Meet the Shaver's Creek Staff

Jennifer Bean

Program Director

Jennifer administers Shaver’s Creek’s incoming first-year Penn State student orientation programs: ORION — a six-day wilderness program, and Urban Service Experience — a six-day community service program. She is also an instructor for Adventure-Based Programming Leadership (RPTM 330) and Adventure-Based Programming and Administration (RPTM 440).

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management from Penn State and a master’s degree in environmental studies from Antioch University of New England in 2007. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her husband, Jeremy, and dog, Mocha. She also likes to ski, rock-climb, and find new places to hike.
Nature name: Samara

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Eric Burkhart

Instructor and Plant Science Program Director

Eric provides landscape and forest management leadership at Shaver’s Creek and teaches courses for the School of Forest Resources on tree and shrub identification (FOR 203 Field Dendrology), nonnative invasive plants (FOR 497F Invasive Forest Plants), and herbaceous forest plants (FOR 497B Forest Herbaceous Plant Identification and Ecology). He also assists colleagues at the center with credit courses (RPTM 297G Interpreting Maple Sugaring to Families) offered in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. Working with partners such as the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Eric also conducts research on native plants of economic and conservation importance, such as American ginseng and goldenseal, and offers practical guidance in forest farming, through related workshops and publications.

Eric holds degrees in economic botany (BA, Idaho State University), horticulture (MS, Penn State), and forest resources (PhD, Penn State).

His expertise includes: (1) identification of Pennsylvania plants, shrubs, trees, and vines; (2) native plant horticulture and plant husbandry; (3) economic and folk uses of plants in Pennsylvania and the region; (4) plant conservation and management policy; (5) nonnative, invasive plant identification and management; (6) temperate agroforestry practices (riparian forest buffers, windbreaks, forest farming); (7) nontimber forest products (edible/medicinal fungi and plants).
Nature name: Panax

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Nikki Houck

Office Manager
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Johanna Jackson

Public Programs Assistant

Johanna creates public programs for families and adults. Outside of Shaver’s Creek, she also facilitates dialogues with Penn State students through the World in Conversation, helping undergraduates talk about race, gender, and culture. Johanna came to Shaver’s Creek in 2011 as an intern. Before working here, she worked with the National Park Service and the Wrangell Mountains Center, conducting programming in the remote town of McCarthy, Alaska. 

Johanna enjoys skiing, swimming, constellations, wild edibles, and fresh vegetables from Plowshare Produce.

Nature name: Juniper

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Rod Lee

Program Director and Instructor

Rod directs the Shaver’s Creek Team Development Center and Rock’n River Adventure camps. He teaches RPTM 230 (Teambuilding Facilitation) and RPTM 498F (Rock Climbing Leadership).

Rod is a certified climbing wall instructor and former top rope site manager through the American Mountain Guides Association. He is also a certified ski patroller through the National Ski Patrol and instructor of first aid and CPR through the American Red Cross. He came to Shaver’s Creek in 2003 with more than ten years’ experience in the outdoor education field. On his days off, Rod consults for large companies in the fields of leadership training, cultural intelligence, and team development. He enjoys spending the rest of his time off with his wife, Beth, and their two children, Griffin and Meredith. His interests include climbing, skiing, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, hiking, and travel.
Nature name: Mudpuppy

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Matt Marsden

Assistant Program Director

Matt assists with the Outdoor School and Summer Camp programs at Shaver’s Creek, as well as provides support to our internship program.

Matt graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental interpretation. Before coming to Shaver’s Creek he worked for five years at Stone Mountain Adventures in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, an adventure recreation summer camp. He enjoys birding, surveying the spring amphibian migrations, butterflying, collecting wild mushrooms and other edibles, kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, sailing, rabbit husbandry, organic vegetable farming at the Plowshare Produce CSA, eating and buying as local as possible, playing instruments, playing soccer with the local bunch, and hanging out with his family in State College and Philadelphia.
Nature name: Cardinal

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Laurie McLaughlin

Instructor

Laurie teaches Team-Building Facilitation (RPTM 230), Interpreting Maple Sugaring to Families (RPTM 297G), and First Year Seminar (RPTM 397S) for ORION and USE students.  She directs the Maple Harvest Festival and Coordinates the Block Semester of classes taught each spring at Shaver’s Creek.

Laurie has been affiliated with Shaver’s Creek since 1993, and served as a past director of the team building program. She received a bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management — environmental interpretation from Penn State in 1988 and a master’s degree in experiential education from the University of Colorado in 1992. Her interests include bird watching, traveling, canoeing, cooking, reading, and, most of all, spending time with her husband, Mark, and their two sons, Brian and Sean.
Nature name: Loon

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Mark McLaughlin

Director

Mark teaches First Aid and Safety courses and The Discovery Trip class and is a member of multiple Penn State Outreach committees. He is responsible for cultivating the resources necessary to make Shaver’s Creek successful.

