Community Spotlight: Ben Regester, Wake County Coordinator

Our core staff keeps on growing! We are so, so excited to introduce our newest staff member for today's Community Spotlight: Ben Regester, Wake County Coordinator. (He's the one on the left!)

A North Carolina native, Ben grew up an hour west of Durham in Greensboro, NC. "I've always felt very connected with nature," Ben says, "especially animals." This love for the natural world led him to attend North Carolina State University, where he graduated last May with degrees in Environmental Science and Marine Biology and a minor in Environmental Education.

When Ben joined PWC as a camp counselor in Fall 2023, our Education Team quickly recognized his leadership skills, nature knowledge, and passion for teaching. He officially became our new Wake County Coordinator in January, and is already making big plans for summer and fall camps at Umstead State Park!

Ben was drawn to work here at PWC because of the opportunity to work outside and share his love for nature. "My favorite part of working with campers is watching them develop skills and friendships over the course of the season," Ben says. His favorite activities to lead in camp are "nature-based crafts like pottery or leaf rubbings" where campers can learn about the environment while letting their creativity run wild.
His favorite PWC Ambassador Animal? "Parsley," Ben says, "because of her funny personality and wiggly nose!" When he's not planning or leading camps at PWC, Ben enjoys building banjos and snuggling with his two cats. He also likes hiking, swimming, and "just existing outside."

We can't wait to see how our Wake County programs grow under your leadership, Ben. Welcome aboard!

Community Spotlight: Irene Faust

This month, we’re highlighting a member of Piedmont Wildlife Center’s dedicated and hardworking Board of Directors! Meet Irene Faust, board member and raptor care volunteer.

Irene joined PWC as a raptor volunteer in Fall 2022, shortly after moving to the Triangle from southern California with her husband and three rescue dogs to live closer to her daughter. Last year, she decided to get even more involved by joining our board of directors! As a retired primary care physician, Irene brings her passion for human (and animal) wellbeing to everything she does at PWC.

Irene’s interest in public health and animal welfare has taught her the importance of empowering people to protect our environment. “I believe that the more we do to educate people, young and old, about conservation, the more likely we are to have a world for our grandchildren,” she says. “As a physician, I know how important interaction with the world and with nature is to our mental health.”

While the focus of Irene’s work at PWC has shifted since becoming a board member, she continues to volunteer with Conservation Team as one of our raptor feeders. “I have still not lost my awe at seeing these birds up close,” Irene says. “They have encouraged me to read more about owls and other birds. I love watching the public watch the birds, and hope that it motivates them to be involved in conservation.”

Irene’s favorite Ambassador Animal at PWC? Juniper the great-horned owl, because “she looks so cool and has such fuzzy toes!”

When she’s not writing our end-of-year letter, attending board meetings, or caring for our raptor Ambassadors, Irene enjoys hiking on the Triangle’s many amazing trails. “Since moving here, we’ve enjoyed Umstead and the Eno parks, along with some local trails,” says Irene. “I can walk to University Lake from my house through the woods and along a creek so I can watch birds and turtles.”

We’re so grateful to have you on our board, Irene! Thank you for all the ways you’ve helped us connect people with nature over the last year and a half. We can’t wait to see how you help PWC grow in the future.

Community Spotlight: Dave "Crescent" Cook

What makes Piedmont Wildlife Center's outdoor education programs the Best Summer Camp in Durham? It could be the supportive, close-knit community among our campers and staff. It could also be our hands-on approach to nature education through fun skill-building activities and games. Maybe it's that we get to use some of the best parks in the Triangle as our classroom, or the occasional exciting visit with our Ambassador Animals. Or maybe it's how much fun we have climbing trees and wading in creeks!

But at the end of the day, it's our amazing staff (and their passion for sharing the wonders of the natural world) who really set our camps apart. This month, we're celebrating an educator who goes above and beyond to help our campers connect with nature: Dave Cook, better known by his camp name Crescent!

A longtime outdoor educator, Crescent has spent most of his life here in the Piedmont, learning its plants, animals, and ways. He joined our staff as a specialty counselor in Summer 2023 because, in his words, he wanted to "help give children the opportunity to develop a relationship with nature." Crescent quickly impressed the rest of our team with his vast knowledge, musical talents, and ability to inspire campers! When summer camp ended, Crescent opted to stay on with us as a lead counselor in our Homeschool in the Wild program.

