- Environmental Education Interns
- Graduate Assistants
- Penn State Faculty and Staff
- Faculty and Staff Affiliates
Shaver’s Creek Nature Names
What’s with the “nature names” below? At Shaver’s Creek, many of our staff members adopt a secondary “nature name.” These monikers are meant to be fun and are usually used during programs with kids, such as during Summer Camp and Outdoor School.
Penn State College Affiliation
Shaver’s Creek is part of Penn State Outreach, but we have teaching agreements with many colleges and departments across Penn State. Some staff members also serve as faculty for the recreation, park, and tourism management program in the College of Health and Human Development or the School of Forest Resources in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Environmental Education Interns
Mara Anderson-Skelly (she/her)
Environmental Education Intern
Mara grew up in Lemont, Pennsylvania and developed a love for the outdoors at a young age through attending Shaver’s Creek summer camp, later joining as a leader in training and assistant naturalist. She went on to major in environmental studies at Luther College, graduating in 2025. From a young age, Mara developed a love of birds that has only grown over time. She has worked in bird banding research and trained captive ambassador raptors at several different organizations. Her passion for sharing her love of birds and the natural world to anyone who will listen has led her to the field of environmental education. She first joined the Shaver’s Creek intern cohort this past spring and is excited to return to Shaver’s Creek for the fall season to build on her experiences and explore new opportunities to grow as an educator.
Nature Name: Minnow
Emma Benoit (she/her)
Environmental Education Intern
Emma is a recent Penn State graduate with a major in social studies education and minors in history and ancient Mediterranean studies. During her time at Penn State, she fell in love with Shaver’s Creek through BiSc 3 and Outdoor School. Following her time at Shaver’s Creek, Emma will be pursuing her master’s in museum education at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She is excited to create lasting memories and complete meaningful work through this internship. When she’s not working, she loves to make art, listen to music, go to museums, and be with friends and family.
Nature Name: Breezy
Joel Godissart (he/him)
Environmental Education Intern
Joel graduated from Saint Francis University in spring of 2026 with a degree in zoo and aquarium sciences. Joel credits much of his interest in the natural world to his time spent in the Huntingdon County area working with and attending various camps. He enjoys natural history, reptiles, and amphibians and is deeply fascinated by insects! When Joel is not looking under rocks and logs, he enjoys listening to records, building Lego, practicing his brass instruments, and scuba diving.
Nature Name: Locust
Colton Roush (he/him)
Environmental Education Intern
Colton is a recent graduate from Penn State, where he earned an associate degree in wildlife technology and a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries science, with a minor in forest ecosystems. His first experience with Shaver’s Creek was as a camper at Outdoor School, which is an experience that has stuck with him through the years. While attending college he decided to participate in the program, which then led to him join Shaver’s Creek Summer Camp and now continue his involvement as a fall intern. In his free time, Colton enjoys exploring the outdoors while looking for birds, reptiles, and other wildlife.
Nature Name: Skrike
Graduate Assistants
Anna Mavrodieva (she/her)
Graduate Assistant
Anna has been working and volunteering in environmental education for almost 8 years, in roles ranging from outdoor summer program director to undergraduate teaching assistant to digital content creator and translator. She lived in Florida for most of her life and loves all nature, especially birds, flowers, butterflies, and reptiles. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2024 with a degree in environmental science and a minor in secondary science education. The highlights of her college years were serving as a middle school classroom educator, researching tree physiology in Costa Rica, and serving as vice president and social coordinator of UF’s campus Audubon Society chapter. After graduating, she spent over a year working as an outreach museum educator at the Florida Museum of Natural History, teaching over 8,500 individuals of different ages in her community. In addition to work and school, Anna has a background in environmental advocacy and spends much of her free time creating art, which she sells to fundraise for environmental organizations and raise awareness for causes she is passionate about.
