Category: Member Spotlight

Meet Eunice Sill, Cohort 8!

Full name: Eunice Sill

Title or occupation: Floral Lead at Kroger

How long have you been a member and cohort number: I am a proud member of Cohort 8 and we graduated in November, 2023.

A fun fact or a quote (optional): “No more apologies for a bleeding heart when the opposite is no heart at all. Danger of losing our humanity must be met with more humanity.” –Toni Morrison

Please choose 6 questions from the list below to include one fun fact.

*Professional Member Spotlight Questions (Choose 6)

What company or organization do you work at right now?: I am the Floral Lead at the Kroger in Staunton.

Any tips or advice for new members?: Try everything! Don’t be afraid to go a little out of your comfort zone, you may find an amazing new interest.

What do you like most about being a member?: I love the sense of community with so many other like-minded people.  The number of new friends that care about the things I’ve cared about my entire adult life is rewarding in ways I did not anticipate.

Who/what inspires you?: I am inspired to do everything I can to protect the environment for my granddaughter and give her the same chances to love the natural world.

What do you/did you love the most about your job?: I’m so happy to have found a position in retail where I can use my creativity and love of plants and flowers. I enjoy connecting with people, and putting together beautiful flower arrangements.

*Fun Member Spotlight Questions

Favorite place you’ve traveled?: Alaska! I went to Anchorage and spent time in Seward, the Kenai Peninsula, Whittier, Talkeetna, Willow and Whittier. The wildlife was so amazing; moose, bear, sea otters, bald eagles, a grizzly bear, orcas, humpbacks, puffins and so much more. I ran around taking pictures and ID’ing plants and flowers. I also discovered a deep, abiding passion for halibut. I can’t wait to go back!

Eunice Sill

Meet Scott Jost, Cohort 8!

Full name: Scott Jost Title or occupation: I’m Professor of Art and Art Department Chair at Bridgewater College. How long have you been a member and cohort number: Cohort 8! Began training class in Spring 2023. *Professional Member Spotlight Questions (Choose 6) What company or organization do you work at right now? I teach at Bridgewater College. My main area of teaching expertise is photography, and I also teach video, multimedia storytelling, and intermedia advanced studio and senior thesis classes. Any tips or advice for new members? Go to the annual state-wide conference! As another VMN said to me in the registration line, “What could be better than spending a weekend with hundreds of nature nerds?” What do you like most about being a member? Going through training class with Cohort 8 has been great fun—a wonderful group of people! I am also really enjoying becoming acquainted with all the other wise, wonderful, and generous HMNs who are already in the program. Future goals and aspirations for your career? I’m 4 years out from retirement. My goals are to be the best teacher and mentor I can in these remaining years, and otherwise to serve on fewer committees and gradually become more engaged in the things I aspire to do in retirement. What’s a project you’re working on right now? Why is it meaningful to you? I’m photographing native bees and doing some video of them, too. It’s meaningful because I am recalibrating my creative work so that it can be more directly beneficial to the conservation of nature. *Fun Member Spotlight Questions (Choose 1) Where are you from? Where did you go to school? I grew up in North Newton, Kansas, about 25 miles north of Wichita. I went to Newton High School, attended Bethel College in North Newton where my father taught choral music, and earned my Master of Fine Arts at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. – Scott Jost

HMN Stephanie Gardner brings to life 19th century survival in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in her new book.

I’m happy to share that I completed and soon will self-publish a short historical fiction book, “Rattlesnake Granny: Nancy Remembers Life in Old Thornton Gap, Inspired by True Stories.”  Writing a book about the people and environment of the Appalachian Mountains has been a longtime dream, and it was fun to create a narrative inspired by life in what is now Shenandoah National Park.  The book is about how earlier people of the Shenandoah Valley navigated their landscape, their relationships with each other, and their changing ways of life.

Developing the story of a mountaineer woman named Nancy Pullum, an actual person who lived in the 1800s and made her living catching rattlesnakes and selling their oil, took hours of research.  Other characters include a freedman named John, also based on a real person, and the historic Virginia sculptor, William Randolph Barbee. There are also some autobiographical memories incorporated in the fictional story: they come from my experiences with family members who practiced lifeways and speech patterns of the historic Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.

Writing about folklore of this area was one of my favorite parts of the book.  Writing about the American Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley was an interesting challenge. I hope that Virginia Master Naturalists especially will enjoy the non-human characters in this short book.  Bears, birds, panthers, and other wild varmints make appearances.  There are also some domestic animals, and of course, a rattlesnake.

Telling the stories of these historic people in an engaging but non-sensational and non-stereotypical way has been great fun.  I hope that the book can help to correct some of the long-believed stereotypes that painted Blue Ridge mountaineers as primitive, racially homogenous, and cut off from the greater civilization.

– Stephanie Gardner, Transfer member, VMN since 2012, January 2024

Lesley Newman is among our newest Chapter members, having transferred in from another chapter and currently living in the Waynesboro area. Stephanie Gardner, with our Chapter’s Newsletter Team, was recently in touch with her to find out a little bit about her and help introduce her to other members:

Welcome to Headwaters Master Naturalists, Lesley! Thanks for helping us get to know you through this online interview.

From what chapter are you transferring your VMN membership? Northern Neck Master Naturalists

How long have you been involved in the Virginia Master Naturalists program? Certified in 2019

What were some of your favorite past volunteer and leadership projects with VMN? Bluebird monitoring; guiding BTC students in preparation of their interpretive projects; trail clearing

In what areas will you continue to volunteer or look forward to exploring?
Community Science projects; outreach & education with Project Learning Tree or Project WILD activities

Do you have any favorite memories of amazing, odd, or funny moments in your VMN training and volunteer work thus far?
During my training, the ornithology lecture included a visit from two local wildlife rehabilitators. It was the first time I saw a kestrel & a great horned owl up close. I was smitten.

Please tell us about other interests and hobbies that you enjoy.
I love rock climbing, mountain biking, nature writing, & movies & am looking forward to being back in the Valley & exploring the varied topography.

What are you most looking forward to in 2024?
Meeting new people in this community

Thanks Lesley! Welcome to Headwaters!
November 2023

Vicki Langdon is among our newest Chapter members, having transferred in from another chapter and currently living in the Harrisonburg area. Stephanie Gardner, with our Chapter’s Newsletter Team, was recently in touch with her to find out a little bit about her and help introduce her to other members:

Welcome to Headwaters Master Naturalists, Vicki!

Thanks for helping us get to know you through this online interview.

From what chapter are you transferring your VMN membership?

Rockbridge Master Naturalist Chapter

How long have you been involved in the Virginia Master Naturalists program?

Unfortunately the chapter dissolved within a year or two of my completing the course.

What were some of your favorite past volunteer and leadership projects with VMN? 

Because the chapter dissolved, I took the Master Gardener Course and have been an active member of the Rockbridge Master Gardener chapter over a number of years.

In what areas will you continue to volunteer or are looking forward to exploring?

I look forward to volunteering with many of the numerous offerings with the HMN chapter and look forward to participating in this active chapter.

Please tell us about other interests and hobbies that you enjoy.

Gardening is a favorite interest along with music, singing with the local Shenandoah Choral Society, traveling.

Thanks Vicki! Welcome to Headwaters!
April 2023