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Please Choose a Park:
Rachael Phillos
Park Naturalist
Killens Pond State Park
Rachael Phillos
Read Rachael's Naturalist's Notes.
Rachael gained her love of nature from her family’s camping and canoeing trips that began when she was 7 years old. Her father taught her canoe strokes by sitting her in the middle of the coffee table with a canoe paddle. Rachael has traveled all over, including a primitive three-week canoe and portage trip in Canada. She has also traveled to several other countries, including Greece, France and Costa Rica, but she loves it here!
Rachael has always wanted to work with nature, but wasn’t sure how to apply her love of nature until she got a job as a seasonal naturalist at White Clay Creek State Park. She then worked a winter at Trap Pond and transferred to Killens Pond in February 2008. According to Rachael, "I’m hooked!"
Rachael also has experience at Abbotts Mill Nature Center as a Teacher Naturalist, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology from the University of Delaware. Rachael enjoys reading, backpacking sections of the Appalachian Trail, kayaking, hiking, camping and anything outdoors. She is a trained Red Cross Canoe Instructor, and also has training in Red Cross Fundamentals of Canoeing and Fundamentals of Kayaking, Emergency Medical Response, Leave No Trace, HOFNOD (Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs) and is a CIG (Certified Interpretive Guide).
Rachael says, "I am really excited to bring my experience to the KPSP nature center, and I can’t wait to learn all I can from others in this field. I love this park, and the people who work and come here. I love to see the expression on a child’s face the first time they catch a dragonfly nymph from the pond. I love when I tell an adult an interesting fact about nature that they never knew. I can’t wait to share my knowledge with others, and continue to learn all I can. The best part about this job is it is never the same. It always changes, and you are always learning something new. "