ONP has new director at the helm

Nicole O’Brien grew up in Colorado and Louisiana in a family that loved spending time outside.

“We always went camping; I always had horses,” she said. “I lived on a farm as a young child, so I was always exposed to the outdoors and had a love of outdoors.”

She graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in marine biology, worked in environmental health at the government level and, after her son was born, she decided her heart was more aligned with the natural environment and its protection.

After six years as coordinator for both the volunteer and animal care programs at the Oakland Nature Preserve, O’Brien assumed the director’s role following the retirement of Jennifer Hunt in September.

She now is in charge of managing the daily operations, which involves educational classes and the rotating museum displays, trail and general preserve maintenance, and the financial aspects of managing a facility like this.

THE PATH TO DIRECTOR

O’Brien and her husband, Kevin, actually had discovered the preserve years before and enjoyed exploring the boardwalk and trails. She heard about the Florida Master Naturalist classes and signed up for a few courses to learn more about the Florida environment.

“And that’s how I got sucked in,” she said. “I started taking the classes in 2016, and I started volunteering here in 2018, and pretty much immediately when I started volunteering here, the volunteer coordinator position opened up, and it felt like a natural thing.”

She managed all the volunteer programs, including habitat restoration, trail maintenance and museum docent, as well as the animal care portion of the preserve. There are nearly 50 animals at ONP that require some level of care.

When she accepted the director’s position, her previous roles were split into two positions. Jackie Kaucher was hired as volunteer coordinator, and Eric Rivera serves as wildlife and outreach specialist.

“I did not come on intending to be a director,” O’Brien said. “I just wanted something that was fun for me, and, also, I felt like I was making a difference. And I feel like I do that here. I’m more able to showcase the beauty of Florida and connect with, especially the children, but even the adults, to get people to appreciate things a little bit.”

When Hunt announced her intention to retire, O’Brien wanted to follow in her footsteps and continue the great programs and projects Hunt had accomplished.

Hunt had a great knack for connecting with the children who attend the programs and camps, and O’Brien hopes to continue that.

“She was great at really connecting with the kids on an individual level, and I’ve tried to emulate that,” she said. “I love seeing their faces light up when they see a connection to something. Her vision for shared leadership where she empowered the staff to make their own decisions — I want to emulate that as well. It empowers them.”

O’Brien has been taking nonprofit management courses at the University of Central Florida in a certification program related to the business aspects of a nonprofit organization. She is about halfway through the program.

THE FUTURE OF THE PRESERVE

One of O’Brien’s focuses will be on increasing the preserve’s access to educational programming for more weekend and early evening hours for both children and adults.

“We’re hoping to have workshops, crafting times so families can come in and do crafts together and also learn about something we have here,” she said. “(The potential is there) to have other artistic-style workshops, learning opportunities from professionals in the field.”

She is considering reintroducing the wine and paint nights or something similar.

O’Brien said the biggest upcoming project is an ambitious one. The former Briley farmland is being developed adjacent to ONP, and some of the acreage is being set aside for the nature preserve.

“We would love to put in an educational pavilion so we can expand our education space,” she said. “I’d like to have a covered pavilion. Some of the (current) limitations are our class space is pretty small. We can only take the 24 kids during summer camp. We don’t have room for more.”

Another dream project is to restore the old fish camp cabin that sits at the entrance to the preserve.

A new program being introduced is nature-themed birthday parties for children. The party would include an educator who would offer animal interactions and a guide hike plus use of the classroom and porch space for two hours.

A HELPING HAND

“We have a wonderful support system in our community,” O’Brien said. “We have a lot of volunteers who are very dedicated, a great board of directors and community people (who) come out and support us and take advantage of the trails. We’re very appreciative of that.”

In any given year, about 400 individuals volunteer at the preserve, including about 50 regular volunteers.

There always is a need for volunteers, O’Brien said. There are opportunities to help with habitat restoration and trail maintenance on Mondays and Saturdays, sporadic animal care opportunities, and the chance to be museum docents who work on the weekends and an occasional weekday.

One of the youngest docents is O’Brien’s 10-year-old son, Finn.

A new volunteer program is debuting in the spring — trail guides who will lead guided walks through the preserve. The details are being planned now, and training should take place in February. Anyone interested in volunteering for the program can visit oaklandnaturepreserve.wildapricot.org.