Nature Name: Aster
Faculty and Staff
Jennifer Anderson (she/her)
Associate Director for the Conservation and Interpretation Team
Jen teaches BISC 3, an environmental science class at Penn State that encourages students to see themselves as part of nature. She earned her bachelor of science degrees in biology and environmental science from Westminster College in 1996 and her master of arts in environment and community from Antioch University Seattle in 2001. She co-authored Developing Ecological Consciousness: Becoming Fully Human with the late Dr. Christopher Uhl. Jen is originally from Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, and enjoys visits there to see her parents. She and her younger sons (Henry and Luke) now make their home in Pine Grove Mills. Her oldest son, Isaac, is working at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, which provides fabulous exploring opportunities! Her interests include traveling to explore, reading, writing, bike riding, baking, making jewelry, and spending time with friends and family.
Nature Name: Prism
Jamie Arnold (she/her)
Outdoor School Program Assistant
Jamie is a Penn State grad with a degree in women’s studies and a minor in sustainability leadership. She was a SEED student and, after graduation, worked with Shaver’s Creek summer camp and served as an environmental education intern. In fall of 2024, Jamie moved to Savannah, Georgia, to work on Tybee Island at the Burton 4-H Center as an environmental educator, teaching about coastal ecology, reptiles, marine invertebrates, and more! Playing in the salt marsh mud and picking up periwinkle snails are some of the many highlights she experienced while working on the rich Georgia coast. While she loved living on the coast, she is excited to be back at the creek working with Outdoor School! When she’s not at work, she is likely hanging out with friends, hiking, playing with her two cats, and enjoying local coffee shops.
Nature Name: Mud
Jennifer Brown
Conservation Interpreter
Jen grew up in central Pennsylvania and has always felt a deep connection to the land. After living in a variety of places across the United States and abroad, she returned to Pennsylvania in 2025 to raise her son among her roots. Her background in journalism, music, and holistic healing has nurtured a lifelong curiosity and a gift for sharing stories. She’s grateful to begin a new chapter at Shaver’s Creek as a conservation interpreter and looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the natural world. Jen’s favorite areas of study include native plants, herbalism, and mycology, and she enjoys learning the history of the land wherever she is.
Nature Name: Rotschwanzbussard
Shelby Clark (she/her)
Visitor Services Program Coordinator
Shelby can be found at the front desk of the visitor center. She’s new(ish) to Pennsylvania. A fun fact about Shelby is that she lived in seven states in her 20s. She was born and raised in Montana, but, in her career, she’s been a field guide at a wilderness therapy program in Utah, an outdoor recreation coordinator in Oregon, and a retail sales lead at REI in Washington and Colorado.
Shelby spent the past three years in Pennsylvania as an arborist. Now that she’s down from the trees, she’s excited to connect with community members who wander into the center at Shaver’s Creek and to oversee the bookstore. In her free time, Shelby enjoys camping, backpacking, riding bikes, crafts, and spending time with friends.
Nature Name: Fern
Shannan Davidow (she/her)
Wildlife Programs
As Shaver’s Creek’s herpetarium coordinator, Shannan ensures a high quality of daily care for the reptiles and amphibians who call Shaver’s Creek home. Shannan’s passion for wildlife started when she enrolled in Juniata College’s wildlife conservation program and conducted research on map turtles of the Juniata River. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2018, Shannan joined the wildlife education team as a lead animal ambassador, where she developed a love for mentoring emerging professionals in their journey to an animal care career. After earning her Professional Animal Trainer certification in 2021, her passion for animal training grew — she particularly appreciates the daily opportunity to give the animals a voice through training sessions.
In her current position, Shannan loves taking the time to connect people to the animals at Shaver’s Creek. Her favorite moments include helping visitors to overcome their fears of snakes and invertebrates. She also has a particularly close bond with Matilda, the Black Vulture, who reveals her alluring personality alongside Shannan during training sessions.
Shannan loves to spend time hiking, herping, and walking her dogs. As an avid reptile and invertebrate enthusiast, she cares for 4 snakes and 3 tarantulas of her own at home!
Nature Name: Firefly
Chris Diehl
Grounds and Facilities Technician
Chris came to Shaver’s Creek in 2018 after working for Penn State for over ten years. He assists with all things grounds and facilities related. When he’s not working, you might find Chris riding motorcycles and enjoying the outdoors!
