From Camp to Corps: Alumnus Ryan’s Environmental Educator Journey

As a young boy, Ryan’s interest in agriculture and nature began when he was a camper himself. Ryan attended an all-boys camp on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, Camp Belknap, for five years from 2012-2016. He learned about working at Falling Creek through one of his professors at Roanoke College in Virginia, whose mutual friend was an FCC alumnus from the mid 90s.

Because of his own camp experience as a child, Ryan said, “I understood what it was like to live in a cabin, try new and exciting activities, meet new people, and step out of your comfort zone. When talking with my professor about the opportunity to work at Falling Creek, it immediately brought me back to my days as a camper, and how my counselors played a big role in my life. I knew I wanted to give that back to campers.”

Ryan became a counselor for the 2023 summer, and taught in both the nature and farm programs. He said that his favorite part was “working collaboratively with staff on lesson plans and just the overall comradery of the staff and campers.” Ryan said, “we were able to work on awesome interactive activities related to local biodiversity, on topics like food chains, forestry, soils, and macroinvertebrates as an indication of stream health. It got the kids involved and wanting to learn more about these topics, and peaked their curiosity about the world around them. The farm and nature staff would also try to tie in concepts that campers would learn in school, whether it was about ecosystems, different species, or the water cycle. They could apply what they learned in an outdoor classroom-like setting, and being surrounded by so much biodiversity and nature was the perfect place to learn.”

“As for the farm, I would say that being able to show campers how to determine and test pH soil levels and how that affects what you can plant and soil health was one of my favorite parts. As well as teaching campers about composting, its importance, and the different types of ways to do it. We taught campers how to harvest and transplant vegetables, and different methods you can use to seed.”

“Another highlight I would say about teaching at the farm, was being able to cook what we grow. There were some days after we harvested vegetables that we gave campers the opportunity to cook and eat them. It was really cool to experience this because it gave campers more opportunities to try new vegetables that they had never tried or eaten before, since most kids tend to be picky eaters.”

Ryan tried to tie in some of his personal experiences when teaching at camp, including his passion for global and environmental issues, and what he learned in school from his professors. “I have a strong passion and experience in geography and got to tie in some cool activities about the biodiversity in the western North Carolina region that really got the campers involved in these activities. Also, when the nature and farm staff were working on creating lessons for activity periods, we were all encouraged to use some material or activities that we had learned in the past regarding the environment, and think of ways to make it fun and exciting for the campers.”

After his 2023 summer spent at Falling Creek, Ryan joined the Peace Corps, a US government program where volunteers live and work with an overseas community for about two years. The mission of the Peace Corps is:

To promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:

1. To help the countries interested in meeting their need for trained people.
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Ryan first became interested in the Peace Corps during a school semester in Washington, DC through a program called the Lutheran College Washington Semester. This is an association of Lutheran affiliated colleges that give students the chance to work and take classes in the nation’s capital.

Ryan said, “I was an Invasive Plant Species Intern for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental NGO dedicated to fighting global warming in DC, Maryland and Virginia. There, both my program coordinator and director were both former Peace Corps volunteers who talked about their experience with environment & development work. That made me gain an interest in applying. I also had a great uncle who was a salinization and health volunteer in Belize from 1961-1963, during the early days of the Peace Corps. Additionally, my foreign policy class in DC had a guest speaker who was a USDA soil science technician, who had also been a volunteer and encouraged me to apply.”

Ryan already knew he was interested in the environment, but after working at Falling Creek, he realized his passion for teaching about environmental and agricultural topics. Through the Peace Corps, he could continue to share his passion as an environment specialist.

As a Forestry and Environmental Specialist in Senegal, most of Ryan’s work consists of assisting in agroforestry implementation, environmental education, and natural resources management in the Diourbel region of Senegal. Ryan said, “this work includes planting fruit and multipurpose trees, teaching lessons about the environment to school students, women’s organizations, NGOs, and other local groups, as well as conducting community conservation assessments. I also get to work with small scale farmers and gardeners to disseminate new agricultural technology practices.”

In his new role with the Peace Corps, Ryan has been able to use the skills that he learned and practiced while on staff at Falling Creek. “Some of the skills that I learned from Falling Creek include problem solving skills, critical thinking, and working with people from different backgrounds and ages. Also being able to accept failure and keep on trying,” said Ryan. This has been especially true for him in Senegal since he has been challenging himself by speaking in a language other than his native language every day.

“In my work and daily life in Senegal, I speak wolof, which is an ethnic language of Senegal that is spoken by 80 percent of the population, and some French with Senegal being a francophone country. Another skill I learned is being patient when working on various projects and working with counterparts/work partners. Also at Falling Creek, there are a lot of staff from different countries and being able to learn about their cultures and where they are from really helped me understand, accept, and recognize being exposed to various ethnic backgrounds, and gain an international perspective.”

After the Peace Corps, what’s next for Ryan?

Ryan’s outreach director for myAgro, which is an ngo based in Senegal, Mali and Tanzania whose mission is “ to move small holder farmers out of poverty“I hope to move back to the States and work for a research institute or an environmental federal agency for a couple of months within the STEM field. After that, I’d like to get my Masters Degree in the UK, Netherlands, or Canada within the area of geo-information science & earth observation or geographical information systems. Hopefully I can work for a NGO, institute, or software development firm that works on the environment, agriculture, and international development sector projects. Eventually I’ll work towards getting a PhD in Geography or Environmental Science and becoming a part time professor. I’ll hopefully work at a research institute either at the federal level or in the private sector, but I don’t know quite yet!”

Wherever Ryan’s plans take him next, we know he’ll do great things. Thanks Ryan for your time and dedication as a counselor at Falling Creek, and best of luck as you continue to follow your passion!

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