Meet the Duluth Crew
by Jenny Sherren, North District Field Crew Member/ AmeriCorps Member
The Duluth Crew is one of two crews based out of Duluth, Minnesota. I am a part of this six-member crew and wanted to introduce you to my fun and hardworking crew mates! I’ll tell you a bit about myself and two of my crew mates in today’s post.
First off, I am Jenny Sherren. I am 24 years old, and I am from Andover, Minnesota. I graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth in December 2019 with a B.S. in Environmental Science. This is my first term with the Corps. My favorite project we’ve worked on is building a bridge and rerouting a trail on the Superior Hiking Trail with the Gooseberry Crew. When responding to a wildfire, my go-to fire tool is a Pulaski (an axe-like tool). My favorite tool in our shop is Odie the chainsaw. My favorite campsite so far is Glendalough State Park. When on spike (camping) my favorite meal is a burrito bowl. The Scientific and Natural Areas Oak Savannah in Crookston, MN is my favorite site we have worked on. The coolest thing I’ve done this term is spraying invasive plants while operating an ATV. The most challenging thing I’ve done this term is work in physically, mentally, and environmentally taxing conditions all at once, but this definitely doesn’t happen all the time. Lastly, one thing I want to do before the end of my term is collect seeds from native prairie plants.
This is our crew leader Amina Kovacevic. She is 25 years old and is from Fargo, North Dakota. Amina went to the Minnesota State University Moorhead and graduated with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the spring of 2019. This is her first term as a crew leader after serving as a crew member last year. Her favorite project so far is shoreline restoration with the East Ottertail Soil and Water Conservation District. Amina’s favorite fire tool is a Combi (combination shovel/pick) and her favorite tool in the shop is Izzy Bizu the chainsaw. Her favorite campsite so far is Glendalough State Park and her favorite spike meal is also burrito bowls. Amina’s favorite site we have worked on is The Nature Conservancy acquired forest in Finland, MN. The most challenging thing she has done this term is help carry 24 ft long bridge beams 1.75 miles into the Superior Hiking Trail that weighed approximately 600 lbs. Before the end of the term Amina would like to convince the crew to get tattoos dedicated to our term together (on personal time of course).
Jacob Hagestuen is 22 years old and serving his first term with the corps. He is from Aitkin, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a B.S. in Environmental Science in May 2020. His favorite project so far was tree cage maintenance in Grand Marais, MN. His go-to fire tool is a Pulaski and his favorite tool in the shop are the Fiskars loppers. His favorite campsite we have stayed at is Itasca State Park. Jacob’s favorite spike meal is grill night with veggie burgers. His favorite site that we’ve worked on is the Silver Bay Fire off highway 61. The coolest thing he’s done is assist in towing out a muskeg track vehicle (example) after it got stuck in a marsh when responding to a wildland fire in Palisade, MN. The most challenging thing Jacob has done is help carry 700-1000 pound rocks when building a trail on the Superior Hiking Trail. Before the end of his term Jacob would like to make more professional connections with project hosts and learn how they got into their careers.
Stay tuned for more about the second half of our crew in my next blog post! We have some more fantastic people in this crew and I am excited to tell you all about them.