Crescent's favorite part of working with our campers is their enthusiasm for life. His favorite outdoor skill to teach at camp? "Fire," Crescent says. "Definitely fire." When he's not leading camp at PWC, Crescent enjoys playing music, cooking, reading books and poetry, and wandering. He also enjoys connecting with nature by walking outdoors. While he likes all animals, his favorite bird is the crow!

Thank you, Crescent, for sharing your expertise, mentorship, and sense of fun with us this year. We're so grateful to have you on our team, and we know our campers have grown so much learning from you.

Community Spotlight: Rachel Lithman & NetApp Serves

If you’ve visited us at Leigh Farm Park recently, you may have noticed that some of our raptor enclosures are getting on in years – especially the standalone enclosure that used to house Otus, our elderly flightless screech owl. After Otus passed this summer, our Conservation Team knew we’d need to rebuild it before another bird could live there. Luckily, we’ve had extra helping hands on this project from NetApp Serves – including this month's Community Spotlight, Rachel Lithman!

Rachel Lithman grew up here in Durham, NC, and loves that she can call the Bull City home. She works as a technical writer at NetApp, a global data infrastructure company with a branch office in nearby Research Triangle Park.

Luck led Rachel to volunteer with Piedmont Wildlife Center. NetApp’s volunteer program, NetApp Serves, enables their employees to support causes they care about by granting them 40 hours of paid Volunteer Time Off to volunteer with local nonprofits. The company also donates an additional $15 per volunteer hour to the charity of the employee’s choice!

Rachel happened to search NetApp’s volunteer portal for outdoor opportunities at just the right time to find PWC’s call for volunteers to help re-build our screech owl enclosure. As an avid nature lover, Rachel knew this would be a great way to give back to the wildlife she loves. “Nature is so important to me and to all of us,” she says. “I love walking outdoors, gardening, showing my son local wildlife, and just being one with nature.”

Over the last few weeks, Rachel has worked closely with PWC’s Conservation Team and former Executive Director Gail Abrams to tear down our aging enclosure and begin constructing a new one. As of November 15th, the new enclosure is nearly finished! (See pictures of the enclosure in progress below.) Rachel’s favorite part of volunteering with PWC? “My favorite part of volunteering has been working with Noelle, Gail, Kaitlin, Cam, and Briana,” she says, “and learning from you all.”

When Rachel isn’t working at NetApp or volunteering, she enjoys traveling the world, hanging out with her cats Orion and Cleo, and spending time exploring the Earth’s beauty. She is passionate about preserving natural landscapes and wildlife, both in NC and beyond! Her favorite animals are owls, falcons, and big cats of all kinds.

We feel so grateful for the help Rachel and NetApp have given us this fall. Building a new raptor enclosure can be a long and expensive process, costing more than $5,000 in materials and months of physical labor. Volunteers like Rachel allow us to complete this project in a fraction of this time, and NetApp has generously offered to cover the cost of building materials. Their support will directly improve the lives of our Ambassador Animals – and, in turn, allow us to connect even more people with nature in 2024 and beyond!

Thank you again, Rachel, for volunteering to help us with such a huge project. We’re so grateful to have you in our community, and we hope to see you and other NetApp employees back at PWC again in the future!

Community Spotlight: Camryn Jefferson

Did you know that during our 2022-23 fiscal year, PWC conservation educators taught 5,232 kids, teens, and adults about wildlife? As demand for our wildlife programs grows, our Conservation Team is growing, too. Join us in welcoming Camryn Jefferson, our newest Conservation Assistant!

Cam grew up in Wilmington, NC, and attended NC State University, where she earned a B.S. in Zoology. While in college, she conducted research at the North Carolina Zoo, where she studied zoo-housed giraffe behavior and welfare. After graduating, she worked for Alabama Audubon, researching human disturbances to nesting shorebirds.

Cam brings a wealth of wildlife research and animal husbandry experience to her role here at PWC. She works closely with Kaitlin Saxton, Research & Husbandry Coordinator, to make sure our Ambassador Animals receive the best possible diet, enrichment, and housing. They recently finished building a new, larger enclosure for Pepper the opossum, and have started constructing an outdoor box turtle enclosure as well.

"At PWC, you never know what each day will entail," says Kaitlin. "Cam has welcomed every challenge and has an eagerness to learn and improve that makes her a perfect fit for Conservation Team!"

When not studying animals, Cam loves hiking, gardening, and scuba diving. Her favorite Ambassador Animal at PWC? Jade the eastern rat snake!

Thank you, Cam, for everything you've brought to PWC so far. We love having you around the cabin, and we're so excited to see how our Conservation department grows with you as a valued team member.