Nature Name: Mephitus
Anna George, Ph.D. (she/her)
Executive Director
Anna discovered early in life that being a biologist provided a good excuse to be outside. As executive director of Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, she strives to create opportunities for everyone to nurture their own connection to natural communities. During Anna’s undergraduate and graduate course work in biology at the University of Virginia, University of Alabama, and Saint Louis University, she worked in both freshwater and marine systems to study the conservation, ecology, and evolution of fishes. Prior to arriving at Shaver’s Creek, Anna led conservation and education initiatives at the Tennessee Aquarium in freshwater habitat restoration, species reintroduction, and community engagement with stewards of working lands in the southeastern United States. She particularly enjoys collaboratively addressing complex conservation problems in a way that sparks collective action among the broader community. She has also taught undergraduate and graduate students at Franklin & Marshall College, Mountain Lake Biological Station, the University of the South, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Whether for work or fun, Anna can usually be found snorkeling, paddle boarding, or otherwise enjoying time on water.
Nature Name: Otter
Siara Glenny (she/her)
Program Registration Coordinator
Siara joined Shaver’s Creek in her current role in March 2023. She provides support to Shaver’s Creek programs by coordinating and facilitating program registration, manages membership and donor databases, and provides general support to operations. She enjoys working with the diverse programs Shaver’s Creek offers throughout the year! Previously, she worked in the bookstore/gift shop and provided visitor services for 4 years. She graduated from Pennsylvania College of Technology with an associates degree in business management in 2017, later obtaining an undergraduate certificate in fish and wildlife management. She grew up locally in Petersburg, enjoying the beautiful woodlands and mountains of Rothrock. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside, reading, getting coffee at a local shop, and spending time with her niece and nephew and the many animals in her life!
Nature Name: Dogwood
Autumn Graham (she/her)
BISCI Educational Coordinator
Autumn graduated from Penn State in the spring of 2022 with a B.A. in journalism. She was a teaching assistant for biological sciences, wilderness literature, and introductory chemistry at Penn State. Additionally, she served as a camp counselor for Shaver’s Creek Outdoor School, where she enjoyed seeing the eyes of the young explorers light up as they participated in outdoor programming centered around developing ecological consciousness. Through these various experiences, Autumn developed a passion for mentorship. This year, Autumn is working under the guidance of Jen Anderson (Shaver’s Creek program director and biology instructor). In this position, she looks forward to continuing to expand her knowledge of environmental science to expand environmental awareness to people of all ages through reflection and mindfulness. In her free time, you can find Autumn singing, reading, writing, caring for her plants, and wandering around Shaver’s Creek. If you see her, feel free to say hello!
Nature Name: Breeze
Nikki Houck
Office Manager
Jon Kauffman
Assistant Program Director
Jon promotes conservation through citizen science projects such as Project Nestwatch, Monarch Watch, Winter Raptor Surveys, and seasonal hawk watches. In the spring, Jon partners with the State College Bird Club to help coordinate the Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch, a major flyway for Golden Eagles. While majoring in wildlife and fisheries science at Penn State, he became aware of the great volunteer opportunities Shaver’s Creek has to offer. Since then, he has been a work-study student and raptor center intern, and has assisted with public programs at Shaver’s Creek. He has served as a hawk-watcher for nearby Tussey Mountain and has also traveled and worked with other organizations such as Cape May Bird Observatory and Intermountain Bird Observatory in Idaho. Jon has a passion for canoeing the Juniata River, native plants, exploring new habitats, and connecting people to the avian world.
Nature Name: Timberdoodle
Mary Krupa (she/her)
Conservation Interpreter
A self-proclaimed “bird nerd,” Mary has been involved with Shaver’s Creek since 2008, when she attended a day camp and fell in love with the place and its resident wildlife. She has volunteered in the Klingsberg Aviary for 15 years and counting, helping to train and care for its wide variety of feathered friends (she loves all of them, but feels a particular affinity with the owls). In 2023, Mary was hired as a conservation interpreter and may be seen delivering impromptu tours of the aviary and herpetarium, presenting “Meet the Creek” programs, or providing a welcoming face at the front desk.
