Anne Schlesinger - Education Program Manager

Anne was born and raised outside of Boston, MA (yes, she is an unabashed Red Sox fan), but has spent most of the past eight years in upstate New York, where her life-long interest in natural history transformed from hobby to career goal. Anne majored in English Literature in college and minored in geology and decided when she graduated that she wanted to pursue a career that combined her interests in science with her interests in communication and people. In that vein, she completed two interpretation internships with the National Park Service in California and Colorado and loved them so much that she promptly made her way back to New York for a third environmental education internship. After a year of working as an educator at a residential environmental education center in the Catskills, Anne decided to return to school for a masters in Environmental Interpretation at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY. She is passionate about environmental education and is extremely excited to be working as the Program Manager at the Marine Science Consortium.

Ali Redman - College Program Coordinator

Ali grew up in the small fishing town of Westport, Washington. She spent her happiest days as a kid aboard boats, including her own sailing dinghy. Ali received her BA at the University of Washington. Following which, for a brief period, she was a zookeeper in Seattle. After spending five years with terrestrial conservation and education projects in the beautiful archipelago of Indonesia she was convinced she wanted to move advance into marine conservation. She received her master’s degree in marine biodiversity and conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Parker McMullen-Bushman - Special Programs Coordinator

Parker was born in Bronx, New York but her love of nature developed after a family move from the metropolitan New York area to rural southern Georgia. In Georgia she joined the 4-H Club, where she participated in everything from poultry judging to backwoods camping. She spent many years at the Rock Eagle 4-H Summer Camp as a camper, a counselor, and a Special Interest Program Director.

Parker has had many experiences participating and working in all aspects of camp life and youth programming. She has been a counselor, instructor, challenge course director and environmental educator. She spent five summers working at Med-o-lark International Theater Summer Arts Camp in Maine where she was their Adventure Course Director and then their Director of Programming. Parker has also worked at several other camps, non-profit youth agencies, and outdoor education centers over the years including the Boys and Girls Club, Thousand Pines Outdoor School, YMCA Storer Camps, and the Gads Hill Center.

Parker holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She believes in the importance of environmental education because she feels that teaching people about their integral connection to the world around them is the key to the earth's continued survival. Parker's hobbies include shelling, camping, painting, music, photography, and travel.

Alex Vandermeys - School Programs Coordinator

Alex was born in Monterey, CA, and by 3 was acting as a tour guide for her family at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was pretty early to make a career choice, but it turns out it was a good one. Soon after, the family was transplanted to the other coast, and so Alex really grew up in Bowie, MD. She attended the University of Maryland, College Park where she majored in Ecology and Evolution, with a minor in Secondary Education.

She has worked for a number of organizations including the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Jekyll Island 4-H Center. Last spring and summer, Alex was an Educator here at the MSC and is super excited to be back on the Eastern Shore. Some of her hobbies include: reading, walking on the beach, looking for shells, cooking, baking, kayaking, and swimming.

Maggie Pletta - Master Marine Science Educator

Maggie grew up visiting Assateague Island and decided early on this was the place for her. Upon starting college at the University of Maryland College Park she began working every summer as a seasonal interpretive ranger at Assateague Island National Seashore, where her love of teaching and marine science flourished. After graduating from UMD in December 2009 with a BS in Environmental Restoration and Management, she knew that the Eastern Shore of Virginia was where she needed to be and that's exactly where she headed. Maggie will be the MSC Educator seen eating comb jellies and sea lettuce when feeling famished in the field.

Sara Pethick - Marine Science Educator
Since elementary school Sara has been fascinated with all forms of marine life. After graduating from high school in her hometown of Rochester, NY, she moved from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean with the support of her family. She attended Rider University where she studied Marine Science and spent two years dissecting blue crabs. After graduating in December of 2009 she took on outdoor environmental education job at YMCA Camp Orkila on Orcas Island in picturesque Puget Sound in Washington the State. Once two seasons had come to a close, and with an urge to migrate to the East Coast, she moved to YMCA Camp Greenville where she worked as an environmental instructor in the mountains of the Eastern Continental Divide between the Carolinas. However, the beauty of the mountains could not suppress the call of the Ocean, so Sara planned her move to the Marine Science Consortium where she can combine her love of teaching with her love of marine creatures.

Emma Kerr - Marine Science Educator
Emma Kerr was born and raised in Westminster, Massachusetts, a small town in the north central part of the state, no where near Boston. She grew up spending her summers at Mass Audubon camp, where she proudly played a Barbaloot in their summer production of the Lorax. After high school Emma decided to try out city life and attended American University in Washington D.C., where she majored in journalism and minored in environmental science and literature. After graduating in 2010 Emma worked at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge as a Visitor Services intern and became a near professional crabber and pony fact reciter. After her season at CNWR was finished Emma couldn't bear to part with the charming Eastern Shore and is excited to work at the Consortium where she can continue to use her job as an excuse to get very very muddy.

Jonah Sidman - Marine Science Educator
Jonah first discovered his love for science education (and beluga whales) as a high school volunteer at the New York Aquarium. He studied biology at land-locked Oberlin College, graduated in 2009, and moved back to the east coast. In Boston, Jonah worked several education positions at the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science, coordinated youth trips to the Boston Harbor Islands, and worked in a vegan pizzeria. He has since moved to the Eastern Shore and began teaching at the Marine Science Consortium. When he’s not jumping into salt marshes or pondering taxonomy, Jonah spends his time playing fiddle for dances.

Daniel Thayer - Marine Science Educator
Daniel grew up in the highlands of Garrett county MD, where he spent his time enjoying the outdoors in the state parks around Deep Creek Lake. He went to Frostburg State University and graduated in 2008 with a degree in biology. Originally, Daniel wanted to teach secondary
education, but then he fell into environmental education while working for the Maryland Conservation Corps. He realized it was a perfect fit. One day he would like to return to Western Maryland and continue to teaching environmental education.

Office and Support Staff

Mark Baylis - Sr. Boat Captain

John Besecker - Operations Manager

Kennie Godwin - Groundskeeper

Eunice Handy - Cook

Levolia Handy - Cafeteria Shift Leader

Clifton Johnson - Dishwasher

Phyllis Johnson - Cook

Diane Lynch - Registrar

Teshie Moore - Dishwasher

Adell Payton - Housekeeper

Francine Payton - Head Housekeeper

Cynthia Sheppard - Treasurer

Tony Smith - Maintenance Assistant

Robin Townsend - Cafeteria Shift Leader

Linda Wallop - Food Service Manager

Jimmy Whealton - Boat Captain