Sarah Fiddelke Office Manager

An office manager was selected to oversee administrative activities for O’Brien County Conservation. Sarah Fiddelke accepted the position after 8 years with O’Brien County Extension as the County Youth Coordinator. She started May 9.
In her new capacity as Office Manager she is responsible to coordinate much of the paperwork like bills and schedules, provide visitor information and tours at Prairie Heritage Center, assist with school, youth and adult groups and coordinates volunteer activity. Fiddelke works into her time at the Nature Center assisting with cabin and bin reservations and keeping the social media updated. Fiddelke assists with on-site and some off-site programming as well.
Sarah looks at her position as the person who organizes the “big stuff” and makes sure everyone is on the same page. “We have a good team so far,” she says of her new colleagues.
Currently, she is doing much of the background work for the new playground equipment at Dog Creek to be put into place this summer. The new playground equipment at Mill Creek is expected to go up in early fall. She describes these projects as the biggest current project of Conservation.
Fiddelke is a life-long resident of Sutherland. She is married to Bryce. They have four children.

Hannah Hernandez, Naturalist

Hannah Hernandez grew up in Des Moines. She earned her BS in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. Following college, Hernandez accepted a fellowship in Environmental Education at Osprey Wilds in Sandstone, MN. Osprey Wilds is an education institution for children who come for 3 days and 2 nights.
Many kinds of animals call Ospry Wilds home. Hernandez ticked off the painted turtle, 3 snakes, a salamander, toads, 7 birds a rabbit, a frog and the insects kept for food for the other animals. A red tail falcon was Hernandez’s primary charge. Other charges for her were an American Crow and a Great Horned Owl, which Hernandez spoke very fondly about. She worked with 6 other fellows.
Ospry Wilds offers a choice of educational focus, adventure, cultural, or science based. Hernandez explained how the hands on teaching methods improved retention and awareness for the kids. The year Hernandez spent teaching at Osprey Wilds offers to bring great programming to O’Brien County Conservation programs.
She began June 13 and has already designed and delivered 5 programs around the county. Hernandez will be digging into the past programs and the educational tools that Conservation already has and making them her own.