Mark received a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, with a minor in forestry, from the University of Vermont in 1985 and a master’s degree in environmental education from Montclair State University in 1988. Mark likes birding, baseball, fishing, reading, and spending lots of time with his family — Laurie, Brian, and Sean.
Nature name: Goshawk

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Joshua Potter

Marketing Information Coordinator

Joshua works to promote and support the programs, courses, and operations of Shaver’s Creek through various online and print media, festivals, and events. He also manages our bookstore and membership program.

Joshua received a bachelor’s degree in integrative arts from Penn State, focusing on multimedia and environmental education. After seven years in New England working as a naturalist and outreach coordinator for Tin Mountain Conservation Center in Conway, New Hampshire, Joshua returned to his native Pennsylvania to join Shaver’s Creek in 2010. He grew up just over the mountain in Pine Grove Mills and has a long association with Shaver’s Creek — as a summer camper from ages 5 to 18, as a volunteer in high school, as a student and teaching assistant while at Penn State, and now as staff! Joshua also enjoys birding, hiking, and spending time outdoors with his wife, Sarah, son Ellory, and daughter Lucy.
Nature name: Otus (Megascops)

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Tammi Richard

Office Manager
Nature name: Monarch

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Brian Sedgwick

Building Services Coordinator

Brian is responsible for maintaining the facilities and grounds at Shaver’s Creek and coordinating volunteer groups and work-study students. Brian also assists with a wide variety of programming — from school and youth programs to team building and bird of prey shows.

Brian graduated from Penn State in December 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management. For twenty-five years he has been involved in Scouting — becoming a Tiger Cub at age 5, working on staff at Camp Mountain Run, sitting on the Bucktail Council Camping Committee, and being an adviser of Venture Crew 509. His twelve years of summer camp experience includes archery range instructor, director of camp program, and director of the first-year-camper program, before being appointed camp director in 2005. Brian has an uncanny knack for pop culture and historical trivia and enjoys model rocketry, paintball, and hockey. Brian, his wife, Johanna, and son, Logan, enjoy cooking, camping, and hiking whenever possible.
Nature name: Draco

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Douglas Steigerwalt

Program Director of the Shaver’s Creek Raptor Center

Doug is also a lecturer teaching Principles of Interpretive Materials (RPTM 425).

Douglas earned his bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management — environmental interpretation from Penn State in 1992.
Nature name: Polaris

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Jennifer (Brackbill) Steigerwalt

Program Director

Jennifer helps to manage animal care, traveling naturalist programs, interns, volunteers, work-study students, and the Honorary Animal Caretaker Program. She is an instructor for Environmental Education Methods and Materials (RPTM 430).

In 1996 she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental science from Westminster College and a master’s degree in environment and community from Antioch University Seattle in 2001. Jennifer is originally from Port Allegany, in north central Pennsylvania. She and her sons, Isaac and Henry, husband, Doug, and their dogs, Tioga, Penny, and Winston, now make their home in Pine Grove Mills. Her interests include exploring, crocheting, making jewelry, and spending time with friends and family.
Nature name: Prism

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Marie Taylor

Staff Assistant and Assistant Bookstore Manager

Marie supports the management of the Shaver’s Creek bookstore/gift shop operation, our membership program, and the promotion of our many events and programs throughout the year.

A State College native, Marie recently returned to the area after living in Pittsburgh, and is delightfully reconnecting with nature in the Shaver’s Creek woods. She enjoys hiking, swimming, and spending time with her family.
Nature name: Citrine

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Joan Turns

School Programs Coordinator

Joan is responsible for administering the School Day Programs and assists in teaching Environmental Education Methods and Materials (RPTM 430).

Joan earned a bachelor of science in education with a major in biology and minor in chemistry from Shippensburg University in 1970 and a master of arts in education from Wayne State University in 1975. Joan’s relationship with Shaver’s Creek started as a volunteer in 1987, later as an interim staff member, and now as a part-time staff member. She sews many of the costumes used during the Children’s Halloween Trail, Maple Harvest Festival, and Outdoor School. Joan and her husband, Steve, enjoy spending time with family, especially in the outdoors.
Nature name: Tern

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George Vahoviak

Program Director and Affiliate Assistant Professor in RPTM

George is responsible for preservice and in-service teacher education, undergraduate and graduate teaching, interdisciplinary research, and graduate student committees, and assists with festival coordination. He instructs Cultural History Interpretation (RPTM 327), Independent Studies (RPTM 496/596), National Curricula Workshops (RPTM 497F), Natural History for Teachers (RPTM 498E), and Worldview, Sustainability, and Environmental Education (RPTM 597D). As an affiliate assistant professor of recreation, tourism, and park management, he serves as graduate faculty and sits on three thesis committees. He has previously worked with a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Environmental Education grant designed to address youth, schools, and the environment in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. He is also former project director of a DEP Growing Greener Grant and a Watershed Education project, and is assisting with other external funding grant writing with faculty from the Penn State College of Education.

