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105 DeLong Road, Nauvoo, Alabama 35578
Email: maggie@campmcdowell.com
Experiential Environmental Education in a Residential Setting
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Staff Biographies
Maggie Wade Johnston is the Director of McDowell Environmental Center (MEC). She has worked for MEC for over 4 years. She grew up in Winona, Mississippi and attended the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Montevallo for graduate work. She taught science and environmental education at Alabama School for the Deaf for 21 years, volunteers for the Alabama Sierra Club, and is active in several other outdoor organizations. She is married to Mark Johnston and has one daughter, Alison, three sons, Noah, Ethan and Adam and a grandson Carter. They have 2 four-legged family members, Buddy and Chinnabee. Maggie enjoys canoeing, hiking, fishing, gardening, bird-watching, traveling, reading and living in the country. Jon Nee is the Program Coordinator for the MEC. He has worked as the MEC Project Manger and an instructor for the past several years. Jon grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and graduated from Georgia Southern University majoring in Natural and Cultural Resource Management Degree in Recreation. He has worked in the Wind River Range of Wyoming doing trail maintenance and traveled to Alaska with a class where he hung out with Tlingit Indians and grizzlies and took a 3 day ice climbing expedition with Alaska Mountain Guides. He also worked for Backcountry.com for a year before returning “home” to MEC! He is an avid snowboarder, backpacker, kayaker and mountain biker in his spare time. David Hollaway is McDowell Environmental Center’s Senior Naturalist. Big Dave, as we call him, has worked for Camp McDowell for over 4 years. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and has spent many years in the environmental education and interpretive field where he has led classes and workshops, supervised the care of wildlife through rehabilitation, developed programs, and provided leadership to area schools and the public. He has worked at Ruffner Mountain Nature Center and the Chattanooga Nature Center. Dave brings his energy and enthusiasm to McDowell so that he can continue to share his knowledge and love for the natural world. When he isn’t sharing this passion with others, you can find him birding, camping, and hiking! Joey Jarrell is the Outreach Coordinator here at MEC as well as the supervisor of Camp McDowell’s Ropes Course. He is a native of Virginia, but has lived all over the country doing work with various organizations including being a seasonal environmental education instructor in North Carolina, a whitewater kayak instructor in Oklahoma, and both a sea kayak trip leader and research intern studying Burrowing Owls in Washington State. He has been a part of the Camp McDowell family for over three years. When he is not enjoying his job of getting to work outside, you will probably find him out-of-doors on a river somewhere as he loves whitewater kayaking. Other pastimes include birding, playing mandolin and guitar. Heather Montgomery is the McDowell Environmental Center Education Coordinator. She grew up in Gloucester, VA, playing in the woods, checking out bugs and wading in the stream. She still enjoys all of those activities - now, she is sharing her enthusiasm with the group of students who join her! She has her B.S. in Biology from Mary Washington College in Virginia and her M.S. in Environmental Education from the Ohio State University. In the past, she has worked at McDowell as an Instructor, Assistant Director, and Director as well as working at 5 other summer camps and serving as the Outdoor Program Director for the Girl Scouts of North Alabama. Heather is also learning to write books for children. She has a consulting business called Dragonfly Environmental Education Programs. She lives with her husband in Ardmore, AL. She enjoys playing with her cat Sipsey, paddling and going for long runs. Aaron Strobel is from a small town called Pavilion on the western side of New York . He attended the University at Buffalo where, he earned a B.A. in Native American Studies and Environmental Education in 2005. Aaron worked during the spring of 2006 just down the road at the Bankhead National Forest. He spent this summer as a fire fighter in Montana. He has interests in primitive living skills, camping, hiking...all that outdoorsy stuff. He is looking forward to meeting and sharing skills with everyone. This is Aaron’s fourth season at McDowell Environmental Center! Allison (Al) Pickel is from Goodville, PA, and has also worked at River Ridge Environmental Education program in Tennessee. She graduated from Judson College in Marion, Alabama with a BA in both History and Art. She has worked with children in orphanages and camps in the Republic of Moldova. Al a pet rabbit named Cahaba, who regularly attends staff meetings and is the Best Rabbit in the World! This is Al’s third season at MEC! Jenni Cole is from south Alabama and graduated from Judson College, in Marion, Alabama. She has also worked at River Ridge Environmental Education program in Tennessee, where she was an instructor and program coordinator. She has worked with children in many types of settings. Jenni has also had catering jobs for weddings and other large events. She is an avid writer, a voracious reader and loves scavenging. This is Jenni’s third season at MEC! Andy McDonald is from Glenn Dale, MD and graduated from St Mary’s Honors College of Maryland majoring in Math and with a minor in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. He has been working as a Foreman on Even Star Farm, an organic farm in Maryland. He has also done an internship at an oyster farm where he studied the impacts of aquaculture on biodiversity. Andy played rugby in college and even served as team captain his senior year. He loves acting in front of a group and even was on an Improv team in high school. This is Andy’s third season at MEC. Paige Aplin is from Saraland, Alabama and graduated recently from the University of Mobile with a degree in Biology. She has been working at Academy Sports and as a science tutor while going to school. Paige worked as a veterinarian technician at