Hi! My name is Kelly and here is my story:
It all began in the year 1979. My parents met in their native country of Holland and immigrated to Atlanta, Georgia in hopes of pursuing the American dream. Three years later I was born and the world has never been the same since...
I grew up in Marietta, Georgia during the 1980s and 1990s. A budding biologist from the very beginning, my life in the 1980s was filled with poor fashion choices and trips into the neighborhood woods in search of interesting flora and fauna. I often came home to impress Mom with buckets full of tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, caterpillars, salamanders, green anoles, little brown snakes, and the occasional turtle. The 1990s were dedicated to reading mass quantities of books from the local library; traveling to the motherland (Holland); playing soccer throughout the eastern United States; figuring out ways to con Mom into adopting more rescued dogs and cats into the family; and playing dress-up/writing plays with my little brother, David.
In order to build on my fascination with the natural world, I attended the University of Georgia and graduated with a degree in Wildlife Ecology in 2006. Throughout college, I worked as a naturalist at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, a research assistant in the Wetland Ecology lab at UGA, a lab assistant in the Urban Entomology lab at UGA, and a Wildlife Ecology Lab intern at the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center in Newton, Georgia. Upon graduation I immediately landed a job as an ecologist with Greenhorne and O'Mara, an engineering consulting firm.
After two years in a corporate setting, I decided that I wanted to branch out and find a place where I would be able to better utilize my ecological knowledge, interpersonal talents, and passion for educating others. I found that place at Cochran Mill Nature Center and am ecstatic about taking on all the joyous challenges that are associated with being the new Environmental Education Coordinator.
In my spare time I love reading, sewing, painting, drawing, herping, knitting, dancing, biking, kayaking, cooking, writing, and spending time with loved ones. I also absolutely adore animals. I have two rescue dogs, Osmo and Mazzy; a cat, EAOP-ie; a rabbit, Elliott; and an outgoing tortoise, Pyxis. My favorite scents include lavender and vanilla.
My ultimate dream is to one day be as fabulous a creature as my dog, Mazzy, who volunteers her time as a therapy animal and goes to work with my mom weekly to spend time with mentally disabled adults.
On February 25, 2006 my brother David was killed in a pedestrian hit-and-run in Marietta, GA. After making it through two of the most difficult years of my life it is time to continue moving forward. I am so grateful for my mother, my friends, my incredible furry family members, yarn, nature, sewing machine, and books; because without the love, encouragement, laughter, licks, and challenges from these people, "daemons", and inanimate objects, I seriously doubt that I would be alive today.I decided to start this blog as a way to catalog completed projects, ecological resources, read books, sources of inspiration, news articles, and random crap for myself, my friends, and my relatives (both in the United States and in Holland). I am thoroughly excited to begin this new year of healing (both emotionally and physically) and I can't wait to see what new things I learn and what new people I meet!
