Green Leadership Academy for Diverse Ecosystems

  

  Greg Swick, M.Ed., is the Director of the GLADE project.  Greg has over 20 years of experience as a Biology and secondary Gifted Education instructor in the Ozark, Missouri, school district.  He has served as an Environmental Education Specialist for the Youth Conservation Corps and has developed two environmental courses for gifted students enrolled in the Drury University pre-college programs, Summerscape and Drury Leadership Academy.  His courses, E.A.G.L.E. (Environmental Awareness and Group Leadership Explorations) and A.E.R.I.E. (Analysis of Environmental Relationships and Individual Expression) explored through experiential learning,  human connections with Nature and the ecological interactions within natural environments.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society, where he is the Conservation Chair. 

 

Celeste Prussia , M.S., is the Assistant Director of the GLADE project.  She is currently the Bull Shoals Field Station Manager,  and has extensive experience designing and leading teen students in service learning projects involving ecological restoration.  She is currently the State Coordinator for the Missouri  Leopold Educational Project. While working as a counselor-educator with the Youth Conservation Corps, she developed and delivered the environmental education components of the program in northeastern Connecticut.   As Director of the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC), Celeste used the YCC model to design a service-learning project for the Missouri Botanical Garden at the LREC.  Dubbed Ecological Restoration Corps and funded by a private foundation, she started the ERC in 1994 and the program continues to this day.  The project was developed to engage a team of 12 enrollees in hands-on projects that included such activities as invasive species removal and replanting with native species, collecting and preparing native prairie seeds for propagation, plant and pollinator monitoring, monitoring water quality, and engaging in tallgrass prairie restoration projects at the LREC, Shaw Nature Reserve, and Calvary Cemetery. 

Rob Hunt is a Missouri State University Graduate Student and is a GLADE Residential Coordinator.  He has extensive experience in environmental education, having worked at the World Bird Sanctuary and as a Cave Interpreter at Meramac State Park. He currently is researching behavior in salamanders.

Tammy Yelden, M.S., is a GLADE residential coordinator.  She completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 2007 and her Master's of Biology at Missouri State University in July 2009.  Her research involved the examination of fatty acids as biomarkers in the aquatic food web of Table Rock Lake.  Her hobbies include swing dancing, exploring the outdoors, working outdoors, reading a great book, and making wooden furniture.  She has a passion for science and enjoys speaking to others about it as well.

Charley Burwick has been an influential leader in GOAS and in Audubon Missouri, where he has served as president of both organizations.   Charley is a veteran volunteer with the Missouri Department of Conservation and a founding member of the Springfield Plateau Master Naturalists.  He continues to be a coalition builder among numerous environmental groups in the Southwest Missouri region and throughout the entire state.  He has also served as a vital link in the cooperative efforts between GOAS, BSFS, CFO, and MDC.  Charley was also the driving force for GOAS TogetherGreen Volunteer Days in 2008 and 2009.

Martha Swick is the GLADE Meal Coordinator and has many years of experience with large group meal preparation.  She has taught Family and Consumer Sciences in Missouri schools for over 20 years and brings her warm heart and delicious food to the GLADE table.