HCT Welcomes AmeriCorps Member Caroline Lawrence

Caroline (center) pictured helping install an osprey pole with HCT volunteers

Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) welcomes AmeriCorps Cape Cod Member Caroline Lawrence.  Caroline and 10 other AmeriCorps Cape Cod (ACC)  members are living on Cape for a year of service focusing on enhancing conservation lands, environmental education, and disaster preparedness efforts across Barnstable County.  ACC members serve 2-3 days per week on group service projects that can include aquaculture, land management, and educational events in schools.  ACC members serve the rest of the week individually with government and non-profit organizations.

Sometimes referred to as “the domestic Peace Corps,” the national AmeriCorps program began in 1994, evolving from several federal traditions of community service opportunities.  AmeriCorps Cape Cod is starting its 24th year, and is funded by Barnstable County and through grants from the Massachusetts Service Alliance and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Housing is provided by Barnstable County, the Cape Cod National Seashore, the Town of Barnstable, and Chatham Conservation Foundation. 

While serving with HCT, Caroline will be helping with land stewardship, assisting Boundary Quest volunteers in surveying HCT properties, participating in the volunteer herring count, and coordinating the town-wide Tour de Trash spring cleanup event alongside Town of Harwich Conservation Department AmeriCorps member Dory Gedraitis.  Caroline joined AmeriCorps Cape Cod to have new life experiences, develop skills, spend time outdoors, and get out of her comfort zone.  Most importantly, she says, she wanted to make a meaningful impact on the community.  The qualities Caroline says will help her create worthwhile results are her flexibility, experience working on a team, and eagerness to learn.  This year, she hopes to cultivate her leadership and professional skills as well as learn about the field of land stewardship and natural resource protection. 

Caroline is from Pratville, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama, studying History and American Studies.  In her free time, Caroline likes to play ultimate frisbee, skateboard, bake, and shoot film photography.  Mostly, she likes to spend time outside by the water and looks forward to experiencing life on Cape Cod while enjoying the many outdoor activities here.  She hopes to spend a lot of time at the beach and even try surfing.  In college, Caroline was a member of the University of Alabama Ultimate Frisbee team, was a peer mentor for the university’s department of history, and served as the chief copy editor for the Crimson Historical Review, an undergraduate history journal.  Her favorite book is Confederates in the Attic, which she says profoundly influenced her area of study focused on Post-American Civil War memorialization. 

You can find Caroline serving with HCT on Thursdays connecting with volunteers, maintaining trails, and engaging in a variety of stewardship adventures.  If you see Caroline and her fellow AmeriCorps members out helping enhance and preserve our Harwich conservation lands, be sure to give a heartfelt thank you!  To receive email updates about HCT volunteer opportunities, including AmeriCorps service projects, visit www.harwichconservationtrust.org and in the upper right corner click “Join our eNews.”