WPC Logo

Volunteer treks through bogs, surveys rattlesnakes with field scientists

The Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program conducts research and collects data about plants, animals and natural communities throughout the commonwealth, with an emphasis on species of special concern. Volunteers with this program work with WPC scientists such as botanists, ecologists and herpetologists to support their research. The information gathered through this program is used by state and federal natural resource agencies, townships and municipalities, as well as private businesses and landowners, to make informed decisions about land use.

Anna Therese Kasicky

Anna Therese Kasicky
Anna Therese Kasicky, a 20-year old junior at St. Mary’s College in southern Maryland, needed real-life field experience in her chosen field of biology in order to prove to herself that she had chosen the right path — and to gain practical experience that could eventually lead to a job in her field.

“I wanted to look at conservation first-hand and see what ecologists really do in this field,” said Kasicky, a Pittsburgh native and a graduate of the Ellis School in Shadyside. “I’d taken classes at college, but you don’t experience it firsthand.”

A conversation with a WPC staff member led Kasicky to the Conservancy’s Natural Heritage Program and a summer spent outdoors assisting staff scientists with a range of research projects.

From June through August 2009, she hiked, snorkeled and waded her way through Pennsylvania’s natural areas to assist with research projects. She documented the biodiversity of bogs and fens, and she helped staff ecologists conduct freshwater mussel, rare plant and Massasauga rattlesnake surveys.

“I got to see that I really did like doing the work,” Kasicky said. “I was up to my waist in mud many days; it was an eye-opening experience and I had a blast. I love being outside and studying nature.”

In This Issue:

• Message from the President

  • This issue of Conserve is devoted to the people who make it possible for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to accomplish large-scale outcomes in land conservation, watershed protection, greening our communities and schools, and preserving and sharing Fallingwater... Click here to read more

• Passion for the outdoors fuels hardworking land stewardship volunteers
  • Properties owned and managed by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy require regular maintenance and monitoring in order to protect and enhance their conservation value. Volunteer land stewards play a critical role in supporting this work — serving as the arms and legs, and sometimes the eyes and ears — of WPC on our conserved properties...Click here to read more
• Watershed volunteers create a legacy of cleaner, healthier rivers and streams
  • Protection of Western Pennsylvania’s rivers, streams and lakes begins at the local level, with residents who care deeply about the future of their water resources. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy works with a network of busy volunteers who sacrifice sleep and leisure time to restore and protect their local waterways....Click here to read more
• Garden stewards plant the seeds of civic engagement
  • The work of planting flowers at 140 community gardens in 20 counties requires an army of volunteers — more than 10,000, to be specific. In between WPC’s massive garden plantings in the spring and our garden pullouts in the late fall, garden stewards pluck weeds, deadhead flowers and make the maintenance of Conservancy gardens part of their daily lives...Click here to read more
• Volunteer treks through bogs, surveys rattlesnakes with field scientists
  • The Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program conducts research and collects data about plants, animals and natural communities throughout the commonwealth, with an emphasis on species of special concern. Volunteers with this program work with WPC scientists such as botanists, ecologists and herpetologists to support their research...Click here to read more
• Fallingwater volunteers create lifelong memories
  • Hundreds of people pass through Fallingwater each day — people who have questions, get tired, want to eat lunch or shop, need help with photographs or simply want to talk about their experiences. Fallingwater volunteers help in numerous ways to ensure that guests have positive and memorable visits...Click here to read more
• Easement donations protect family lands
  • Conservation-minded landowners often worry about the long-term fate of their land. Will a lush forest or family farm be altered someday by development or subdivision? If so, what will become of the wildlife the land harbors, or the stream that runs through it? Will the special qualities of the place still be there for future generations?...Click here to read more
• Field Notes: Volunteering: It could change your life
  • The wind had been blowing all morning, piling up the dry snow in small drifts. I recall taking off my day pack and crouching over a thermos of soup with my back against a tree at the edge of a field. It was mid-morning, December 27, 1969, and although chilled, I was excited to participate in my first Christmas Bird Count....Click here to read more
• Tribute Gifts
  • A gift to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is a wonderful way to honor or remember a relative or friend. A special acknowledgement will be sent to the family of the person memorialized....Click here to read more
• The Flexible Gift Annuity
  • The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy offers charitable gift annuities (CGAs) as a way for donors to support our future work with a substantial gift while still receiving income for life from that gift. In exchange for your irrevocable gift, WPC provides you with a CGA that pays you and/or your spouse a fixed income every year for life...Click here to read more