Fresh Faces, Wild Places: Seasonal Staff on the Career Path
Photos by Steve Miller
Each summer, Wildlands welcomes curious and aspiring college students to join Stewardship Crew, an immersive professional development program designed to blaze career paths in conservation. It takes classroom learning outside to help students gain hands-on experience sustaining and enhancing our 14 nature preserves—for people and nature.
Wildlands has 33+ miles of trails, and the Stewardship Crew (a.k.a. Stew Crew) learns firsthand what it means to keep them safe, open, and accessible, while balancing use and preservation.
Crew members learn and apply best practices in land management, from controlling invasive species and planting native vegetation to improving habitats that support biodiversity. They also assist with field research, contributing to projects that monitor and protect critical wildlife populations.
This year’s Stew Crew brings a mix of passion, skill, and knowledge. Read on to meet the individuals in boots and gloves who keep our spaces WILD…
Make your gift to help conservation careers, like Stew Crew’s, take root right here.
Your support will match their passion with opportunity, and opportunity with success at our 14 nature preserves.
Photo by Steve Miller
Conservation in action
From wayfinding upgrades to invasive species removal, the Stewardship Crew worked tirelessly across Wildlands’ 14 nature preserves this summer. Their efforts were as varied as the landscapes they care for:
- At Burkhart Preserve, they’ve cleared and re-blazed trails to ensure safe, enjoyable hiking experiences.
- At Black River Sanctuary, the crew tackled dense growth and installed new trail posts to improve navigation.
- Meanwhile, the Brenner-Penfield Macungie Mountain Preserve and Reimert Memorial Bird Haven saw a wave of native plantings—trees, shrubs, and wildflowers—all to support habitat restoration.
Some projects are more rugged:
- At Thomas Darling Preserve, foot bridges were constructed to keep trails accessible through wet areas, while new trail segments were cut and shaped by hand.
- Back at Dorothy Rider Pool Wildlife Sanctuary, the team took on everything from landscaping to reviving the PA Tree ID Trail.
Each task deepens their understanding of the field, giving them real-world fieldwork experience while ensuring our preserves remain healthy, accessible, and welcoming to all.
As visitors hike, run, or explore Wildlands’ 14 preserves, we hope they’ll take a moment to appreciate the hands that help keep these wild places thriving.
Photo by Steve Miller
Meet the crew
Ben Wiese
A chemical engineering student at Penn State University, Ben’s connection to Wildlands began as a child exploring Dorothy Rider Pool Wildlife Sanctuary where he completed his Eagle Scout project.
That early experience inspired him to seek summer work in conservation.
“I think that it is essential for us to take care of the environment because the more we neglect it, the harder it will be to recover.”
With years of environmental education and hands-on learning behind him, Ben understood the urgency of protecting natural areas and joined the Stew Crew — eager to spend his summer outdoors while gaining professional experience across Wildlands’ nautre preserves.
Luke Merkel
A recent graduate from Pennsylvania Western University with a degree in Wildlife Biology, Luke came to the crew ready to apply his vast knowledge and expand upon his learning.
“One of the most rewarding things about this job is that the work is satisfying — you know that not only people are going to enjoy it, but also the wildlife itself.”
Having grown up hiking, fishing, and camping with his family, Luke also carried a lifelong connection to the outdoors. For him, conservation means ensuring future generations can enjoy those same opportunities.
Photos by Steve Miller
Mallika Pal
A Lehigh Valley native and graduate of the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Environmental Science, Mallika brought her heart for habitat restoration back home.
“This past summer, I was able to see what worked, what didn’t, and what the most efficient practices were. It was really rewarding seeing the work we could get done and the change we really did make.”
While working as a watershed educator with Lake Champlain Sea Grant, she discovered her drive to pursue restoration work as a career.
Mallika embraced the chance to contribute to the mission right here in her backyard. She describes being drawn to Wildlands’ “balance of adaptive management with strategies like replanting native species after invasive removal, as well as the deep connection that Wildlands fosters between community and nature.”
Mark Stauffer
Mark Stauffer joined Wildlands as another new member of the stewardship crew, bringing a huge passion for conservation with him. With four summers of previous experience working with Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s Conservation Crew and holding a B.S. in Environmental Science from Moravian University, Mark adds a vast amount of experience to the team.
“I have walked the trails of the Dorothy Rider Pool campus many times, so when I learned about this job, it was the best chance to get to see the other Wildlands sites and to help in preserving these environments.”
As a Master Watershed Steward, Mark has completed education and volunteer work through Penn State Extension to further his ability to protect the natural environment.
Hear that? It’s the sound of research
While blazing new trails and maintaining existing networks are vital tasks, they’re among the many facets focused on keeping our preserves healthy and welcoming for all visitors —meaning humans and feathered friends alike.
Wildlands’ conservation interns — Nate Sletvold, Julie Morrison, and Erin Schock — assisted in keeping an “ear out” for bird species this summer by gathering and processing ARU data.
What are ARUs, you ask?
Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) are specialized devices that ‘listen’ to the forest, capturing hours of bird calls and songs. Interns Nate, Julie, and Erin deployed these units across our Pocono-based nature preserves, as well as Black River Sanctuary, situated in the heart of the Lehigh Valley.
What’s wildly interesting is their data drew a circle around some significant numbers for the native Wood Thrush population. Over the past 50 years, Wood Thrush have declined by more than 50%. Intact Pennsylvania woodlands, like those at Black River Sanctuary, provide critical nesting habitat for the Wood Thrush before it migrates to Central America for winter.
These units provide interns with research experience, strengthening their skills to transform and analyze sound data. They’re deepening our understanding of bird populations and how to best manage our forests for declining species like the Wood Thrush.
A season of growth
Grant Andreus
Just as the stewardship crew and conservation interns are learning what it takes to care for our natural spaces. I, too, have been gaining invaluable experience this season as Wildland’s Communication Intern.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading — I wrote this blog post as part of my internship with Wildlands Conservancy.
My name is Grant, and growing up in the Lehigh Valley with nature-loving parents (Shoutout to my dad, a longtime Wildlands supporter and watershed educator!), I was raised with a deep appreciation for the outdoors.
“From Lehigh River Sojourns as a kid to writing stories about the Stew Crew and ARUs today, this internship has been a full-circle moment for me.”
As a Social Media Theory & Strategy student at Kutztown University, I’ve spent the summer creating content, crafting newsletters, and learning what it really takes to tell nature’s story well — and I couldn’t be more grateful. There’s nothing better than mixing passion with profession.
It has been such a wonderful experience working with Wildlands… so much so that I’ve decided to continue through the fall!
Be sure to stay tuned to Wildland’s website and social media pages. This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me!
Photo by Skip Cook
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