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The Impact of Our Alumni
Keri Parker
Wildlife Biologist
Currently, Parker coordinates migratory bird surveys across the United States and Canada as a Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Previously, she prepared permits under CITES and the Endangered Species Act for the USFWS, managed a seabird nesting island for National Audubon Society's Project Puffin, and developed environmental education materials for World Wildlife Fund and USFWS. Parker was competitively selected to join Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders, an international fellowship program, where she and five colleagues co-founded the Pangolin Conservation Support Initiative, which seeks to raise global awareness of pangolins and the fight to save them from extinction. Her graduate research at the University of Maryland included completing an assessment of conservation projects in China's panda reserve system, research that continues to aid those who are tracking and assessing the conservation needs of the giant panda and its habitat.
Parker was an Environmental Studies major at Warren Wilson College, and she cites the College as formative for her career. "One of the cool things about Wilson is they teach you how to volunteer. Before WWC, I didn't have a formal volunteer ethic. I didn't know how to call up an organization. The volunteer ethic becomes part of who you are. Even if it's something you don't know how to do, you figure it out. You know how to ask questions. You know how to ask for help." She served as a crew boss on the Landscaping Crew, completed service projects with the Clean Water Fund of North Carolina and Habitat for Humanity, and was awarded one of the first Environmental Leadership Center internships with the National Audubon Society's Project Puffin in Maine, which led to her future employment with the project.
"I don't mind taking projects that are maybe a little less glamorous; this leads to the more interesting stuff," Parker says. "If a project doesn't pay that much that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Some of the most interesting projects come from volunteer work."