Mary graduated from Penn State in 2016 with a degree in English, a minor in wildlife and fisheries sciences, and a reputation as the campus squirrel whisperer. She has a lifelong passion for all things avian and is thrilled to be able to share her knowledge and excitement for birds and nature with Shaver’s Creek visitors. When not working, Mary enjoys nature photography, birdwatching, and video games.
Nature Name: Plumicorn
Matt Marsden
Outdoor School Assistant Director
Matt has been helping to direct Outdoor School, Discovery Camp, and Kids Corner. He graduated in 2006 from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in environmental interpretation and in 2016 from Slippery Rock University with an M.S. in park and resource management. He likes all things outdoors and enjoys living in Alexandria, PA.
Nature Name: Cardinal
Davis Michael (he/him)
Conservation Interpreter
Davis has been volunteering at Shaver’s Creek for at least eight years and now finds himself as a part-time employee. He first got involved through rock climbing and helping at the kids wall at Maple Harvest Festival. A former SEED student, he is excited to be a part of fostering a love of the outdoors for future generations.
Davis is very involved with disc golf clubs in Centre County and surrounding counties. You will often find him at a disc golf course and occasionally on a climbing wall.
Nature Name: Alpine
Tesha Omeis (she/her)
Summer Camp Program Director
Tesha is the program director for all things summer camp related.
Tesha earned her bachelor’s degree in recreation, park, and tourism management from Penn State in 2005 while being a part of the Shaver’s Creek community in a variety of ways. After graduating she lived and worked in seven different states. From the coastal barrier islands in Georgia to the canyons of Alabama and up into the forests of Connecticut, she enjoyed being immersed in the communities of so many different places while educating youth. She then served two years as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America in the Philadelphia area.
During her off time, Tesha enjoys spending time with plants, exploring new places, and journaling. She values a balance of work that contributes to a healthy planet with invested caretakers and time to explore opportunities to grow as an individual. If she had a bumper sticker physically attached to her that conveyed a message about who she is and what she stands for, it would read “reach your potential and help others to do the same.”
Nature Name: Skye
Joshua Potter (he/him)
Associate Director, Operations
Joshua works to tell the story of Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center and help maintain a vibrant educational facility to support a wide range of credit, noncredit, outreach, and research programming. He is responsible for developing interpretive materials throughout the facility to support Shaver’s Creek’s educational mission and for managing capital improvement projects to support its programs. He also supports the bookstore, program registration, and membership programs. Joshua received his degree in integrative arts from Penn State, focusing on multimedia and environmental education. After seven years working as a naturalist and outreach coordinator for Tin Mountain Conservation Center in Conway, New Hampshire, he returned to his native Pennsylvania to join Shaver’s Creek in 2010. He grew up just over the mountain in Pine Grove Mills and has a long association with Shaver’s Creek—as a summer camper from ages 5 to 18, as a volunteer in high school, as a student and teaching assistant while at Penn State, and now over sixteen years as staff! Joshua also enjoys birding, hiking, and spending time outdoors with his wife, Sarah, son, Ellory, and daughter, Lucy.
Nature Name: Otus (Megascops)
Alexa Sarussi (she/her)
School Programs Director
Alexa coordinates Shaver’s Creek’s partnerships with local school districts and the monthly Community Nature Journaling series. She grew up in Arizona and completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Pomona College and her master’s in science education at Penn State.
When she’s not at Shaver’s Creek, you can find Alexa growing flowers, riding her bike, cooking, baking, and fermenting, especially with locally grown food and in community with others.
Nature Name: Vireo
Brian Sedgwick
Operations Site Manager
Brian manages the use and care of the facilities at Shaver’s Creek and oversees the volunteer program. He coordinates the scheduling of programs and rentals, plans and assigns maintenance work for the site, and communicates with and schedules individual volunteers and service organizations. Brian graduated from Penn State in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management. For 42 years, he was involved in Scouting—becoming a Tiger Cub at age 5, working on staff at Camp Mountain Run, sitting on the Bucktail Council Camping Committee, acting as a merit badge counselor, and serving as a leader for local Cub Scout and Scouts BSA units. Brian has an uncanny knack for pop culture and historical trivia and enjoys Dungeon’s & Dragons, birding, and hockey. Brian, his wife, Johanna, and son, Logan, enjoy cooking, camping, and hiking whenever possible.
