Class Year

92

Current Hometown:

Mount Desert, ME

Job and Employer

Deputy Chief of Interpretation, Acadia National Park

Work:

I work with an incredible team of people to realize the best visitor experience possible

through ranger programs, visitor centers, publications, websites, social media, education

programs, and any kind of outreach we can do to make lifelong friends for Acadia National

Park.

Community work & family

I try to help non-profits realize their visions by helping to facilitate change. Non-profits know

where they want to go, but sometimes they don’t know how to craft a process to get them

there. I offer this service whenever I can, and where I can find time. I just started hosting

fellows through the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders; this year’s fellow is a gentleman from the conservation sector whose home is Rwanda. Also, I play around with all

types of media: watercolor, mosaics, acrylics….anything that has a creative bent. One of these

days I will have a show somewhere on the island., when I find my nerve.

Graduate School

Sonoma State University

Graduation Year

2004

Degree

MA in Organization Development

Senior project:

I worked at the Jackson Laboratory as part of a much larger project to find a way to map rates of mutagenesis after events like Chernobyl.

Internship:

Jackson Laboratory

Human ecology in action:

We all have frames from which we view life. My frame is continuously Human Ecology

whether I am a park ranger, a Peace Corps Volunteer, an agent for change, a supervisor, and a

mom. It is a way to “grok” systems (ode to Kurt Vonnegut) and learn while suspending

judgement… telescoping your brain and your heart very close, very far… and trying to

understand all the facets.

A COA experience that was particularly significant or memorable:

My COA workstudy was in the brand new Thorndike Library…. I am in love with books and the “Library Ladies” became my family. I always stayed on the island for holidays during college and I have many fond memories of being with their families.

I will also always be grateful to Lou Rabineau, past COA President, who helped me shore up a final bill with COA to receive my diploma. I did not have the final payment and was not going to get my diploma. Lou hired me on the spot as “Assistant Secretary to the President” for the summer. I am doubtful that I earned that title or did that caliber of work, but I did make enough money to pay the bill….and he is the reason I finally became a COA Graduate in spirit and on paper.

Considerations for prospective students:

If you can commit to COA and be willing to be really uncomfortable in your thinking, this is the right place. You will become a global citizen, you will help create and contribute to just societies, and you will make the planet healthier.