SCA and NPS Celebrate 65 Years of Partnership Virtual Event

There are six pictures featured. Going clockwise from the upper left corner: A black and white photo of a group of men; An NPS staff in uniform; A Park staff member in uniform; An SCA member smiling with backpack on; An SCA member smiling in the SCA shirt
A collage of photos celebrating the NPS/SCA 65-year partnership

Courtesy of the Student Conservation Association

 

 

Event Details


On Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 4:00pm ET, join the National Park Service Youth Programs Division and the Student Conservation Association (SCA) for our virtual event, "Cheers to 65 Years: Celebrating the NPS Partnership with SCA." In 2022, SCA also reached the milestone of placing more than 100,000 members into the field since 1957. SCA members have left their footprint at many local, state, and national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, and coastal areas in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and American Samoa. SCA’s network of 100,000 alumni has global reach with folks living and working throughout the USA and as far away as New Zealand. From Olympic National Park and Grand Teton National Park, where it all began, to state parks and urban green spaces in so many city centers, SCA was the first organization to establish a youth corps of its caliber and has become a model for the current Corps movement. The event is open to the public and will be recorded. We will have live captioning and an ASL interpreter. Please note, speakers are subject to change.

Missed the event? Watch it on our NPS YouTube channel, or follow the NPS Youth Programs Facebook page to watch it on our Facebook page. Scroll down to see a screenshot of the speakers and panelists from the event.

Program

Introduction

  • Patricia Malizia, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement and Direct Response, Student Conservation Association
  • Floyd V. Myers, Acting Chief of the Youth Programs and the Experienced Services Program Division, National Park Service

Panel Discussion (all SCA alumni)

  • Amie Schiller, Stewardship Coordinator, Minnesota Land Trust
  • Angie Quezada, Former Student Conservation Association Member
  • Chris Setley, F-35 International Logistics Lead, Department of Defense
  • Donna Shaver, Chief of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery, National Park Service
  • Jay Fennell, Hydrogeologist, Water Quality Program Specialist, Washington Department of Ecology

Q&A Session

Closing Remarks

Moderator

  • Kyle Yarusso, Volunteer and Youth Programs Coordinator, National Park Service

Watch the Event Recording

 
Screenshot of panelists and speakers
Screenshot from left to right: ASL Interpreter; Floyd V. Myers (NPS); Amie Schiller (Minnesota Land Trust); Chris Setley (U.S. Department of Defense); Angie Quezada (SCA Alum); Jay Fennell (Washington Department of Ecology); Donna Shaver (NPS); Kyle Yarusso (NPS); Patricia Malizia (SCA)

NPS Photo

Have any questions? Please email us! In case you missed the event, read the event recap.

 
Kyle Yarusso smiling in uniform
Kyle smiling in uniform

Photo Courtesy of Kyle Yarusso

Kyle Yarusso (moderator) is the Volunteer and Youth Programs Coordinator at Rock Creek Park. In his role, he oversees a volunteer program that engages many partner organizations and over 5,000 volunteers annually. Additionally, he works with youth organizations to provide internships and trail crew opportunities within the park. He has also worked at Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and at President’s Park (White House). Kyle began his tenure with the National Park Service serving as a Student Conservation Association Americorps member, planning and putting on events to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial in 2016. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Science and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. In his free time, Kyle likes to run, hike, camp, and explore new places.
 
Patricia smiling in front of falls
Patricia smiling outdoors in front of a falls

Photo Courtesy of Patricia Malizia

Patricia Malizia is the Senior Director of Alumni Engagement and Direct Response for the Student Conservation Association. She has been with the organization since 2017 and is also a proud alumni. She served in Yosemite National Park on a revegetation crew and in the Helena National Forest on the Continental Divide Trail leading an alumni crew. She is passionate about developing programs that make a difference in peoples' lives by supporting, engaging, and involving all. She wants to create positive and meaningful experiences for people and help them make connections.
 
