Educator Spotlight: Lily Knepp

Lily Knepp, a park technician at Pilot Mountain State Park, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. As part of her daily work, Lily provides educational programs and manages the natural resources at the park which includes invasive plant removal. She also occasionally conducts surveys of wildlife such as birds and butterflies. In her personal time, Lily enjoys birding and hiking.

Lily says her favorite part of earning her certification was learning how to teach people of all ages and skills. “Starting the certification while I was still in college, I didn’t have much experience teaching. Seeing how far I have come since the beginning, and how I now incorporate hands on activities and self-discovery to engage students, really gives testimony to how important it is to participate in a program like the environmental education certification.” She says the program helped her become more qualified for a permanent position with state parks.

When asked about a certification experience that stood out for her, Lily says it was the series of workshops offered by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission that includes workshops such as Flying WILD, Aquatic WILD, and Growing up WILD. “All of these workshops provided me with great activities that work well in a park setting.”

For her community partnership project, Lily made and installed bluebird houses at Pilot Mountain State Park. “I coordinated with a local 4-H club to help me paint the birdhouses, and park interns to help me build and install the birdhouses around the park. Pilot Mountain has a lot of suitable bluebird habitats, but not many bluebird houses. With a limited number of natural cavities for nesting, these birdhouses should boost the populations of bluebirds around the park. Just three weeks after installing the birdhouses, one already had a pair of bluebirds nesting in it!”

Lily says the program changed her approach to teaching. “I use a lot more hands-on activities to reinforce ideas, and I also incorporate self-discovery time into most of my programming.” She says the program also emphasized for her the connection between education and change. “Educating people about environmental problems is the foundation of them going forward and doing something about the problem. As an educator, I am simply laying a cornerstone, and hopefully some people will continue to build on that.”