Conservation/Environment

Sandy and David Slemmer Protect our Natural Environment, Care for our Wildlife

Name: Envision Technology Advisors
Price range: $

March 02, 2023

“When people feel stress, the ability to go for a hike or find a quiet spot makes a difference,” she said. “People need natural areas. Maybe it’s just a fishing pond, but taking the time to go out and go fishing or hiking—it’s important.”

For years, Sandy Slemmer of Winsted enjoyed a career as a scientific researcher and later an information technology professional. She worked in programming and database management for several large corporations in New Jersey and Westchester County, New York. The work was creative and satisfying, but there was something missing. Sandy felt a daily pull toward the natural environment beyond the walls of the corporate park.

“I found that I kept looking out of the window,” said Sandy. “If I was in a conference room, I’d position myself so I could look out of the window; I just wanted to be outside.”

When she could, Sandy and her husband, David, explored the Appalachian Trail in Kent, Great Mountain Forest in Falls Village, and the Housatonic River, and the surrounding areas. The two began to bicycle on the trails. They found new places, and began exploring the river with kayaks.

“It was quiet and peaceful,” said Sandy. “And, we discovered places, environments, country roads that we wouldn’t have visited in a car.

“When people feel stress, the ability to go for a hike or find a quiet spot makes a difference,” she said. “People need natural areas. Maybe it’s just a fishing pond, but taking the time to go out and go fishing or hiking—it’s important.”

Eventually, Sandy answered the call of the wild, leaving her corporate office. She completed a master’s degree in environmental sciences at Western Connecticut State University and joined Sharon Audubon as a volunteer in the aviary.

At the Sharon Audubon, Sandy helps rehabilitate raptors, a job she says is most intense in the summer when the aviary is full of babies in need of attention. She also works on the organization’s stewardship board and volunteers for events. A volunteer for more than 16 years now, Sandy has cared for thousands of birds. Some remain at the Audubon for educational reasons, but most are rehabilitated and released into the wild.

In May of 2007, Sandy and David Slemmer established NCCF Elson-Slemmer Fund for the Environment. The Fund has supported the Sharon Audubon in the construction of new aviaries, supported technology upgrades to the weather station and internship program at Great Mountain Forest in Falls Village, and supported the Housatonic Valley Association in the development of trail maps for towns along the Housatonic River.

Great Mountain Forest Technology Educates Future Conservationists

Hans Carlson, Great Mountain Forest (GMF) Director, reached out to NCCF seeking support for technology upgrades for its weather data and internship program. The organization that manages 6,000 acres of forest in the Northwest Corner, works with local universities, enabling students and researchers to study the natural environment, and provides training in forestry management and conservation through its college internship program. Completely depleted in the 1900s by agriculture and the charcoal industry, the initial 3,000 acres of GMF was purchased as a private conservation effort in 1909.

“We wanted to do more with the students,” said Hans. “Many students don’t get the opportunity to actually work in a forest. There is a great benefit to getting students out here, so they can gain practical experience in the woods.”

The focus for the past 100 years has been conservation with the idea that people can work in the forest, harvest wood from it, and use it for educational and research purposes. Working with the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, Yale University, the University of Maine, and The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, GMF typically has two or three research projects going on at any given time, as well as a weather station that has been collecting weather data since 1932. Its internship program in forestry management and conservation has been ongoing for more than 40 years.

GMF’s internship program attracts students from forestry programs across the region to study and work in the forest, but without current computer equipment, students were not working with tools that would carry over to careers in conservation and forestry. Lack of current equipment was making it difficult to share data as well.

NCCF Elson-Slemmer Fund for the Environment provided a grant for a GIS-compatible computer, a large format printer and an upgraded GPS unit with a built-in camera. The equipment has enabled staff and volunteers to upgrade and modernize its internship program. The GIS-compatible computer empowered the organization to improve its weather data program. GMF has been an official NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) site, but the new equipment has enabled the sharing of data 24 hours a day to NOAA and to other weather agencies. GMF interns use the equipment to explore all 6,000 acres, taking photos and electronically pinning locations. They created maps and cataloged the locations and behaviors of invasive species, a vital part of forest monitoring.

“We are very appreciative of the support of the NCCF Elson-Slemmer Fund for the Environment,” said Hans. “Grants like this one are extremely important to our continued research and preservation of Great Mountain Forest.”