one time. She played on the University of Mobile’s girl’s soccer team and also served as the undergraduate assistant one year. She also coached soccer at the university soccer camps for boys and girls. Paige spent here summer monitoring quail in Florida. This is Paige’s third season at MEC. Hannah Raymond is coming to MEC from Indiana. Having just spent four years indoors studying philosophy, she vows to take only outdoor jobs from now on. She has recently done trail work in Maine and has worked on organic farms in Maine and Costa Rica. She aspires to see all the natural wonders of the world before they disappear. Having recently crossed the rainforest and coral reef off her list, glaciers are next. She is fond of running races, hiking, and emergency medicine and enjoys caring for plants; as, that is all she eats. She is excited to travel down south and begin teaching and learning in Alabama. This is Hannah’s second season at MEC. Blair Griffin grew up all over the country, but he calls Texas home. He attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he earned a degree in International Studies and Environmental Studies. While in college he spent a semester studying the ecology of the tropical rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. After graduation he searched for a job where he could continue learning, and teach others about the world around them, and thought environmental education would be a perfect fit. He worked with an environmental education center on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, teaching everything from pirate history to the anatomy of a squid. This is Blair’s second season at MEC. Alicia Hall is originally from Stillwater, Oklahoma but over the last eleven years she has lived in numerous states doing a variety of jobs. She has her AAS in Graphic Design, her BFA in Illustration, and completed a 45-day NCOBS Leader Course in 2005. Alicia currently lives in Michigan, where she is a waitress and rock climbing instructor. Recent accomplishments: she spent the last few months finishing a 600 sq ft mural and the last few weeks healing from broken ribs ("car door smacks bicycle rider, bicycle rider smacks pavement"). Camp McDowell will be her first time working in environmental education and is thrilled to have the opportunity to learn, work, and play in the woods all day with other outdoorsy-minded individuals. This is Alicia’s second season at MEC. Sarah Mills just graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN with a degree in Art History. She is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and grew up going to Camp McDowell for church retreats. Sarah enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading and is looking forward to Auburn football season. Sarah spent her summer as a pastry baker in Asheville, NC and loves to cook and bake! This is her second season at MEC. Nichole Moore recently graduated from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in May 2007 with a degree in music therapy. She completed a six month internship at the Baddour Memorial Center. She spent the summer working as a program staff member at Camp ASCCA, a summer camp in Alabama for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. This is Nikki’s second season at MEC. JustinCook is a native of North Alabama. Justin graduated from the University of Alabama in 2005 with a BS in Environmental Science and a BA in English. Prior to working at MEC Justin worked in Upstate New York as a Horticulturists on a native plant garden. Justin is interested in the art of language, native plant communities, bluegrass music, geology, and Native American art and industry. Justin is a dedicated Flintknapper and also practices primitive archery. Justin enjoys backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, and trade shows. He has an 8-year-old black lab named Abby. Always willing to communicate the importance of the natural world, Justin is glad to know he will have the chance make a difference. Laura-Catherine Conville is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and graduated with a BA in Foreign Language. She just returned from spending several months in Ecuador where she taught English classes to children from 5 year-olds to seventh graders. Laura-Catherine enjoyed playing soccer and making arts and crafts with her family in Ecuador as well as hiking and seed collecting. While in Montevallo, she worked with Habitat for Humanity as a fundraising coordinator. She has worked as a Spanish interpreter and instructor for Girl’s Incorporated and the Birmingham Health Care. Laura-Catherine is excited about getting to know Camp McDowell Environmental Center from the environmental perspective, having grown up attending church retreats here. Carroll Wilson is a local! He lives in Jasper, Alabama and has done volunteer work here for MEC for several years as well as worked one season as an instructor. He is one of the original trail builders for the Camp McDowell Trail of Discovery! He is a graduate of University of Alabama with a B.S. degree in psychology; worked twenty-seven years as a field officer for Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles before retiring in January of 2001. Since then he has worked part time as a test examiner and as a domestic violence/ drug abuse counselor. Since 1979, he has been a day hike/canoe trip/work trip leader for the North Alabama and Cahaba Groups of Sierra Club as well as the Birmingham Canoe Club and The Alabama Trails Association. Carroll’s can do attitude is contagious and we all love working with him! Megan Huston is now the Director of the Alabama Folk School at McDowell but will also be assisting with environmental instruction throughout the season. Megan graduated from the University of North Alabama in May 2006 with a major in Public Relations and a minor in Art. She has worked as the Director of Community Relations for the Huntsville Havoc Hockey team, as a substitute teacher, and has taught horseback riding lessons. Among Megan’s many interests are her working with and jumping her most cherished horses. Three of her “family member” horses live here in a Camp McDowell pasture with her. She is excited about fall classes starting at the Alabama Folk School.
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