Blackacre Welcomes New Executive Director

Lydia Kowalski was appointed the new Executive Director of Blackacre Conservancy in June. She has had a wide ranging career in non-profit organizations including management of parks, an arboretum, and a zoo. Her most recent position was Senior Manager for Park Services for the Portland, Oregon Bureau of Parks and Recreation. In that role, she supervised the operations and recreation services for 280 parks, 13 community centers, and 11 pools. The staff of two at Blackacre is a big change from 500 park employees in her former Department!

Prior to her move to Portland, OR, Ms. Kowalski lived in Los Angeles, CA for fifteen years. She served as Assistant Dean of Administration for the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her position supervised projects as diverse as assisting students with rocket launches and off road vehicle races, to the decommissioning of a nuclear reactor and the design and
construction of new biomedical engineering facilities. One of her more unusual tasks was tracking and eliminating the source of thousands of millipedes from the research Clean Room.

In addition to UCLA, Ms. Kowalski worked at two other universities. She was
Managing Director of Facilities Management and Planning for Pepperdine University in Malibu CA; and Executive Director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. These positions involved work with botanists, landscape professionals, and habitat preservation. One of her favorite jobs was an early position as Director of Education and Construction for the Boston Zoo. Nowhere else would penguins happen to walk by a meeting on their way to the veterinarian!

Ms. Kowalski moved to Louisville a year ago to be closer to her family. Her personal interests include music (she trained as an opera singer), gourmet
cooking, and enjoying nature. She is a part time doctoral student in the Humanities Department of the University of Louisville.

Why did she come to Blackacre? “I fell in love with the magic of the place. It is so peaceful and reminds me of my childhood in the country—something most children today do not experience. I want to help preserve this special and historic place for generations to come. And where else can one take a break from a busy schedule and feed the goats?”

Bulldogs In The Bluegrass Summer Intern A Real Match For Blackacre

As this summer’s intern through the Bulldogs in the Bluegrass program, Yale sophomore Lydia tepanek wrote interpretive descriptions of Blackacre’s historic artifacts and developed and led the “Explore Blackacre – Rocks and Stones” class. A New Jersey native, Louisville was the farthest South she’d ever visited. Afraid of animals when she first arrived, Lydia said, “by the end of July, I had learned to enjoy the goats--especially the babies--and laughed when they licked me. I loved my time at Blackacre, and I hope that the quirky lessons I learned here will stay with me throughout life.” Thanks, Lydia, for everything you did for us this summer!

Blackacre Conservancy Is Awarded 3 Year WHIP Contract

The Dept. of Agriculture has awarded a three year Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program grant (WHIP) to Blackacre Conservancy. A grant of $16,850 will be used for Forest Stand Improvement on the Blackacre Conservancy property. This will include removal of invasive species (honeysuckle bush), cut stump treatment, and foliar application to invasive plants. In addition, 13 acres will be planted with new trees in the fields north of the Nature Preserve property.

Former employee Alan Nations worked with the Blackacre Conservancy to apply for this technical assistance, and his company, NativeScapes, will perform the work for this grant. This is an important step in Blackacre Conservancy’s goal to improve the conservation of the land in and around the nature preserve. Please call our office if you are interested in volunteering to assist with invasive plant removal.

E-Corps Makes A Difference At Blackacre

Blackacre was very fortunate this summer to be chosen as a host site for a work crew operated through the YouthBuild Louisville E-Corps program and funded by Kentuckiana Works. This conservation program was designed to involve young socioeconomically disadvantaged adults (ages 16-22) in the environment through education, restoration, conservation and community-related work projects. Arranged through JCPS, resource teacher and naturalist Bryan Thompson served as the team’s leader throughout their work at Blackacre.

The crew engaged in a variety of projects including making repairs in fences and bridges, preparing the site for our rain garden, weeding our vegetable garden, removing invasive weeds, and cleaning the Nature Center. Their work will benefit all Blackacre visitors by making the preserve and homestead more accessible, safer, aesthetically pleasing, and with more educational opportunities. However, as Bryan observed, “perhaps the greatest value of all was the opportunity for these youth to spend five weeks at Blackacre developing an awareness and appreciation about the natural world they live in.” Our many thanks to E-Corps students and to Bryan Thompson!