We love our AmeriCorps Project Conserve 2014 – 2015 crew!
Participants in AmeriCorps Project Conserve aren’t just looking for an internship. They commit to full-time 11-month service terms, contributing important skills to boost our capacity for conservation. This AmeriCorps program also provides unique opportunities to open doors for conservation careers. Over the years, SAHC has employed four AmeriCorps Project Conserve alumni in staff or contract positions.
AmeriCorps Land Protection & Education Associate
Caitlin Edenfield graduated from Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies with a BA in Landscape Architecture. She was an intern at the Asheville Design Center, worked as a farm manager in Lewisville, NC, and was an AmeriCorps trail crew member in Vermont. She served as SAHC’s Americorps Land Protection Associate last year and is back again for a second term. In addition to serving SAHC through AmeriCorps, Caitlin is now pursuing her Master of Natural Resources degree from Virginia Tech.
AmeriCorps Conservation Education & Volunteer Outreach Associate
Kana Miller is a recent graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY with a BA in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Intergroup Relations. A native of Atlanta, GA, Kana grew up hiking and camping in Western NC. She is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Tucson, AZ and enjoys backpacking, canoeing, and climbing.
AmeriCorps Stewardship & Volunteer Associates
Jesse Wood earned her B.S. in Biology from Furman University in Greenville, SC in May 2014. Her hometown is Pickens, SC, though she lived abroad the first half of her life and grew up outside Washington, D.C. in Arlington, VA. Her most recent research focused on the conservation of Brown-headed Nuthatch in the Upstate of South Carolina. She hopes to continue conducting field research by pursuing a Masters degree in the discipline of conservation/wildlife biology or ecology in the future.
Originally from the Asheville area, Andrea Thompson graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies from Montreat College. She is also returning for a second AmeriCorps Service year. Andrea has worked in invasive species management for Western North Carolina Alliance and as a stewardship intern with The Nature Conservancy in Indiana.
Celebrating AmeriCorps
“I want to express my gratitude to our AmeriCorps members and appreciation for the creative energy, work ethic and talent these individuals bring to SAHC. Their often behind-the-scenes involvement in volunteer recruitment, education and outreach, relationship building with landowners and community partners, engagement and capacity building is essential to SAHC’s conservation success. The commitment to service of SAHC’s AmeriCorps, and others representing Project Conserve in western North Carolina, is worth more than my praise alone. To our AmeriCorps – you are valuable members of our organization and I personally want to thank you for committing a year of your life to SAHC.”
– Sarah Sheeran, Stewardship Associate
