SCA NH Corps alum (2011) and has wanted to come back to the area ever since. He was hired on to the NH Corps team in January to manage the four new leaders of SCA Manchester Community Leadership Corps (Manchester CLC).  Darin has been with the SCA for quite a few years now, enjoying many of the different programs offered. These include trail crews in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Utah, a 6 month stint working on the Pacific Crest Trail in southern California, and a leader crew working on the North Country Trail. He has also lead high school students as a National High School Crew Leader in the gigantic Redwoods of California’s Pacific coast and as a Community Crew Leader with the Manchester CLC Program. In addition to his SCA experiences, Darin has also worked for Conservation Corps Iowa as a Field Specialist helping to train and support multiple young adult crews.  If you were to ask Darin where he is from, he would point to the inside of his right hand on the outside knuckle of thumb. This represents the town of Port Huron Michigan, which also was the boyhood home to Thomas Edison. After attending four difficult colleges including the University of the Philippines Los Banos, Darin received his BS from Michigan State University in Natural Resource Management. Outside of conservation work, Darin enjoys perfecting his magic shows and writing fan articles for his favorite professional sports team – the Detroit Lions.