Marilyn Kitchell: Conservation through connections, communication

Marilyn and students find a northern water shrew nest one summer while cutting red maples out of the impoundments at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge.

There is a common misconception that biologists are not concerned with human connection. Marilyn Kitchell shatters this fallacy, believing that empowering others is one of our greatest conservation tools.

In a previous position at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, Kitchell designed and led programming for the Groundwork-Wallkill Connection Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership. Through this work, she established connections with members of the Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team, a hired group of local students from public schools in Yonkers, NY. She counts a graduation card and thank-you note from Andy, one of the students in the program, as her most memorable conservation achievement to date.

“The impact that he, and students like him, may have on the future of conservation — even if it’s a personal rather than professional impact — gives me such pride in our youth programs. We’ll be in good hands, if we can just get out of the way when individuals like Andy are ready to lead!”

Kitchell has had some practice guiding students as they embark on their careers. While pursuing a masters degree studying bats, she hired, trained and mentored students who went on to pursue their own careers as bat biologists. One now works for Bat Conservation International; another spent years working with the endangered Florida bonneted bat and conducts acoustic monitoring on conservation projects.

Kitchell continues to advance her own career and to work with bats — after 18 years with the National Wildlife Refuge System, she recently switched career paths and was hired as the Service’s white-nose syndrome public affairs specialist.

Marilyn Kitchell studies a bat up close

While she’s loved her time working in refuges, one of Kitchell’s greatest career goals has been to inspire conservation stewards from all backgrounds. As a public affairs specialist, she now works with agencies and organizations across the country to foster appreciation for bats and improve the flow of information between science experts, resource managers, and the public. She draws from her degree in wildlife science and a master’s in biology, and is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in conservation communications.

Kitchell believes that combining social science and communications theory with her background in ecological research, resource management, and interpretation will open new doors. She said “I’m hoping to tell conservation stories that help the public to understand, value, and then champion both the work that we do, and the habitats and wildlife we protect.”

Despite her drive for personal growth, Kitchell finds her greatest satisfaction comes from helping others realize their potential.

Kitchell provides wildlife interpretation to a group of small children.

When asked what kind of impact she hopes to make in her career she remarked, “Oh, goodness. I would hope it might be the additional capacity that I helped others (organizations and students-turned-leaders) to develop so that they could maximize their impact on conservation.”

As ambitious in her personal life as she is in her professional life, at any given time Kitchell is typically participating in one choir or another. She is an accomplished singer and has performed for Condoleezza Rice at the Kennedy Center, has sung under John Rutter at Carnegie Hall, and has performed Carmina Burana at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

While Kitchell no longer works with students in her current role, she continues to mentor and guide through volunteer and personal relationships. At the moment, that includes her two children. Alongside her husband, she continues to teach nature’s lessons as they hike, ski, camp, and wakesurf together — mentoring the next generation of conservation leaders, one kid at a time.