Although she has only 23 of them under her belt, Katie Spengler has packed a lot of living into each of those years.
She’s fought forest fires, been threatened by a wild boar, hunted (for survey purposes only) rattlesnakes, and had close encounters with a variety of dangerous reptiles, including alligators and several species of snakes. Along the way, she’s also managed to graduate from college, study sustainability practices in Cuba, trim and tag salmon with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, and coordinate a state-wide grant-funded educational program.
Oh, and she also loaded boxes for FedEx.
Meet Brewster Conservation Trust’s new Land Stewardship Director.
Katie is a graduate of Northern Michigan University with a BS in Environmental Studies and Sustainability. She is also a former AmeriCorps member, first in central Florida where she served as the land management and monitoring intern with the Nature Conservancy, and then in Traverse City, MI, where she was the education program developer for Michigan’s DNR.
After wetting her whistle with those experiences, Katie set her eyes on a career in conservation. She developed a list of criteria for the ideal position and began poring through job listings. When she saw the posting for BCT’s Land Stewardship Director, she knew she’d found her match, and after a round of interviews, BCT’s executive director Amy Henderson heartily agreed.
Katie has begun training with outgoing Land Stewardship Director Jon Bruce and will be sufficiently up to speed in short order. Jon leaves big shoes to fill, but in case you can’t tell, Katie Spengler loves a challenge. “I am lucky to be here at BCT and looking forward to taking the Land Stewardship Director role to the next level!” she said.