George received a bachelor’s degree in forest science in 1978 and agricultural education in 1980, a master’s degree in agricultural education in 1987, and a doctoral degree in agricultural education/science, technology, and society in 1993, all from Penn State. George also serves as an EMT, EMT instructor, firefighter, and ambulance lieutenant, and enjoys kayaking, fishing, camping, hiking, and woodworking.
Nature name: Hemlock

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Joann Voigt

Office Assistant
Nature name: Phoebe

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Doug Wentzel

Naturalist and Program Director

Doug coordinates the environmental education internship and birding programs and serves as instructor of Principles of Environmental Interpretation (RPTM 325) and Natural History Interpretation (RPTM 326).

Doug received his bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from Penn State in 1989 and has served four years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He is married to Susan, and they have two sons, Dylan and Duncan. His ongoing interest is fostering the awareness of the diversity of life in our own backyards.
Nature name: Merlin

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Ellen Will

Program Director

Ellen manages the residential Outdoor School program, teaches its companion courses and assists with the internship program. She believes that camp can change lives and enjoys seeing the interrelationships between the Penn State student leaders and the elementary-aged participants at Outdoor School.

Ellen earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies — environmental education from Appalachian State University in 1995, and her master’s degree in environmental education at Slippery Rock University. Her thesis topic was a study of the long-term impact of the Shaver’s Creek internship program (which, by the way, 97% of former interns report was a positive experience and would recommend to a friend). Ellen lives in State College with her husband, Thad, and their two sons, Jacob and Nate.
Nature name: Xylem

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Will Wise

Assistant Program Director for Team Development and Adventure Programs for Shaver’s Creek’s Team Development Center

Will is also the facilitation trainer for The World in Conversations Project at Penn State’s University Park Campus, where he teaches people how to talk about taboo subjects such as race, gender, and long-term conflicts.

With more than two decades of experience facilitating team development and group dynamics, Will has earned a reputation as a first-rate instructor. Working with groups ranging from corporate entities to adjudicated youth, school students to senior programs, Will has helped thousands of people to foster positive communication and self-actualization. He especially loves empowering participants with social skills that can be applied both to within the group training and to everyday life. He is certified by the American Canoe Association to teach canoeing and kayaking, and he loves using the outdoors to encourage people to know themselves. He has a degree in forest management from Michigan Technological University, a master’s degree in Workforce Education from Penn State, and spent five years as the director of Nature’s Classroom, a nontraditional school in New England.
Nature name: Whip-poor-will

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Austin Barrett

Austin is an adventure programming graduate assistant and a master’s student in the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Management. He works with Jen Bean to help plan for ORION and the Urban Service Experience while assisting in instructing RPTM 330 and RPTM 440.

Austin comes to Penn State and Shaver’s Creek after recently graduating from Clemson University. Austin is an avid singer-songwriter, hiker, runner, and book-lover.
Nature name: Warbler

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Paul Brigman

Director of Discovery, Explorer, and Wee Wonderers Summer Camps

Paul is currently pursuing a master’s degree in counseling at Penn State and assists with environmental education programming at the center as a graduate assistant.

Paul earned his bachelor’s degree at Penn State in secondary education in 2004 and joined the Shaver’s Creek team in the fall of 2005. He grew up in State College and has been volunteering at the center since 2001. He is a passionate musician and songwriter, storyteller, and birding enthusiast.
Nature name: Palomino

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Lucy (Richardson) McClain

Lucy is a doctoral candidate in the Learning and Performance Systems Department at Penn State and a graduate assistant/researcher at Shaver’s Creek.

Lucy holds a MEd in science education and a BS in archaeological science, both from Penn State. Her research interests include how youth best learn about their natural world in out-of-doors settings, how family members support each other to explore and learn in these settings, and how informal learning institutions, like Shaver’s Creek, can extend their relationship with local schools in order to engage young learners with their local environment.
Nature name: Malachite

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Jessica Shilladay

Jessica is a master’s student in agricultural and extension education at Penn State and serves as a graduate assistant at Shaver’s Creek.

Jessica graduated from Penn State in 2011 with an undergraduate degree in environmental resource management and minors in wildlife and fisheries science, and watersheds and& water resources. As a child of the environment, Jessica’s interests lie within environmental education (EE), with her focus on alternative EE curriculums for middle school students. Jessica loves to camp, fish, canoe, and kayak and would spend all of her days on the water.

She believes that the greatest aspect of environmental education is that it allows students who may not get the chance to experience the outdoors the opportunity to learn by doing and really appreciate and learn from what is in their backyard.
Nature name: Loosestrife

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