Meet The Crew

Amanda grew up on a small farm in Akron, IN and attended Tippecanoe Valley Schools. She received her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Purdue University where she majored in Wildlife. Amanda began her career with a focus on birds and has worked in the Midwest and northern Great Plains on projects related to breeding birds, migration monitoring, and reintroduction efforts.

Amanda has always had a passion for conservation education, in college she was the president of a student chapter of The Wildlife Society where she coordinated educational opportunities for students. She is excited to use her talents to serve the people of Kosciusko County as the Education Coordinator for SWCD! Outside of work, Amanda enjoys cooking, camping, and spending time with her husband and their two cats.

Nathaniel Wise

Conservation Program Field Technician

Tashina grew up tending gardens, working in the fields, and caring for animals on her family’s horse farm in Allen County. She thrived in the rural atmosphere where she was free to fully enjoy the outdoors. Tashina’s upbringing inspired her to achieve her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Manchester University. Her education took her to many places like the west coast in the Forest Service and to Wisconsin where she worked as a naturalist and recreational guide. We are happy Tashina found us here at Soil and Water, some of her responsibilities include semi-annual landfill reviews and conducting field inspections for USDA farm bill programs. She also serves on several local technical committees and organizes the county transect data collection. If you’ve ever received free food plot seed or have had your soil sampled, you can thank Tashina, she organizes those programs as well!  

Outside of work Tashina enjoys life on her hobby farm with her husband and daughter. Their farm includes bird dogs, chickens, horses, cats, honey bees and a turtle. In addition to their critters, they also have a large garden and fruit trees. Her family also enjoys boating and swimming in Chapman Lake on weekends.

Originally from southern Indiana, Chad has been working in Kosciusko County since the spring of 2014.  He first visited the area with Huntington tech team while he was a student in training through NRCS and was impressed with the diversity of practices, rolling topography, and natural lakes that Kosciusko County has. Chad plays a vital role working with the district by promoting our mission of conserving soil and water. One of his favorite responsibilities is working directly with the landowners and educating them on new conservation practices. Chad stays busy after work helping his triplet’s get to and from their sporting events. On the weekends you might find him kayaking down Tippecanoe River with his wife or hunting with his kids.