NORWAY — The Western Foothills Land Trust has been working for a decade on protecting forest and farmlands within the Crooked River Watershed. To support that work, the Trust has received funding for a part-time program coordinator to allow the Trust’s singular staff more time to focus on land protection in the watershed.

Kelly Hodgkins of Greenwood has been selected for that position.

Hodgkins has been a dedicated volunteer for the Trust for years, helping out in the warming hut at Roberts Farm several days a week, assisting with hikes and canoeing expeditions, volunteering for trail building and acting as a link with the local homeschooling community. A mother of eight home-schooled children, she often comes with extra helping hands.

A Ph.D candidate at the University of New Hampshire in environmental microbiology, with an undergraduate degree in biology from Loyola College, she was drawn to the rigorous Maine Naturalist Program, which she just completed alongside several other Oxford Hills naturalists.

She will work with the staff and the board to fulfill the outreach/communications and program needs of the trust in the community and will lead traditional trust programs as well as design and implement new nature-based programming featuring the trust’s preserves and other regional assets. Fluent in social media, tech and networking, she will be in charge of promoting programs using social media in addition to traditional print avenues.

The land trust will launch its 30th year celebration in July with new programs, a revised website and new trail maps. Hodgkins’ programs will be part of that launch.

Kelly Hodgkins