2012 Honorees
At our Women & Wildlife Awards Reception on April 15, 2012, Jackie Kashmer, Laurie Pettigrew, and Dale Rosselet were be awarded for their work, the advances they have made for women in their professions and the contributions they have made to New Jersey’s wildlife. Awards are made for Leadership and Inspiration, and Education (new in 2012).
Jackie Kashmer
Leadership
Jackie Kashmer has been a wildlife rehabilitator for twenty years but it is her dedication to bats and her deep understanding of their needs that inspires us.
During her rehabilitation career, Jackie discovered that bats, both adults and pups, require very concentrated, specific care. As a result, in 2004 Jackie decided to focus her work exclusively on bats and through this created the New Jersey Bat Sanctuary. Since the creation of the Bat Sanctuary, Jackie has rehabilitated around 100 bats a year using a process that involves an intense hand feeding regime and the creation of bat-friendly enclosures and flight cages for recovering pups and adults.
Jackie's deep knowledge of bat rehabilitation made her perfectly positioned to react to the onset of White Nose Syndrome and when the USFWS published guidelines for bat rehabilitation in the face of this disease, Jackie readily complied to ensure she would be fully operational and able to help ill bats.
Indeed, in 2011, Jackie took in more than 125 bats from Hibernia Mine, all affected by the deadly White-nose Syndrome. Through an intensive feeding, hydrating and cleaning operation, Jackie clocked 16 -hour days to keep them safe all winter until April when nearly every single bat was released back into the mine to start another season.
Here's a link to a blog post on Jackie's work.
Laurie Pettigrew
Leadership
Laurie Pettigrew has given 25 years of service to wildlife and has shown strong leadership in promoting women in the outdoors and wildlife recreation in New Jersey through her job as State Biologist with New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Laurie established the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program in New Jersey, through which she has introduced countless women to outdoor pursuits including hiking, kayaking, bird watching and fishing. She has also led, as both a volunteer and a member of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, many bird walks, kayak trips and other activities designed to provide a greater appreciation for the nature and the outdoors.
As author of the New Jersey Wildlife Viewing Guide, Laurie is an eloquent ambassador for wildlife recreation in our state, providing residents and visitors alike with accessible information about the many wildlife viewing areas across New Jersey. Laurie has a Master of Science in Sustainable Community Development with a major emphasis on Wildlife Recreation and Nature Tourism.
In addition to her work educating, and engaging, New Jersey's residents in wildlife and outdoor recreation, Laurie has been hands-on in the creation of hundreds of acres of grassland habitat in Southern New Jersey that benefits the recently listed American kestrel as well as many species of grassland bird that are in serious decline including the eastern meadowlark, summer tanager and savanna sparrow.
Dale Rosselet
Education
Dale Rosselet has been sharing her passion about the environment and advancing environmental education for 29 years at New Jersey Audubon. Dale started in 1983 as teacher-naturalist at the Lorrimer Sanctuary and now serves as Vice President for Education, overseeing the educational staff and planning and implementing programs statewide.
Dale not only educates on environmental themes and concepts, she also advocates for environmental education through her involvement with the Association of New Jersey Environmental Educators of which she is currently president, and as a member of the New Jersey Commission on Environmental Education, which she chairs. In these roles she has championed environmental education as a core curriculum concept and pushed for a Children's Bill of Rights to encourage outdoor recreation for all kids.
Dale has been involved with the creation of six New Jersey Audubon publications used for curriculum enrichment and professional development including the well-respected and much-used "Bridges to the Natural World." She is currently working on a series of initiatives that link wildlife conservation to urban communities.
Dale's ability to create connections between nature and the classroom; to encourage and enable nature-based learning and to advance the cause of environmental education at the state level makes her a stand out educator and an inspiration to many.
LEARN MORE:
Our Species
Explore our online field guide that depicts over 200 species of rare wildlife in New Jersey and learn about how we are working to protect them.