Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont has assembled an excellent, experienced and enthusiastic team to carry out the mission of connecting people and nature. Here are some of the people you may come in contact with as you prepare for your visit to Tremont and as you enjoy your stay here.

Program Staff

Brian Ballenger - Teacher/Naturalist
Brian was born and raised in Lancaster (Amish country), Pennsylvania. Brian earned his B.A. in Environmental Planning at Bloomsburg University in 2007. While at Bloomsburg, Brian spent time studying in England, patrolling the backcountry of Mount Katahdin, Maine, and developing a youth leadership camp that emphasized white-tail deer management. In his free time, Brian enjoys traveling, live music, reading and the great outdoors.Brian joined Tremont in the winter of 2008, and is very excited to be in Appalachia.

Josh Davis – Senior Teacher/Naturalist for Citizen Science
Though born in Ohio, Josh was raised in Michigan and claims it as home.  Before moving to Tennessee, he taught at nature centers in both Michigan and Minnesota.  A 2002 graduate of the University of Michigan, he holds a B.S. in Natural Resources and the Environment.  Though interested in all areas of natural history, his favorites are botany and ornithology.  His favorite outdoor activities are hiking, biking, canoeing, and snowshoeing, and his hobbies include birding and photography.

Jeremy Lloyd – Senior Teacher/Naturalist for Special Programs
Jeremy began working at Tremont in 1996. Originally from Western Pennsylvania, he received a B.A. from Calvin College in 1994, and, an M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2001. He’s written for a number of national publications including Gray’s Sporting Journal, Sojourners, The Sun, and North Carolina Literary Review. He directs Tremont’s summer camps, Elderhostel programs, Outdoor Spring College Consortium, and arts programs. He is the author of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Pocket Guide & Journal and has released two albums of original music in the folk/Americana vein. Books, wilderness exploration, fly-fishing, hunting, city life, good food and good conversation are among his many loves. And of course his wife, Elan, who he married in 2006.

Jason Love – Citizen Science Director
Jason grew up in Roswell, Georgia, in the suburbs of Atlanta. However, his passion for the outdoors has its roots in the southern Appalachians, where he was introduced to fishing, hunting, and hiking by his father and by his kinfolk that live in the mountains of North Georgia. Jason has worked on trail crews and fought forest fires in Montana, and in 1997, he spent a summer in the Great Smoky Mountains helping park biologists manage nuisance black bears. Jason graduated in 1998 from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources where he majored in Wildlife. After graduating, Jason set pheromone traps for gypsy moths in the Nantahala National Forest, worked as a biological research technician at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in western North Carolina, and worked a Montessori Middle School as an outdoor education teacher. In 2006, Jason graduated from West Virginia University with a M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources. Jason and his wife enjoy hiking, canoeing, bird watching, rock climbing, and just about any other activity that leads them to the outdoors. Jason joined the Tremont staff in April 2006 and is excited to be part of the Tremont family.

Jennifer Love - School Program Director
Jennifer Love was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. Her love of the outdoors was nurtured by her parents through countless wilderness canoe trips, theme vacations, and day hikes. Jennifer graduated from the University of Georgia in 1996 where she majored in Environmental Geography and Music Performance as a harpist. After graduating, Jennifer realized that she would not enjoy playing the ‘harp around the globe’ as her music and geography degrees implied. She was offered a position as an educator at Wahsega Environmental Education Center and fell in love with teaching. Jennifer gained experience as an intern at Sandy Creek Nature Center in Athens, Georgia, as an educator at Green River Preserve in Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, and as the Supervisor of the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands, North Carolina. 
She continued her education by earning her Master’s of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis in environmental education at Piedmont College. In 2000, she took her environmental education experience to the classroom where she taught kindergarten through sixth grade science in Rabun County, Georgia and later third and fifth grade in Oconee County, Georgia where she was the 2005-2006 Teacher of the Year for her school. 
She is now combining her experiences as an environmental educator and public school classroom teacher as the School Program Director at Tremont. Jennifer is excited to be working with such an exceptional staff, which includes her husband Jason Love who is the Citizen Science Director. They are both looking forward to being part of the Great Smoky Mountains community.