Nature Name: Draco
Meredith Sweatlock (she/her)
Conservation Interpreter
Meredith graduated from Penn State with a degree in recreation, park, and tourism management. During her time at Penn State, she discovered Shaver’s Creek and developed a passion for environmental education. Meredith has been involved with Shaver’s Creek as both a student and an intern. She is excited to return as a conservation interpreter and to continue sharing her love of the outdoors with others. Outside of work, she enjoys birding, fishing, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with friends and family.
Nature Name: Minnow
Alex Suleski (he/him)
Wildlife Programs
Alex has worked at Shaver’s Creek since 2021 but transitioned to his role as wildlife program coordinator in 2023. He spends his time organizing and delivering educational programs relating to Shaver’s Creek’s wildlife and conservation messaging. He also works with the ambassador animals and helps students develop skills in program development and delivery. As an educator, Alex strives to provide impactful programming that helps people make connections with our native wildlife and conservation efforts. When he’s not running a program or working with Shaver’s Creek’s ambassador animals, Alex can often be found exploring the trails, fishing, or birding in the area.
Nature Name: Prickly Pear
Paige Sutherland (she/her)
Director of Wildlife Programs
Paige cares for the resident wildlife who call Shaver’s Creek home. She enjoys preparing the ambassador animals for engaging with and educating the Shaver’s Creek community, as well as preparing emerging professionals for impactful careers in wildlife conservation and environmental education. She is passionate about conserving wild beings and places while learning about their unique traits and functions.
Nature Name: Talon
Mike Toolan (he/him)
Musser Gap Conservation Director
Mike manages the day-to-day activities and coordinates projects at Shaver’s Creek’s Musser Gap Greenway property. In this role, he works with volunteers, neighboring landowners, community organizations, local and state agencies, and university faculty, staff, and students to manage the site for recreation, water conservation, interdisciplinary research, education, and ecological resilience. He is passionate about protecting our regional ecology and connecting the community to our many unique natural spaces.
Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and studied forest resource management at Penn State. His work experience includes stints on several farms, habitat restoration projects, and ecological research teams. Mike and his wife live in northern Huntingdon County and enjoy hiking, biking, birdwatching, reading, and countless other hobbies.
Nature Name: Bud
Doug Wentzel (he/him)
Naturalist and Program Director
Doug coordinates the environmental education internship and birding programs and serves as instructor of Principles of Environmental Interpretation (RPTM 325) and Natural History Interpretation (RPTM 326). Doug received his bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from Penn State in 1989 and has served four years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He is sanctioned by the National Association for Interpretation as a trainer of Certified Interpretive Guides and is the current president of the State College Bird Club. Doug also serves on the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center advisory committee, the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology advisory board, and The Arboretum at Penn State’s avian outreach committee. He is married to Susan and they have two sons, Dylan and Duncan. His ongoing interest is fostering the awareness of the diversity of life in our own backyards.
Nature Name: Merlin
Joe Whitehead
Wildlife Programs
Joe Whitehead is the Klingsburg Aviary coordinator where his focus is caring for Shaver’s Creek’s resident ambassador birds, supporting and coaching their emerging professionals, and helping to create meaningful experiences for the many guests who visit. A lifelong lover of birds, Joe has spent most of his career studying and working alongside a variety of species, both in the wild and in his care.
Nature Name: Goshawk
Ellen Will (she/her)
Associate Director; Program Director
Ellen manages the residential Outdoor School program, teaches its companion courses, and assists with the internship program. She believes that camp can change lives and enjoys seeing the interrelationships between the Penn State student leaders and the elementary-aged participants at Outdoor School. Ellen earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies — environmental education from Appalachian State University in 1995, and her master’s degree in environmental education at Slippery Rock University. Her thesis topic was a study of the long-term impact of the Shaver’s Creek internship program (which, by the way, 97% of former interns report was a positive experience and would recommend to a friend). Ellen is a member of the American Camp Association and serves on the PSU Youth Programs Council. Ellen lives in State College with her husband, Thad, and their two sons, Jacob and Nate.
