Welcome Emma!
Somerset Woods is excited to welcome Emma Hovencamp as a 2025 Community Tree Steward.
Community Tree Stewards are Maine Conservation Corps members who are placed in disadvantaged communities to collaborate with volunteers to mitigate tree risks, support maintenance of trees and community forests, and plant and replant for enhanced climate change mitigation and resilience. At Somerset Woods, Emma will help increase the impact of Somerset Woods Share, a community firewood program; develop a black ash conservation program; and improve forest health and biodiversity through invasive species management.
Emma grew up in Canaan, raised in a family that placed emphasis on the natural world around her. She graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2024 with a Bachelors in Biology and a GIS certificate. Many may know Emma from her seasonal work as a park ranger at Lake George Regional Park.
“I feel extremely lucky to serve the communities where I was raised in such a way and I hope to further connect these communities to the resources and opportunities that Somerset Woods provides,” she said.
During her time at UMF, Emma volunteered at a Moose Check Station in Solon, completed an internship with a UMF professor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was a field assistant on American Bushtit research out in Oregon, worked as a licensing intern with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, volunteered for Atlantic Salmon egg planting with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and conducted creel surveys with the Maine Fisheries Department in Strong. Most recently Emma completed an internship with the Maine Natural Areas Program, where she spent her summer visiting natural communities all across Maine.
“It is important to Somerset Woods that we support and mentor new conservation leaders. To provide a young professional with an opportunity to pursue her career in her home community is doubly rewarding,” said Jennifer Brockway, Somerset Woods’ executive director.
Emma will join Stewardship Coordinator Rachel Cheatham-McFadden at several upcoming volunteer events. Visit the events page for more information and to sign up and help welcome our newest team member.