Jen Martin – Senior Teacher/Naturalist for School Programs
Jen holds Bachelor's Degrees in Biological Sciences and Environmental Geography, as well as an Environmental Studies Certificate, all from Ohio University. She has worked as an environmental educator in Maine and at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. Jen is no stranger to the Smokies. She served as an intern here with the National Park Service, leading Parks as Classrooms programs. Jen says she is thrilled to be back in the Smokies working with Tremont.

Michael Matzko – Teacher/Naturalist
Michael is a graduate of Hocking College with an Associate Degree in Recreation and Wildlife. He spent six summers exploring the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. The composer of the Tremont "Food Waste Hero" song, Michael loves music and has played guitar for nearly nine years. Hiking and backpacking in the mountains is his greatest passion (next to the Steelers).

April Morris – Teacher/Naturalist
April was born and raised in Illinois. Her life really came together upon her endeavors into higher education. Soon after high school graduation in 1998 she attended community college in hopes of later pursuing a degree in fine arts. She found while finishing liberal arts requirements and beginning art classes in 2000 she lacked something in her life but wouldn't discover what that was until 2003. April attended a second community college with a fabulous photography program in which she immersed herself further into Art. While pursuing Art April found that she had a yearning for more of the outdoors. She left Illinois to head to the North Woods, Northern Wisconsin on the southern shores of Lake Superior where she more than quenched her thirst; she found focus, direction and passion. She attended Northland College from 2003-2005 pursuing an artful degree (in its own right it is an Art) in Natural History, part of the Outdoor Education major. April attained her Bachelors of Science.
She has also interned at The Cable Natural History Museum in Cable Wisconsin, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Stony Kill Farm in Wappingers Falls, and Apostle Islands National Lake-shore in Bayfield Wisconsin.

Amber Parker – Education Director
Before joining the Tremont staff in 2001, Amber spent many years studying the Great Smokies through quick visits and literature and held onto a dream of one day working in the midst of the Park’s rich diversity. She holds a degree in zoology from North Carolina State University and is originally from Louisburg, North Carolina. Before coming to Tremont, she was director of the nature center at Blue Jay Point County Park in Raleigh. Amber is well versed in many areas of environmental education, but says her passions are bird watching, gardening (with native plants), and nature journaling.

Mary Silver – Teacher/Naturalist
Mary was born and raised in Kingsport, Tennessee. Mary graduated from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin with a degree in Outdoor Education with an emphasis on Natural History, and a minor in Biology and Writing. She volunteered for a number of years at Warriors’ Path State Park, and has also worked as a counselor at Bays Mountain Day Camp. Mary is a Wilderness First Responder. Mary has spent three summers as a summer teacher naturalist at Tremont before coming on as full time staff.

Kim Wagner – Teacher/Naturalist
Kim always thought she would be working in some sort of research after college. After receiving a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Minnesota, she pursued that goal in California. A short time spent catching juvenile salmon in the San Francisco area and Kim realized that she might have a different passion after all. After a month working as an Environmental Educator at the Blue Ridge Outdoor Education Center in northeastern Georgia and Kim knew she had found a new career. A three-month position became two years, with Kim becoming the Assistant Director. A need to travel pushed her to Rhode Island. She was the Assistant Coordinator for the W. Alton Jones Campus of the University of Rhode Island during the school year and spent the summer as the Day Camp Coordinator.  Kim missed the south more than she expected and couldn’t wait to get back. Working in the heart of the Southern Appalachians at Tremont is the perfect opportunity to teach what she loves and spend her free time hiking and backpacking in her own back yard, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Part/Time and Volunteer Teacher/Naturalists:

Nathan Daniel
Robin Goddard
Carrie McElroy
Gar Secrist

Office and Support Staff

Julie Brown - Registrar/Assistant Office Manager
Julie has been in love with the Smoky Mountains from the time she began visiting the National Park on camping trips. She’s lived in Indiana, Ohio, Florida and Asheville, North Carolina. Julie says, "There is something about these mountains that I can’t explain to people who don’t feel it. I feel at home in these mountains. And at peace." Julie says when it comes to learning about the flowers, trees, birds, and history of the Park, she can never get enough. She has a growing collection of old postcards, brochures, maps and books about the Smokies.

Meredith P. Goins – Public Relations/Development Director
Meredith earned her bachelor’s degree in communication, with a concentration in public relations from East Carolina University. Her love of writing and of education led her to work in public relations and development at the University of Tennessee. She soon realized that the research needed for stories was more of a challenge and interest to her. To meet this challenge, Meredith earned her Master’s of Information Science in 2000 from the University of Tennessee.
While in graduate school, Meredith focused on fund-raising because no library is ever fully funded. She has served as a public library director and as a medical librarian at a national non-profit and also served in marketing and development capacities and has raised funds through federal, state and local grants, direct mail, special events and through the Internet.
Originally from Charlotte, NC, Meredith now resides in Maryville with her husband Mike and two children Seth and Samantha. In her spare time, Meredith enjoys taking long walks with her kids, reading and volunteering with her church and local library.

Mike Gross - Finance Manager
Although Mike has lived the last nineteen years in Charleston, SC, he is a long- time resident of Tennessee. Mike holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His main career has been the chief finance officer for two technical community colleges in higher education. Mike and his family have camped, hiked, and biked the Cades Cove area for over thirty years. He refers to the Smokies as a "little heaven on earth". After retirement from higher education, Mike and his wife, Helen, reside in Townsend, Tennessee.

Charlene Stewart -- Human Resources/Office Manager
Born and raised in the state of Florida, Charlene’s parents taught her to love the outdoors and appreciate animals in their natural environment. She has passed that love on to her own children as the family traded vacations between the ocean and Great Smoky Mountains for many years. Around 2001, Charlene and husband Doug made the decision to retire close to these beloved mountains and bought property in Walland, Tennessee to make that dream come true.
Her passion for people and nature have brought her to the Tremont team where she brings 30 years of extensive team building experience; hiring, developing, and motivating individuals to exceed expectations. She attended the University of Florida, with plans to work in elementary education before Sales and Service organizations took her career down a different path. Charlene’s interests are varied and include scuba diving, hiking, camping,  photographing wildflowers and wildlife, as well as building birdhouses, quilting by hand, and growing herbs.

Ken Voorhis - Executive Director
Ken has served as executive director of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont since 1984. He holds a B.S. from West Virginia University in Parks & Recreation with an emphasis in Nature Interpretation and a M.S. in Experiential Education, from Mankato State University in Minnesota. He has been involved in environmental education for over 25 years working in programs in Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. He lives at Tremont with his wife Jennifer and three children Bonnie Jo, Woody, and Robin, whom they have home schooled. His interests include, family, hiking, canoeing, birding, trees, storytelling music, Christianity, and exploring out of the way places in the Smokies.

Greeting you in our store and welcome center:
Gary Carpenter - Store Manager
Linda Vananda - Assistant Sales Manager

Food Service and Grounds/Facilities Staff

Steve Foster – Food Service Director
As a tenth generation member of the Walker family, Steve is right at home in the Smoky Mountains. He grew up in Blount County and spent countless hours at the river and on the trails. His career in cooking began in 1990 and his love for food shows not only in his food but in his physique. He has a wonderful wife, Rachel, and two handsome young boys, Miles and Eson. When not spending time with his family Steve can be found at the local disc golf courses, which he helps promote and maintain. He is also a self taught musician and enjoys playing blues and old time country on the guitar, mandolin and dobro. He also really likes hot sauce.

Toni Vann – Assistant Kitchen Manager
Toni is a native of east Tennessee, having been born and raised in nearby Maryville. She loves to camp and loves her neighboring national park, so coming to work at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont was natural. Since 1995 Toni has been on the GSMIT staff assisting in meal planning and preparation.

In the kitchen keeping participants well-fed and happy:
Cody Baker - prep cook
Linda Hatcher - Cook
Emma Willison - Cook
Aaron Wilson - Prep cook

Sam Crowe – Gounds and Facilities Manager
You may see Sam in any one of a number of places throughout the GSMIT campus. When he’s not working on the facilities to help keep the institute running like a well-oiled machine, he may be in the dining hall, helping the kitchen staff prepare and serve meals. Before hiring on with GSMIT, Sam spent 22 years as a professional musician, much of that time with very prominent Nashville based country bands. In 1998, he decided to get off the road and settle close to the mountains of east Tennessee. Sam enjoys hiking and camping and appropriately refers to the national park as "our blessed place."

Ron Hood - Maintenance Assistant