Returning to Chincoteague NWR is something I have been looking forward to since my year long experience here as a Visitor Services intern in 1999. As an intern, I developed and conducted environmental education, interpretive, and outreach programs for students on the refuge and in local schools as well as guided walks, talks, and auditorium programs for the general public.

After gaining further experience in environmental education and interpretation around the country at city parks and private nature centers, I attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where I studied natural resources conservation with an emphasis on education and communication. In 2002, I was accepted into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Student Career Experience Program in which I worked as an Outdoor Recreation Planner (ORP) trainee at the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in Oceanville, New Jersey. At this refuge, I provided the public with information regarding threatened and endangered species and wilderness regulations at the Brigantine Wilderness Area, assisted with special events planning, and assisted biology staff with vegetation monitoring, waterfowl banding, and shorebird surveys.

As a new ORP, I am assisting with environmental education and interpretive programs, special events planning, and staffing the new Herbert H. Bateman Educational and Administrative Center. I am excited to be working with the staff and volunteers at such a beautiful place and look forward to being here year-round.

Laurel Faith
Outdoor Recreation Planner