The staff at Mountain Watershed Association is growing again! Join us in welcoming two new community organizers, Em and Chantelle, to the team. Both of our new members are passionate about protecting our special corner of the world and are excited to advocate for clean water, clean air, and healthy communities in the Youghiogheny River watershed.
Read more about them below!
Em Hough
Em, a local from Morgantown, West Virginia, grew up paddling the Cheat River with her dad’s whitewater rafting company. Em developed a deep personal connection to the mountains by exploring the woods around her house as a kid. Later on, she started exploring a bit further afield to Cooper’s Rock State Forest, where she enjoyed rock climbing, mountain biking, caving, and hiking.
Em attended West Virginia University, earning a dual degree in English and Sociology with minors in Appalachian Studies and Women & Gender Studies. Her creative writing work primarily focused on Appalachia and the harms of extractive industries.
During and after college, Em worked and volunteered for several social and environmental organizations, including the West Virginia Dialect Project, and The Shack Neighborhood House, where she worked on projects such as ESL classes, developing a food pantry, and leading early childhood intervention programs. Em has also volunteered for the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, where she assisted with rehabbing injured native birds such as owls, kestrels, and songbirds, and she participates in fieldwork to study the timber rattlesnake population in Monongalia and Preston Counties.
Em’s work is informed by profound love for the people of Appalachia and the mountains and rivers that surround them. With her deep background in environmental work and social justice, Em will surely help advance our mission in the Youghiogheny River watershed!
Chantelle Hutchens
Chantelle is a Youghiogheny River watershed local, from Somerset County Pennsylvania. A lover of chickens, gardens, and woodlands, she deeply appreciates the quality of rural life in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands.
Chantelle grew up taking micro-adventures at home – exploring her yard, looking for bunnies in brush piles, taking walks in the woods, and raising animals of all kinds. The joy she found in nature turned into an affinity for the sciences, the subject she excelled at most in school.
In December of 2020, Chantelle graduated from California University of Pennsylvania (CalU) with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. She then spent a year in Graduate school studying Secondary Education with a focus in Biology and Environmental Science, before switching changing tracks to realign her career goals.
In her career so far, Chantelle has held a number of scientific and educational roles. She’s worked as a Seasonal Fisheries Biologist Aide for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, a substitute teacher specializing in STEM education, a wildlife educator at Living Treasures Animal Park in Jones Mills, and the Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator at Tableland Services, a community action organization in Somerset.
Chantelle is going to fit right into our multi-talented crew, where everyone wears a variety of hats! We’re excited to see how her background in both education and the sciences blends into her work as a community organizer!
Read more about Em, Chantelle, and the rest of the MWA crew at mtwatershed.com/our-team