Alaska Geographic
Ann Mayo-Kiely, Program Director
The Program Director for Alaska Geographic and the Chugach Children’s Forest, Ann has worked with outdoor education and public lands since the early 1990s, for National Forests, National Parks, universities, and nonprofits. From her first positions volunteering with trail crews and researchers to being an environmental educator in the Boundary Waters and the Wilderness Coordinator for Isle Royale National Park, Ann has loved connecting people with inspiring wild places. She has a Master of Science in Wilderness and Recreation Management from the University of Montana. Ann moved to Alaska in 2008 to join the Chugach Children’s Forest crew, and since then has most loved exploring new places to camp, ski, paddle, hike and learn with kids involved in Children’s Forest programs and her 3 kids.
Molly Schouweiler, Education Program Coordinator
Molly joined Alaska Geographic and the Children’s Forest in 2013 to help document the habitat restoration kayaking expeditions. Molly has continued to lead youth in outdoor expeditions as a co-leader of the Outdoor Club. She also develops and implements environmental education programs in local elementary schools. A student at APU in the Outdoor Studies programs, Molly has worked with kids in Alaska from Ambler to Tatitlek, teaching cross country skiing and sea kayaking.
Eileen Kazura, Risk Management and Education Program Coordinator
Eileen joined the Chugach Children’s Forest Team in Winter of 2016 to help develop programs and coordinate Risk Management. Previously, she spent over five years working with various Conservation Corps Programs, most recently with the Student Conservation Association in Alaska. She’s spent many days in the field and office to provide positive work and life experiences to youth and young adults through outdoor service like trail maintenance and restoration. Eileen has a B.S. in Mathematics and enjoys bringing her analytical nature to the outdoors, promoting critical thinking skills and empowering youth decision-making. She is an active volunteer with Alaska Trails and is a member of the Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board.
Reth Duir, Youth Programs Staff
Reth has been a Program Assistant for the Chugach Children’s Forest since 2015, and is one of the 22 Arctic Youth Ambassadors. In 2013 Reth was nominated to join a Chugach Children’s Forest Kayaking Expedition in Prince William Sound. He went on to work with SCA on a project at Spencer Glacier, and continued to stay involved with the Chugach Children’s Forest. Reth is now completing his degree in Elementary Education at UAA, in addition to his work as an AYA and staff with Alaska Geographic. In his role as a Program Assistant, Reth has grown into a significant role helping to lead and grow youth programs with a goal of making public lands more accessible and relevant to all Alaskans. Reth is a regular volunteer at McLaughlin detention center, and Alaska Boxing Academy he is bringing in exciting new partners to help reach more diverse youth, including UAA’s Multicultural Center and Anchorage Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
Christine Smith, Chugach Children’s Forest Intern
Christine fir
st joined the Chugach Children’s Forest Team as an Environment for the Americas Intern in summer 2016. She worked with a Habitat Restoration Kayak Expedition in Prince William Sound, training a crew of teen volunteers to survey and remove invasive European Black Slugs, and clean up recreational impacts and marine debris on remote coastal areas.
Kate Morse, Youth Expedition Leader
Kate Morse helped to develop the youth expedition series starting in 2009, and currently serves as the trip leader for the Marine Stewardship Expedition in Prince William Sound. Kate has over twelve years experience developing and implementing science and youth leadership programs, nine of these years in the Prince William Sound and Copper River region. She works with Alaska Geographic through her position as Program Coordinator for the Copper River Watershed Project in Cordova, AK. Kate has a B.A. in Ecology from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Oregon. She lives in Cordova with her husband and twin daughters and loves recreating in the Chugach National Forest.
William Melton, Media Specialist and Youth Expedition Leader
Victor Shen, Youth Expedition Leader
Victor has been leading sea kayaking trips in Prince William Sound since 2004. He has also worked for the US Forest Service on the Chugach and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Naitonal Forests. Victor helped to start the Chugach Children’s Forest sea kayaking programs in 2012. He has a degree in Forestry Conservation and Wildfire Management from Humboldt State University and grew up in Whittier Alaska.
Mike Briseno, Youth Expedition Leader
Mike started working with Alaska Geographic and the Chugach Children’s Forest in 2010 as an undergraduate student in Alaska Pacific University’s Outdoor Studies Program, where helped with after school and summer programs based in Anchorage and the Chugach National Forest. Since 2011 Mike has been a trip leader on many summer expeditions, such as Wetlands Ecology in the Copper River Delta, The Prince William Sound Expeditions, and the Ice Patch Expedition in the Kenai Mountains.
Chugach National Forest
Alicia King, Public Affairs/Partnership Staff Officer
Alicia King is the Public Affairs/Partnership Staff Officer for the Chugach National Forest and is located in the Forest Supervisors office in Anchorage, AK. Her job on the Chugach National Forest involves working with partners and exploring opportunities for public engagement on the forest. Alicia has worked as a naturalist, creating and presenting educational programs, and leads bird and nature walks focused on family participation. Alicia is the author of Orvis Beginners Guide to Birdwatching. She served as a host on the BirdWatch television program for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), hosted the Bird Feature segment on Discover the Wild for Wyoming PBS, and created and appeared as the host on the television segment For the Birds for the Indianapolis CBS affiliate WISHTV. Originally a student of nursing, Alicia changed her major to environmental education and continues to enjoy connecting people with nature. Alicia is an active birdwatcher, loves to kayak, hike, cross country ski, and is a certified yoga instructor.
Barbara Lydon, Wilderness Ranger
Barbara Lydon has worked in the Chugach National Forest wilderness program since 2011. Based out of Girdwood, much of her job entails fieldwork in the 2.1 million acre Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area in western Prince William Sound. The work includes an array of wilderness stewardship projects, including air quality monitoring, control of invasive species, marine debris clean-up, monitoring visitor use trends, and public education. Barbara also coordinates the Voices of the Wilderness Alaskan artist-in-residence program–a partnership between the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and US Fish & Wildlife Service. Additionally, she teaches art classes and is a ceramics artist. Before arriving on the Chugach, she spent seven years teaching art in the Colorado public school system and working summers as a wilderness ranger on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.
Tim Lydon, Wilderness Ranger
Tim Lydon works in the Chugach National Forest Glacier Ranger District based in Girdwood. His job centers around the Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area in western Prince William Sound. Tim has been with the Forest Service for over 20 years, mostly on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, arriving in the Chugach in 2011. Most of his career has been in the field of wilderness and he has won a number of awards for his work, including twice being honored nationally by the US Forest Service for innovative wilderness education and stewardship.
Kate Mohatt, Forest Ecologist
Kate Mohatt is a plant ecologist based on the Glacier Ranger District in Girdwood Alaska. She has been on the Chugach National Forest since 2006, performing a number of botanical duties including invasive plant management, sensitive plant surveys and coordinating with partners and groups on stewardship projects for the forest. She works primarily in Prince William Sound and on the Copper River Delta. She is co-organizer for the Girdwood Fungus Fair and the Cordova Fungus Festival and co-authored the Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska brochure. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR and completed a Masters in Plant Science at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT.