Welcome! New SAHC Board and Staff Fall 2023
New Board Members
Thank you, Kevin and Maria, for volunteering your service with the SAHC Board of Trustees.
Kevin Fitzgerald lives in Waynesville, and has served on our Land Protection Committee since 2018. He was Deputy Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 2006 until his retirement in 2013, following a 34-year career with the National Park Service. He has been helpful with SAHC public lands projects in Haywood County, including Chestnut Mountain Nature Park in Canton and our Cove Creek land purchases that adjoin the Great Smoky Mountains Park boundary near Cataloochee Valley.
Maria Palamar lives in Asheville and serves on our Stewardship Committee. She is a wildlife biologist, and a founding partner of the Resolve Conservation consulting firm. She works on issues relating to people in the environment, specializing in assisting public agencies develop equity, inclusion and diversity in their programs. Maria is a NC Wildlife Federation board member, and formerly worked for NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
Staff Addition
Join us in welcoming Emma Goldrick to the team, as SAHC’s new Development and Communications Manager.
“I’m so excited to join the amazing staff at SAHC as the Development and Communications Manager. I have worked as the Director of Development Operations for the past four and a half years at Montreat Conference Center, a place that ties my family back to this area for many years. Before that, I worked as a student affairs associate in the Yale College Dean’s Office after studying Geology and Geophysics at Yale College.
What drew me to this position and this organization is SAHC’s long history of doing the work, protecting and stewarding the mountains and lands we love and I am privileged enough to call home. I hope I will be an asset to an already fantastic team and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future.
In my free time, you can find me walking on the Beaucatcher trails behind my house, swimming at the downtown YMCA, eating pizza at White Labs, or April through August cheering at an Asheville Tourists game.”
AmeriCorps Project Conserve
Please join us in welcoming new and returning AmeriCorps Project Conserve members for the 2023-24 service term!
AmeriCorps Stewardship & Volunteer Associate: David Hagler.
David is returning for a second year with SAHC. We’re grateful for David’s expertise and hard work on SAHC’s behalf this past year, and look forward to his serving a second year with us.
AmeriCorps Stewardship & Volunteer Associate: Riney Woodbridge.
Riney is a UNC Asheville graduate, highly recommended by the USFS Southern Research Station. He was an intern with NEMAC and the US Forest Service. Originally from Durham, Riney also served American Conservation Experience doing trail work. He brings GIS and natural resource management experience to our team.
AmeriCorps Stewardship & Volunteer Associate: Leigh Siracusano.
Leigh lives in Horse Shoe, NC and is an App State graduate. She has experience working with non-profits, primarily in central CA, addressing water resource and agricultural issues.
AmeriCorps Community Engagement & Education AmeriCorps Associate: Katie Gray. Katie is returning for a second year with SAHC. We’re grateful for Katie’s great work in her first year, and look forward to her serving a second term
with SAHC!
AmeriCorps, a federal agency, brings people together to tackle the country’s most pressing challenges, through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations dedicated to the improvement of communities. AmeriCorps helps make service to others a cornerstone of our national culture. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov. Project Conserve is administered by Conserving Carolina and funded by an AmeriCorps grant from the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service in the office of Governor Roy Cooper, and the critical support of our host sites and community partners.
