The Department of Parks and Recreation staff has many varied interests and talents beyond the workplace. From time to time, we will feature a staff person whose talents or accomplishments may interest our readers.
Meet Kelly Kinkade
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Kelly is always greeted by the animals. |
Managing a farm takes quite an understanding of animal husbandry and farm machinery and Kelly has just what it takes. Kelly says, "I was raised on a farm in a very small town in Long Point, Ill., where there may well have been more animals in town than people. Living on a farm you learn how to do just about everything, from caring for animals to fixing machinery." Kelly's college background also serves her well in this line of work; she has a degree in dietetics with a business and chemistry minor. "All this adds to my knowledge of how to take care of animals, the science of medicine and an understanding of diet and health. Working part-time at a local veterinary hospital for years helped a lot, too," says Kelly.
Kelly also worked in another interesting part of the world, taking her education and skills on the road with the Peace Corps in Cameroon, Africa. "For a while I worked on developing a meaningful protein baby food for the Zambian government. For over two years my focus was teaching sanitation and animal husbandry to the villagers. The people didn't have any resources, so I had to teach them how to deal with what they had on hand. Not having running water or electricity always made things more interesting, so there were no lights after sunset and your body clock went by the sunrise and sunset. Where I lived was so remote that during the rainy season, we were cut off from just about everyone. But it was the rainy season that was the easy part, because you could grow food and capture rainwater for drinking. In the dry season we had a well with a bucket to draw water that then had to be filtered before consuming, and the ground became hard as rock."
"When I came back from overseas, I decided I needed a career change, saw the advertisement for the job here at the park, applied and I've been here ever since. I love my job because I still get to educate people attending our programs about agriculture and resources. We also hatch some chickens and breed some animals, but it is well thought out as space here is at a premium," she says.
Next time you're in Watkins Regional Park, visit Kelly at Old Maryland Farm. She'll be the one with animals following her around.
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The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Department of Parks and Recreation, Prince George's County |