Meet Some of Our Past Education Fellows
Chiara Brady
2024 Sessel Family Fellow
Hometown: Upper Saddle River, NJ
College: Ramapo College of New Jersey
Career Goals: Chiara’s goal is to be a park ranger at either a national or state park or other land management agency. After leaving Rocky, Chiara enrolled in an EMT course, and we’re excited to announce that she will be working at Cape Cod National Seashore in 2025.
Fellowship Duties: Chiara came to the Conservancy with a deep commitment to preserving public lands, a wealth of knowledge on wildlife large and small, and strong creative skills. She used these talents to develop and deliver pop-up educational programs, to lead scenic ecology tours throughout the park, and to support the return of the Artist in Residence program to RMNP. Chiara also supported elementary school field trips and worked in the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center.
Favorite Fellowship Experience: “I really loved working the visitor center shifts at Beaver Meadows. It gave me a chance to make great connections with park visitors, and to practice the interpretation/visitor engagement skills that will be useful in a career as a park ranger.”
Brittany Abuhoff
2024 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Montclair, NJ
College: American University, Washington, D.C.
Career Goals: Brittany is interested in a career in education, marketing/communications, or hospitality. Following her Fellowship, Brittany will be work at Breckenridge Resort as an instructor and in resort management.
Fellowship Duties: Brittany revived the Women of Rocky history tour in addition to creating and leading pop-up programs on the night sky and knot-tying. She also researched and drafted a resource brief for the park on the endangered greenback cut-throat trout, while also leading educational bus tours, supporting school field trips, and helping with shifts in the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and other outreach events.
Favorite Fellowship Experience: “I really enjoyed getting to curate the Women of Rocky tour for this year and then educate people on women’s history in the park. I became passionate about it and then got to share that passion with others!”
Amelia Gross
2023 Brown Family Fellow
Hometown: Tarrytown, NY
College: University of Rochester
Career Goals: Amelia plans to continue working in environmental education and will be serving as an educator with the Mount Washington Observatory following her Fellowship.
Fellowship Duties: Amelia directly supported many of our youth and women’s programs, including the Outdoor Explorers after-school club, elementary school field trips to the park, and our Bettie courses. Amelia also leveraged her research and communication skills to create and deliver the “Women of Rocky” history tour, both in-person and as a podcast. She also assisted with Field Institute courses, led scenic ecology bus tours, prepared grant applications, and wrote for our Quarterly newsletter.
Favorite Fellowship Experience: “My favorite experience was helping out with Field Institute courses and getting to learn so much about mushrooms, plants, fly fishing, and more!”
Zoe Woods
2022 Sessel Family Fellow
Hometown: Boulder, CO
College: University of Denver
Career Goals: Zoe is hoping to work in environmental education and sustainability for public or cultural organizations, whether that be in national parks, museums or other educational/heritage organizations.
Fellowship Duties: Zoe’s love for outdoor conservation exploration created a strong foundation for her to build on and bring greater awareness to various environmental issues. Partnering with both the National Park Service and Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Zoe assisted with environmental education programs for both young adults and families, drafting feature articles and news releases, engaging in community outreach and developing basic advertising and marketing projects.
Mike Innes
2018 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Canonsburg, PA
College: Penn State
Career Goals: Mike’s goal is to work full-time within the National Park Service, where he can spend each day connecting people to the natural world.
Fellowship Duties: Mike continued to build on his education and environmental interpretation skills while gaining experience in developing his own educational programs.
Emily Ross
2018 Bailey Education Fellow
Hometown: Folsom, CA
College: Colorado State University
Career Goals: Emily’s goals include bringing children into the outdoors to ignite their passion for the outdoors. She thinks that giving children time outdoors makes them have a much healthier life and she would love to be able to facilitate that.
Fellowship Duties: Emily created effective, interactive environmental education programs for both young adults and families. She also gained experience in working with a non-profit and was able to shadow other employees of RMC to see what their jobs looked like and assisted them with daily tasks.
Rosemary Truman
2018 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Overland Park, KS
College: Truman State University
Career Goals: Rosemary would like to work for an organization supporting an environmental cause, such as the national park system.
Fellowship Duties: Rosemary assisted staff at the conservancy and RMNP by presenting informational programs, drafting news releases, engaging in community outreach, and teaching nature activities to multigenerational audiences.
Morgan Lawrence
2017 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Hamilton, Montana
College: University of Montana
Career Goals: Morgan planned to work as a conservation educator with a field institute or university in the United States. After the fellowship, she was applying to graduate programs throughout the west with the hope of obtaining a master’s degree in Environmental Education or Conservation Leadership.
