WPC Staff Member
Amy Jewitt
Pennsylvania iMapInvasives Program Coordinator
Did you know that cleaning your kayak after a jaunt on the water helps protect the environment? Or that removing an invasive shrub like burning bush from your yard and replacing it with a native species can attract birds to your landscape? These are just some things you’ll learn from Amy Jewitt, WPC’s Pennsylvania iMapInvasives program coordinator.
Since 2013, Amy has worked with WPC in the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, inviting people to recognize invasive species such as hydrilla, lesser celandine and round goby, and to care about how these and other invaders negatively affect our ecosystems.
As administrator of the PA iMapInvasives Program and as a WPC representative on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Invasive Species Council, Amy has made it her mission to help people understand invasive species in a relatable way.
Although most people understand the impact of media-popular invasive species (such as spotted lanternfly), Amy says, “many do not have a sense of the breadth of invasive species present in Pennsylvania (estimated at 400+) and how they impact our daily life. “My deep desire,” she continues, “is for the issue of invasive species to be more relatable to people so they can see and ‘feel’ it in a way that compels them to be part of the solution.”
Her arsenal includes newsletters, ArcGIS StoryMaps, documentaries and an annual invasive species scavenger hunt where people can upload information to iMapInvasives …all projects that engage, educate and excite people to take action.
“When my colleague Mary Walsh and I worked with Great Lakes Media & Film on the award-winning film ‘Seeing The Unseen: Aquatic Invaders & What’s at Stake,’ we limited the featured people, places and topics so the overall message was not diluted. We gave viewers hand-picked messages and specific invasive species to remember.”
Growing up as a farmer’s daughter created in Amy a deep love of the land, which compliments her work of protecting Pennsylvania’s natural heritage. She earned a Bachelor of Science, Agricultural Science from Penn State University with minors in Horticulture, International Agriculture and Leadership Development. Now a parent herself, Amy strives to take her three young daughters outside often.
Adorning Amy’s desk is a quote from Maya Angelou that illustrates her passion for helping people make emotional connections to their environment: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Amy was a guest on the PEC’s Pennsylvania Legacies podcast in February 2025. Listen in!
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