Nature Name: Xylem
Will Wise
Program Director and Instructor
Will’s profile is left as a memorial to our beloved friend and colleague of 15 years. Watch a video meditation and read a tribute in celebration of Will’s memory in a special post.
Will co-directed the Shaver’s Creek Team Development Center. Will was also the director of facilitator development for World in Conversation at Penn State’s University Park campus, where he taught people how to talk about taboo subjects such as race, gender, and long-term conflicts. With more than two decades of experience facilitating team development and group dynamics, Will earned a reputation as a first-rate instructor. Working with groups ranging from corporate entities to adjudicated youth, school students to senior programs, Will helped thousands of people to foster positive communication and self-actualization. He especially loved empowering participants with social skills that can be applied both to within-the-group training and to everyday life. He was certified by the American Canoe Association to teach canoeing and kayaking, and he loved using the outdoors to encourage people to know themselves. He had a degree in forest management from Michigan Technological University, a master’s degree in workforce education from Penn State, and spent five years as the director of Nature’s Classroom, a nontraditional school in New England.
Nature Name: Whip-poor-will
Faculty and Staff Affiliates
Stacey Budd (she/her)
Program Director, Team Development Center
As the program coordinator for the Team Development Center, Stacey designs and facilitates experiences that foster meaningful connections and enhance group dynamics. Stacey delights in creating space for the “a-ha” moments and developing more human-centric work environments where everyone flourishes.
A Midwest native, Stacey earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Grinnell College. When not immersed in organizational culture literature, you can find her out on the hiking trails and waterways of Central Pennsylvania or in the thrift store aisles searching for her next restoration project.
Nature Name: Betula
Ian Marshall
Faculty Affiliate
A Penn State Altoona professor emeritus of English and environmental studies, Ian is the founder of the Shaver’s Creek Long-term Ecological Reflections Project and editor of Reading Shaver’s Creek: Ecological Reflections from an Appalachian Forest (Penn State University Press, 2018), a collection of essays from the first ten years of the project. Ian co-founded the environmental studies program at Penn State Altoona and is a past president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. He is the author of four books of literary ecocriticism, among them Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail (University Press of Virginia, 1998) and Walden by Haiku (University of Georgia Press, 2009), as well as a collection of poems called Circumambulations (Foot Hills Press, 2018). Since retiring from teaching in 2020, Ian keeps busy hiking, biking, paddling, reading, playing tennis, and writing songs.
Nature Name: Hemlock Stones
Chris Ortiz
Program Director, Team Development Center
Chris is the associate director for the Conservation Interpretation team at Shaver’s Creek. He is also the program director for Team Development at Shaver’s Creek and is an instructor for the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management department at Penn State. Chris facilitates and teaches team development, leadership, and group dynamics experiences with schools and university groups, corporations, and sports teams that strengthen relationships, motivate growth, and develop leaders. He regularly presents internationally at conferences where he shares innovative programming and activity ideas. Chris co-authored the second edition of the High 5 Guide: Challenge Course Operating Procedures for the Thinking Practitioner as well as the Ubuntu Activity Guide. He has held leadership roles in both the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) and the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT).
You can usually find Chris at the local climbing gym or exploring trails by bike or boot. Oh… and he loves chocolate.
Nature Name: Mongoose
Amanda Passmore-Ott
Faculty Affiliate
Amanda is an associate teaching professor of English and holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College with an emphasis is poetry and lyric narrative. She teaches creative writing, writing in the social sciences, and adventure literature. Amanda is currently participating in the Long-Term Ecological Reflections Project and is spear-heading an adventure literature class that leads students in also participating in the LTERP at Shaver’s Creek. Amanda is the author of the chapbook, Human Wilderness (Finishing Line Press, 2024), and is currently working on a book-length collection of haibun titled, Ecologies of Self. Outside of the classroom, you can find Amanda hiking and paddling the trails and rivers of central Pennsylvania. The mountains call her and she always answers.
Nature Name: Kestrel