We’re delighted to welcome back our former Program Intern Kayla Kirkpatrick as our new Program Coordinator. Kayla interned with us last summer and autumn, and was a volunteer leader on many Clean Your Streams 365 and Get the Lead Out clean-ups. She also helped immensely behind-the-scenes with Clean Your Streams, plus kept the volunteer appreciation picnic raffle running smoothly!

A northwest Ohio native, Kayla was born and raised in Toledo. She will graduate from Bowling Green State University in April 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Policy and Analysis, with a specialization in Environmental Law. She’ll be ramping up her work with us as her school year winds down. She looks forward to using her knowledge to protect the environment and promote wellness for the earth.

Katarina Kieffer continues her work this year as our Water Quality Monitoring Intern. Kat’s role focuses on coordinating citizen science with our partner organizations for Community Water Action in Toledo. Kat is a native of northwest Ohio, but spent time living in Buffalo, Nashville, and Houston before returning home to the wonders of the Great Lakes and the Great Black Swamp. She has a BA in Political Science from Houghton College and a BS in Geology/Hydrogeology from BGSU and is a current master’s student in Geology at BGSU. Her research interests include mitigating nutrient runoff from agricultural sources, biogeochemical processes in wetlands, and wetlands restoration.

Liv Simkins Bullock has transitioned from their work as Program Coordinator to Communications and Outreach Specialist. Liv can be found writing newsletters (hello!), giving presentations and lectures, managing social media, plus creating educational content for our website, the Maumee AOC site, and the Lake Erie Starts Here NWO campaign.

Last but never least, Kris Patterson continues as our jack-of-all-trades Executive Director. In addition to her dual workload of strategizing for PCS’s future success and running our day-to-day operations, this year, she can sometimes still be found out in the “field” getting to do the fun stuff, like leading a cleanup or overseeing a restoration project.

As our programming season ramps up, the whole PCS team is excited for 2023 activities!