Emily now works at Big Lagoon State Park as a park services specialist. She helps coordinate events for the park and volunteers. She also takes the lead on interpretive services and developing programs at the park and a few surrounding parks.
In 2012, Emily began her park service journey by joining the Florida State Parks AmeriCorps. She returned for a second term in 2013 and she finished her AmeriCorps career with 3,400 hours of service.
While working with AmeriCorps, Emily mainly worked to treat and remove non-native plants. She vividly remembers during her term a particular project where she worked with a Brazilian foreign exchange student volunteer to manually remove Cuban bulrush grass (Cyperus blepharoleptos).
As an AmeriCorps member, Emily also worked with volunteers, park employees and visitors, and she learned the powerful role the volunteers play in the parks. She learned how to organize large volunteer events and share her own passions for nature and wildlife with them. These skills led her to her current position as park services specialist at Big Lagoon.
