Seasonal educators make up an important part of the staff at Pickering Creek. The current full-time staff consists of six people, three of which were former seasonal staff. Seasonal staff are with us through the school year, from September to the end of May. They play a key role in delivery of our daily field experiences with students from Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester and Wicomico counties. In addition to programs at the Center they conduct programming with the permanent staff at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Sire, Izaak Walton League Forest, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and Tuckahoe State Park as well as teaching programs at school classrooms with our partnering school districts. This school year’s seasonal staff are Benni Marques and Marisa Mengel. They join six full time staff and three year-round part-time staff at the Center.
Marisa’s career in environmental education started three summers ago, when she took up a summer job working in the nature center at Martinak State Park. There, she would show people of all ages around the building and introduce them to what the park has to offer during their visit. She eventually got more involved in working with the park’s Maryland Conservation Corps crew in programming and assisting with their Park Pals and Junior Rangers programs, along with their Adventure Camp programs. Marisa fell in love with environmental education and immediately switched her major in school from Psychology to Environmental Science. This passion for the outdoors only grew as she learned more about environmental science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where Marisa eventually graduated from this spring with a degree in Environmental Science and Geography.
Her initial plans after college were to serve as a member of the Maryland Conservation Corps starting this fall. However, due to them having to change funding, that fell through. Marisa says, “As I was looking for a job my state park supervisor sent me an email from Pickering Creek about seasonal educator positions opening and I decided to apply. I had also gone to Pickering Creek for a high school field trip and remembered loving it so I’m very excited to provide that experience to other students.”
About her interest in the outdoors Marisa says, “Growing up, I always loved playing outside and learning about environmental science at school. We wouldn’t be here without the Earth so it’s always been very important to me to protect and share with others the beauties of it, from tiny little insects to grand landmarks. Naturally, I was drawn to environmental education, where I can both conserve and educate others about my local ecosystem.”
Benni Marques is our new seasonal school-year educator. They come to us from Boston, Massachusetts and studied Environmental Studies and Religion with a minor in Public Health at Mount Holyoke College. They gained interest in environmental education while working as a Coastal Education Intern at a Massachusetts Audubon Education Center in Newburyport, MA. After graduating, they brought their interest in coastal waters and education to the Neponset River Watershed as the 2023-24 Environmental Science Fellow. Following that positions, they explored the world beyond Massachusetts and moved to Vermont to serve in ECO AmeriCorps as the LaRosa Program Assistant Coordinator. Benni was attracted to Pickering Creek because they were interested in an experienced dedicated to environmental education, wanted to continue exploring states outside of New England, and love the positive energy that students bring to exploring the great outdoors.
Benni says, “I first became interested in the outdoors when I started exploring with my dad, who would load up the family into the car and drive us around until he found something pretty for us to see. I decided that I wanted to make going outside part of my personality during the earliest phase of the pandemic when I had a lot of time to explore on my own.”
Pickering staff are with school groups every day from September through December. If you are out at the Center for a walk any morning you may catch a glimpse of either Benni or Marisa as they head off to the wetland or forest with a group of school children.
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