Fellowship Duties: Morgan was involved teaching the Conservancy’s Kids’ Classes, both with the park’s environmental education program, and with the After School Program at the Estes Park School District. Morgan also attended the “Indigenous Histories and Contemporary Connections in RMNP” workshop which explored the histories of the indigenous people who recognize this sacred space as their ancestral homeland as part of her ongoing studies and interests.
Rachel Donebedian
2017 Bailey Education Fellow
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
College: University of Michigan
Career Goals: Through this fellowship, Rachel wanted to further her education in ecology, and to pursue a career that would allow her to use her love of biology to motivate others to protect the environment.
Fellowship Duties: Rachel designed and led a variety of kids’ classes in Rocky Mountain National Park on topics ranging from art to animal tracking, led an after-school program at Estes Park Elementary which focused on natural history and assisted the park’s Environmental Education division to provide educational field trips to Rocky Mountain National Park for school groups of all ages. She was an educational tour leader for the “Elk to Aspen” bus tour and designed lesson plans, and registered visitors for tours and classes. Rachel also spent several days doing data collection for the “Pikas in Peril” project, a citizen science initiative run by the NPS.
Dominic Rickicki
2017 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Bolivar, New York
College: Paul Smith’s College
Career Goals: Dom was a strong believer in the monumental power of experience as a key facet toward fostering a feeling of stewardship for the land. Dom hoped to use guiding and environmental education to help provide these experiences for other people.
Fellowship Duties: Dom led educational snowshoe hikes in the Wild Basin area, guiding bus tours, working with the environmental education department at RMNP, teaching after school programs, and learning about the workings of a non-profit. He helped register people for classes, promoted the field institute, and was involved in a variety of other behind-the-scenes projects at the Rocky Mountain Conservancy.
Mariah Nelson
2015 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado
College: Colorado State University
Career Goals: Mariah was exploring careers opportunities to find the best fit and to make the biggest difference.
Fellowship Duties: Mariah developed her professional goals, taught interactive nature activities and programs, assist with program development, planning and implementation, complete basic advertising and marketing projects, present informational programs about opportunities at RMNP, draft news releases and feature articles, engage in community outreach, and drive the Institute bus.
Maggie Poyant
2015 Bailey Education Fellow
Hometown: New Bedford, Massachusettes
College: Northeastern University
Career Goals: Maggie had set her sights on becoming an environmental geologist.
Fellowship Duties: Maggie taught young visitors and their families about the many interconnected ecosystems within Rocky Mountain National Park and how to continue to protect and appreciate all of its natural resources.
JoAnna Wurst
2013 Bailey Education Fellow
Hometown: Grant, Nebraska
College: University of Wyoming
Career Goals: Jo hoped to be active in nature and wilderness education following her fellowship as she is applying to graduate programs around the nation. She hoped to eventually get masters and doctorate degrees in anthropology.
Fellowship Duties: Jo developed curriculum and led informational day programs for the Rocky Mountain Conservancy.
Kara Wadenstierna
2015 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Rochester, Michigan
College: Wheaton College (IL)
Career Goals: Kara was focused on working as an Interpretive Ranger in the National Park Service or teaching outdoor education in the western U.S.
Fellowship Duties: Kara developed and led interactive winter youth and school group nature programs, and assisted with the development and implementation of Field Institute programs. She also worked to promote the educational programs through press releases and marketing venues.
Geoff King
2011 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Corvallis, OR
College: Carleton College
Career Goals: Geoff hoped to work in some form of advocacy contributing to the improvement of life experiences. In the long term, he would like to help develop and facilitate the creation of healthy communities.
Fellowship Duties: Geoff introduced and participated in Field Seminars, planning, developing, and implementing on-demand programs for adults and children, writing newspaper articles, updating the organization’s website, marketing programs through fliers and brochures and instructing the Estes Park After School Program.
Rachel Brooks
2012 Olson Family Fellow
Hometown: Allenspark, CO
College: Colorado State University
Career Goals: Coming from a family of teachers, Rachel has a passion for teaching and intended to pursue a career in education, focusing on natural science, environmental science, and experiential/alternative education.
Fellowship Duties: Rachel created lesson plans and led educational programs in the field and developed promotional materials for the Field Institute programs. Rachel discovered the different facets of the partnership between a nonprofit organization and Rocky and how the partnership enhances the success of both organizations.