HCT Welcomes AmeriCorps Member Daniel Ecsedy
Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) welcomes Year 25 AmeriCorps Cape Cod Member Daniel Ecsedy. Daniel and 18 other AmeriCorps Cape Cod (ACC) members are living on Cape for a year of service focusing on land management, environmental education, volunteer engagement, and disaster preparedness efforts across Barnstable County. ACC members serve 2-3 days per week on group service projects that can include aquaculture, land stewardship, and educational events in schools. ACC members serve the rest of the week individually with local 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 25th 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, Daniel will be helping enhance conservation properties, assisting in developing digital maps using GIS software, 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 Margaret Sargent.
Growing up, Daniel vacationed on Cape Cod every summer with his family at Nickerson State Park and came to love the Cape’s natural beauty. The appreciation he developed for Cape Cod and a desire to give back to the community compelled him to join Year 25 AmeriCorps Cape Cod. Daniel believes that the skills he has learned in college and through previous employment positions will help him create meaningful results for Harwich and Barnstable County. Daniel also hopes to learn new skills and gain experience in the Conservation field. His long-term goal is to take the skills and experience gained through his year of service with AmeriCorps Cape Cod and use them in a future career.
Daniel is from Woodbury, Connecticut and graduated from UCONN in 2020 with a Major in General Studies and Minors in German and Computer Science Engineering. While in college, he was president of the Eurotech Club (a learning community for Engineering and German studies students) and through that, studied abroad in Konstanz, Germany for a year. Daniel loves spending time outside in nature and his hobbies include hiking, rock climbing, skiing, cycling, and having bonfires. This year Daniel hopes to enjoy as much of the local cuisine as possible and learn to windsurf this coming summer.
You can find Daniel serving with HCT on Tuesdays and Wednesdays connecting with volunteers, maintaining trails, and engaging in a variety of stewardship adventures. If you see Daniel and his 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, click “Join our eNews” in the upper right corner of the HCT website.