Amos Butler Audubon Society would like to welcome long-time Board member and Education Chair, Jessica Helmbold, into her new role as President. Jessica has been on the board for ten years as Education Chair. She steps into the leadership role after being held for nearly six years by Chuck Anderson, and after his leave, by current Treasurer and Membership Chair Val Chambon until his term ran out.
Jessica has two passions when it comes to the natural world, plants and birds! While in her day job as Assistant Manager at Garfield Park Conservatory – Indy Parks she is surrounded by plants, she spends much of her free time birding! Before working at Garfield Park, over a decade ago, she worked for a short time at Soldiers’ Delight Native Bird Aviary in Maryland, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland, Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, and Versailles and Brown County State Parks. While working for the Fish and Wildlife Service she spent a great deal of time working with birds, through banding and nest box monitoring of species like Northern Saw-whet Owls and Wood Ducks.
Jessica was also a judge for some time for the Maryland and DC Federal Junior Duck Stamp, partly because if you’d ask her what her favorite birds are, she’d say the waterfowl. She also raised many species of waterfowl growing up, so that’s probably where the bug began! Besides having spent time raising waterfowl, she now raises chickens and has three cats and two dogs.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Franklin College and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Taylor University. Jessica resides on the Southside of Indianapolis, and you will often find her birding at Garfield, Southwestway, Southeastway or Glenns Valley Parks.