The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy (GVC) is excited to
announce the hiring of two new staff members, Kenna Oseroff and Rachel
Streusand. Both were hired to assist
Peggy Perry, the Program Director of Education and Restoration in the
completion of many new projects funded over the next 2 years.
Kenna Oseroff was hired on Dec 1, 2009 as the Assistant
Project Manager for the Jennifer Branch Upland Restoration project, a 2 year
project financed by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
(NFWF). Kenna will be assisting Peggy
Perry, the Project Manager for this project, in the communities of Carney and
Cub Hill under the NFWF grant.
Kenna has had a passion
for environmental issues going way back when she was a teen.
Growing up around animals and being involved with outdoor sports fostered this
concern for the degradation to the environment. Kenna decided she wanted
to major in the environmental sciences which led to her undergraduate from
Prescott College
in Prescott AZ. There she completed a program in
Ecology and successfully wrote a Greenway Plan for Granite Creek. She was
pleased to find out that the local government and community embraced aspects of
the plan and employed recommendations such as community access and restoration.
After graduation Kenna moved
to California
where she led at risk and disadvantaged youth to the wilderness to conduct
stream restoration for two endangered species, trail maintenance, fire
prevention (construction of fuel breaks) and urban tree planting
projects. This non profit employed these youth, exposed them to something
unfamiliar, and gave them purpose, as well as a paycheck.
Upon moving back east, Kenna
worked for the Chesapeake Research Consortium at the Chesapeake Bay
Program (CBP) for the Living Resources Subcommittee. Being employed at
the CBP she was exposed first hand to the policy and science surrounding the Chesapeake Bay. This experience influenced Kenna to
complete a Master of Science Program at Johns Hopkins
University in Environmental
Sciences and Policy. Currently Kenna is employed as an Environmental
Specialist. Her focus is environmental planning and storm water
management design.
The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy (GVC) has also hired
Rachel Streusand on Dec
1, 2009 as the GVC Watershed Assistant. Rachel will be assisting the GVC with
multiple restoration projects financed by grants from the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection
and Resource Management Watershed Stewardship grant, and Community College of
Baltimore County Bay Consortium Watershed Education and Training Project,
(B-WET). Rachel will be assisting the
GVC Project Managers with the Upland Restoration project in the communities of
Carney and Cub Hill under the NFWF grant; assisting with the Stream Watch
Program with our watershed partner Pretty Boy Alliance under the Baltimore
County Stewardship grant; and she will be working as the project assistant of
Baltimore County School stream and vegetation samplings under the B-WET
grant.
Rachel graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of Maryland in December of 2008 with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Policy, with a
concentration in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. While completing
this degree she had multiple work experiences, including internships with the
Center for Watershed Protection, the EPA
Region III
Environmental Finance
Center and working at a
Green Roof Nursery. In addition she studied abroad in both France and Tanzania,
completing a research project on the Impact of Natural Trails on Jozani National Forest
in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
After graduation she began the Environmental
Management Career Development Program through the Chesapeake Research
Consortium. In this position she supports the Chesapeake Bay Program’s
Water Quality Goal Implementation Team and several of its supporting workgroups,
including the Storm Water Implementation Workgroup.
Outside of work Rachel’s interests include various
gravity powered adventure sports including snowboarding, rock climbing and
skydiving. She also enjoys any opportunity to speak French, talking to
people about environmental issues, and working outside. Currently she is working on Bayscaping her
new home.
We are very happy to add Kenna and Rachel onto our
staff and look forward to completing many successful restoration projects
together in the coming years!
