Jessica Elliott is no stranger to Pickering Creek. She first joined the Center as a seasonal educator in 2021, teaching classroom and outdoor environmental lessons to K-12 students throughout the Eastern Shore. The following summer, she returned as a camp counselor under the camp nature name Tadpole, inspiring campers to follow their curiosity and express their creativity through her favorite camp activity, making nature art. Since then, Jessica has served as an assistant teacher at the Howard County Conservancy’s Nature Preschool, where she developed nature-themed lessons for children ages 3–5 and honed her skills in early childhood learning.
“I’m excited to return to Pickering Creek and help create a place where kids feel free to explore, get messy, and connect deeply with nature,” Jessica said. “There’s nothing more fulfilling than watching a child discover something new in the wild and knowing that moment could spark a lifelong love of the outdoors.”
As camp director, Jessica, this year known as Tree Frog, joins a team of five full-time and four seasonal staff including longtime assistant camp director Kathy Pearson, aka Wolf in delivering another unforgettable summer of exploration and discovery. EcoCamp runs from June through August, during camp children explore and investigate the wonders of nature throughout the Center’s 450+ acres. Campers embark on adventures full of fun activities like swimming, marsh mucking, hiking, games, canoeing, fishing, and birding. Each week boasts a different theme, offering new discoveries for both first-time and returning campers.
Andrew Niemann, known as Scoter, joins EcoCamp for his 3rd summer. Scoter first came to Pickering Creek in the summer of 2024 and then stayed for the school year and the following summer. After that he moved on to become a Marine Science Instructor at Catalina Island Marine Institute in California but has returned for another fun summer on the Eastern Shore. Some of his reasons for returning, among many, were to be back around trees and birds and to be able to work with younger kids again. His favorite part of summer camp is being able to share nature and his passion for it with kids, which can hopefully lead to lifelong passion in them as well. He loves giving the kids opportunities to use their imagination and create their own fun in the wild. After this summer he is going back to Catalina Island for at least one more season.
Charlotte Cook aka Mackerel just graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and is returning in the fall to complete a master’s degree in Optical Engineering. She is a returning camp counselor from 2024 and is excited to come back for another summer! Mackerel grew up in Easton, and the Chesapeake Bay has always a large part of her life. She started coming to Pickering Creek for field trips in middle school and loved learning about the ecosystems that make up our watershed. Mackerel wants to encourage youth curiosity and involvement with nature. She loves to create space where kids feel safe and motivated to explore the outdoors at their own pace. Some of her favorite memories of camp are racing canoes back to the dock, catching tadpoles in the wetland, and of course dodge sponge. Her favorite outdoor activities involve anything that will get her on the water and her favorite eastern shore animals reflect that with striped bass, mackerel, and great blue herons.
Sophie Leight is the newest addition to the summer educator team at Pickering Creek, and an Easton native. This summer, she is known as Periwinkle, after the marsh periwinkle, which she hopes to see climbing through the marsh grasses this summer. She has worked with elementary/middle-school aged kids for many years, both in and out of the classroom, and is passionate about giving each child the resources they need to grow and thrive. When she visited Pickering Creek for school field trips, she was drawn not only to the Center’s beautiful natural habitat, but to the kind, knowledgeable, and dedicated staff members.
In the fall, Periwinkle will begin a master’s degree in marine science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), where she will work in coastal resilience and restoration. Her wish for this summer, before heading off to graduate school, is to be reunited with the Chesapeake Bay landscape after spending 4 years in Maine, and to make meaningful connections with the next generation of environmental stewards. Her favorite wild being on the Eastern Shore would probably be the cownose ray.
An exciting summer of exploration, fun and muddy campers lies ahead!
