Since the beginning of Nature Up North ten years ago, four amazing, unique, talented Project Managers have graced the office of Bewkes 122, the Kip Trail and Wachtmeister Field Station, and many more local outdoor spaces. To celebrate our ten year anniversary that their years of work helped us get to, we reached out to see where they are now and what they have been up to since leaving Nature Up North. Read on to learn about the many varied adventures of Erin Siracusa, Jacob Malcomb, Emlyn Crocker, and Madison O’Shea. 

And stay tuned for a special podcast episode where we’ll be chatting with them more about their favorite and funniest Nature Up North memories, where they’ve been, what their time at NUN means to them now, and more. 

Erin Siracusa, October 2012 - August 2013 (1st Photo)

I am a behavioural ecologist who is broadly interested in the evolution of social behaviour. I finished my stint as the Project Manager for Nature Up North in August of 2013 and started a PhD program in Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph in Canada. During my time at Guelph, I worked with Dr Andrew McAdam on the Kluane Red Squirrel Project - a long term research initiative studying the ecology, evolution, behaviour, and energetics of red squirrels in the Yukon, Canada. During my PhD I explored how the social environment can affect the behaviour and fitness of a species typically understood to be solitary. Some of the research from my PhD demonstrated important benefits of familiarity with territory neighbours and showed that the benefits of these long-term relationships were particularly important in later life and could potentially offset age-related declines in fitness. This got me thinking about how social relationships might affect the aging process and lead to the work that I am doing today. 

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter in the UK. I am working with Dr. Lauren Brent and have spent the last couple of years exploring the causes and consequences of age-based changes in social behaviour across the lifespan. I am interested in trying to understand how and why social behaviour changes as individuals get older, and what knock-on effects this has on aging across other bodily systems. This work uses a population of rhesus macaques on the island Cayo Santiago in Puerto Rico as a model system to explore these questions and to offer insight into the role of social relationships in the aging process in humans. 

When not behind a computer analysing data or in the field watching animals, you can usually find me hiking and camping around the southwest coast of England or in the highlands of Scotland. I have also developed a particular passion for wild swimming since moving to the UK - which involves getting into some pretty icy cold water at all times of the year! Generally, I just love doing anything that gets me outdoors. I remain really passionate about science communication and endeavour to write about my research for a broader non-science audience when I can - you can find some of these articles in The Conversation. I still think about my time as the Nature of North Project Manager with great fondness. 

Erika is one of my favourite people on this planet and I love working with her- she is without doubt one of the main reasons I am a biologist today. Nature Up North was a wonderful opportunity for me to stretch my legs as a budding environmental educator and to promote outdoor engagement in one of the places near and dear to my heart - the North Country. Perhaps because I love outdoor fires so much (and rarely get to experience them in the UK!) the community campfires are absolutely one of my favourite memories. Engaging with community and music around an open fire on a summer evening and watching the stars slowly come out - it doesn't get much better. It was also a great joy to watch the Nature up North brand begin to take shape and grow into the wonderful citizen science and environmental education initiative that it is today. It makes my heart very full to see how much the project has grown since its early days and I am grateful to have had a small role in shaping the project that it has become. 

Jacob Malcomb, August. 2013 - January 2017 (2nd Photo)

After leaving NUN at the beginning of 2017, I enrolled in a PhD program in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. My research focused on how climate and atmospheric pollution affect how eastern US forests cycle carbon and water. I collected tree cores at a network of sites from Virginia to Maine, including some sites where soil nutrients had been experimentally manipulated in entire watersheds to simulate the effects of acid deposition. We found some cool (I think) results -- unique responses of sugar maples to soil nutrient modifications, divergent responses of evergreen and deciduous species to recent environmental changes, among others -- some of which are published, and others that I'm still working on getting through peer review. I graduated with my PhD last May.

In June I started working for Climate Investment Partners, a Virginia-based firm that develops forest conservation and restoration projects for the voluntary carbon market. Most of my work has been focused on Indonesia -- we are working on restoring mangrove habitats degraded by aquaculture, and we are developing forest conservation projects on lands that would otherwise be converted to industrial palm oil or pulpwood plantations. I was able to travel there in November and spent a couple weeks in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) -- it was an amazing experience. It's quite a departure from my PhD work but I'm enjoying working on applied conservation projects, and grateful I can work remotely from Canton.

As for NUN memories... Some of the more memorable events were campfires with entertainment by Barb Heller, Bill Smith, and Len Mackey, naturalist walks at Stone Valley and Lampson Falls, evening paddling events in the summer, and a garlic mustard pull and pesto-making event with TAUNY. Helping folks get outdoors who might not otherwise, or knowing that you helped someone view nature in a new way, was always gratifying. 

Working with local K-12 educators who were interested in incorporating more nature-based, hands-on activities into their curricula was always inspiring. It was fun to develop the Monitor My Maple project, which I think is still operating in local schools. It has been cool to watch NUN's citizen science offerings grow from afar. Working with SLU students was also fun, and it was awesome to see our interns pursue their interests and grow their talents. India Harvey made awesome videos. Justin Dalaba was a great photographer. Cailand Sweeting made amazing fairy houses. David Pynchon had excellent graphic design skills. Heron Hetzler had an amazing knowledge of local edible and medicinal plants. Krista Sonia put on fantastic, well-organized events. There were many other talented students not mentioned here.

Two wildlife sightings stand out: (1) encountering a baby great horned owl on the Sandbanks trails (2) Seeing a mother moose and her two calves near Seavey's corners while driving a group back from a summer solstice hike up Mount Arab. 

And finally, working with Erika was always fantastic -- her smarts, energy, and enthusiasm are second to none.

Emlyn Crocker, January 2017 - January 2020 (3rd Photo)

I now live in western Maine and work as the Outreach Manager for Kezar Lake Watershed Association. Myself and my partner, Aaron (and our dog River), live on a few acres of land and are looking forward to building a house next year. In the meantime, we’re living in a bus we converted into a tiny house during the pandemic and working on property improvements. After leaving Nature Up North in early 2020, I took a few months to drive cross-country and visit family in Arizona before starting a master's program in Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut. My favorite Nature Up North memories are summer campfires and paddles, intern orientation, school programs, and building relationships with community members and partner non-profits. My experience at NUN led me to pursue graduate work in human dimensions of natural resources, and I am slowly but surely finishing up a thesis examining collaboration among the Connecticut forest management community. Like the North Country, western Maine has tight-knit conservation and farming communities, and I am enjoying the process of building community and establishing roots in my new home. 

Madison O’Shea, January 2020 - August 2020 (4th Photo)

After my time at Nature Up North ended, I worked as an after school educator at Northwind After School program through Cornell Cooperative Extension for a year. During that time, I was writing lesson plans and teaching kids K-6 about a variety of topics surrounding science, culture, mindfulness, etc. We spent quite a bit of time outdoors and doing hands-on activities. I have also been working on my Master's for the last three years to become certified as a school counselor, school adjustment counselor, and mental health counselor. I've been in MA the last two years working as a reading and math tutor and then completing my year-long internship program. I will be graduating this May and I'm in the process of applying for school counseling jobs in CT right now since I will be moving there at the end of the summer!

My favorite memory from my time as Project Manager was working with all of the summer interns, including you! Because my time as project manager was at the beginning of the pandemic, we all had to get really creative. We had a virtual 7K that year and started the Naturally Speaking Podcast! I was really inspired by everyone's willingness to problem solve and make the absolute best of our virtual time together.