Emily Church has been a part of the Beidler Forest team for almost a year and a half as the Center Assistant. A Michigan native, Emily has been a resident of South Carolina for almost 20 years (besides a small stint in New Jersey after college). Emily attended Clemson University and graduated with a degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Biology. While attending college, she was an active member of Tigers for Tigers, a national collegiate club focused on tiger conservation through fundraising and activism. She was an animal care intern for the Philadelphia Zoo, where she learned about zoo conservation programs and the work they do globally. Taking a short break from conservation work, Emily worked as a Veterinary Technician for two years before joining Audubon South Carolina at Beidler Forest. As someone always interested in wildlife conservation, the work The National Audubon Society participates in drew Emily to her career at Beidler Forest. Despite appreciating the beauty and intrigue of birds, Emily is not much of a birder compared to her coworkers and has a passion for mammals rather than birds; she considers White-tailed Deer her “spark animal” as she used to watch them forage in her grandmother’s vegetable garden as a child. The most interesting thing that has ever happened to Emily is when a hot air balloon landed in her backyard as a child and offered her sister and her a free ride!