Virtual Lunch & Learn: Approaching Recovery: Conservation in the Wake of Helene, Panel Discussion Part II
Wednesday, December 18 at 12:00 pm EST
Hear from experts in the conservation, public lands, and wildlife biology fields on how their organizations and agencies are beginning to approach recovery in the wake of Hurricane Helene. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of the panel. Please find more information about our panelists below and please feel free to submit questions in advance through your registration. A recording of this panel will be made available after its conclusion on our YouTube Channel. Part I of this Lunch & Learn will focus on our partners who work with private lands – link here.
Panelists:
Jennifer Barnhart
Jennifer is the District Ranger of the Appalachian Ranger District for the US Forest Service. Barnhart has been in the role since 2020 and was previously a District Ranger on the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and Maine.
Barnhart has a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Recreation with a minor in Forestry from Virginia Tech University and a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Science Management from the University of Minnesota. She has a diverse background of over twenty years of experience in integrated natural resources, public service, and land management. Her positions have varied beyond working for the Forest Service with non-profit conservation organizations, universities, and land management state agencies. Barnhart has also worked as an Acting District Ranger and a District Recreation Program Manager on the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests in South Carolina and as a District Recreation Program Manager on the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.
Marquette Crockett
Marquette is the Roan Stewardship Director at Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. Marquette joined SAHC in 2014. She grew up on a family farm near Cumberland Gap, TN, where she learned to love nature by following her grandmother through the fields and forests. Marquette earned her BS in Biology from Lincoln Memorial University and her MS in Biological Science from East Tennessee State University. Before joining SAHC, she worked for more than 10 years as a Wildlife Biologist, including managing high elevation spruce-fir, open areas, and wetlands in Canaan Valley NWR in West Virginia. Marquette facilitates SAHC’s Roan Stewardship Program and serves as the primary land steward on SAHC-owned preserves in the Roan.
Franklin Tate
Franklin is the Associate Regional Director – South for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Franklin has worked extensively in the non-profit conservation and education field in both the Eastern and Western US, overseeing all aspects of program development including fundraising, marketing, project management, and strategic planning. Prior to his role with ATC, he directed Trout Unlimited’s Headwaters Youth Program and was a Dean of Service-Learning at Warren Wilson College.
Kendrick Weeks 
Kendrick is the Western Wildlife Diversity Program Supervisor in the Wildlife Management Division of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Kendrick has broad and extensive experience in conservation that includes ecological and wildlife research, regulation and policy, restoration, management, and education. He has worked with all wildlife taxa and is skilled in most survey and handling techniques. He served as President of the North Carolina Chapter of the Wildlife Society in 2013 and advocates that the profession continue to promote science based management. Now in a supervisory role, he currently supervises a team of six full-time wildlife biologists for the western half of North Carolina who are responsible for surveying, monitoring, researching, and managing species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) as guided by the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan. He is passionate about conservation in North Carolina and beyond. He works with colleagues and partners to make sure that biodiversity and resilient ecosystems persist and are available for current and future generations to use and enjoy.
Jeff Wright
Jeff is the Southern Appalachians Program Manager at Trout Unlimited. Jeff’s passion for conservation and the outdoors stems from a childhood hunting, fishing, and generally running around exploring wild places. This upbringing led him to pursue a masters degree in biology, after which he spent the a decade working and volunteering in education, leadership development, and nonprofit management.