Floyd Myers smiling
Floyd smiling

Photo Courtesy of Floyd Myers

Floyd Myers is currently the National Park Service Acting Chief of Youth Programs and the Experienced Services Program Division. He has 15 plus years of expertise in cultural and natural preservation, visitor interpretation, and national park system management experience. He started working at the National Park Service in his position at the National Parks of New York Harbor and has also held Executive Management positions at the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, the Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and the Booker T. Washington National Memorial. Most recently, he served as the Acting Deputy Superintendent for the Martin Luther King National Historical Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
Donna Shaver smiling in uniform
Donna Shaver smiling in uniform

Photo Courtesy of Donna Shaver

Donna Shaver is the Chief of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery for the National Park Service. Dr. Shaver began her career at Padre Island National Seashore as a Student Conservation Association intern in 1980 and eventually joined the staff full-time, helping to guide an innovative program that reintroduced Kemp's ridley sea turtles to Padre Island’s beaches through experimental imprinting and head-starting. Recognized today as one of the world’s foremost authorities on sea turtle conservation, Dr. Shaver has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sea Turtle Society, among many other honors.
 
Amie Schiller smiling outdoors
Amie smiling outdoors

Photo Courtesy of Amie Schiller

Amie Schiller currently serves as the Stewardship Coordinator at the Minnesota Land Trust. Prior to her work at the Land Trust, she served in several positions with the Student Conservation Association and the National Park Service in beautiful landscapes across the United States, including Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, and at the Washington D.C Office. When she is not working, Amie can be found adventuring with her partner and pup, or out looking for birds in the woods. She has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont with a minor in GIS and was just recognized as a 2022 MN GIS/LIS Emerging Professional Award Winner.
 
Jay Fennell posing outdoors while on a hike
Jay posing outdoors while on a hike

Photo Courtesy of Jay Fennell

Jay Fennell is a hydrogeologist within the Water Quality Program at the Washington State Department of Ecology. In this role, he administers permits and inspects mining operations and industrial facilities to ensure that their activities do not impair surface water or groundwater resources. Originally from Southeast Washington, D.C., Jay began his professional pursuits as a member of the Student Conservation Association's Historic Preservation Corps at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in 2014, helping to restore lodge buildings at Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec and at the historic Millbrook Village. After completing this program, he joined the backcountry trail crew at Rocky Mountain National Park for the 2015 season, primarily to repair trails damaged during the 2013 Colorado Floods. Jay's pursuit of a career in the environmental field would transport him across the country and from the southwest to the Arctic Circle, all the while fostering an appreciation for the complexities of natural resource management. Jay holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Geology with a minor in mining engineering,. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Applied Geosciences at the University of Washington. Choice pastimes include reading, snowboarding, indoor rock climbing, and rollerblading.
 
Angela smiling while holding tree branches in her SCA uniform
Angela smiling while holding tree branches in her SCA uniform

Photo Courtesy of Angela Quezada

Angie Quezada is a recent Student Conservation Association (SCA) alum. She began her SCA experience in high school as a crew member in 2013. She graduated from Augustana College with a B. A. in Environmental Studies with a double minor in Latin American Studies and Geography. While in college, she kick-started and coordinated an after-school Environmental club for children between kindergarten to 5th grade in 2019. Later, she interned with the TEENS Program at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum as an Education intern for Highschoolers. She continued her SCA experience after TEENS and served with the SCA's Chicago Women's Crew in 2020. She returned as Youth Crew Lead in the summer of 2021 and was formerly the Alumni Engagement fellow with the SCA earlier this year. She recently completed her fifth SCA season with the SCA Idaho Corps, which was her first SCA experience outside her hometown of Little Village, in Chicago, IL, for work. Some of her projects were done at City of Rocks National Reserve, She plans to continue to work with SCA's partners, including the National Park Service or the U.S. Forest Service, to educate the community on the importance of our surrounding environment and how to protect it for future generations.
 
Chris holding up a block of ice smiling
Chris holding up a block of ice

Photo Courtesy of Chris Setley

Chris Setley is the International Logistics Lead at the F-35 Joint Program Office in Arlington, VA. He served with the Student Conservation Association at Cedar Breaks National Monument as an Interpretive Park Ranger. Chris also served a tour in the U.S. Marine Corps.These early-career experiences provided solid ethical and professional foundations that he has continued to build on. With a specialty in sustainable technology systems, Chris appreciates the need for conservation in many aspects of life. He is an active advocate of diversity in the workplace. Outside of work, Chris enjoys enhancing his fishing and cooking skills.
 

Additional Resources


Watch a special video from Liz Putnam, the founder of SCA: https://vimeo.com/369600041/992db1b269

Learn about the SCA 100K celebration and ambassadors: https://www.thesca.org/SCA100k

Meet the Alumni Council: https://www.thesca.org/connect/alumni-council

Travel back in time through SCA's 65 years: https://www.thesca.org/about/timeline-%E2%80%93-first-65-years

Last updated: June 7, 2023