Katelyn Kaplan grew up in Avon, CT and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences. Since then, she has never passed up an educational opportunity and has traveled extensively to attend conferences related to her field. Katelyn is a naturalist in that she educates people of all ages about the natural world around them. She explains that a man by the name of Baba Dioum described “quite wonderfully” what her occupation entails when he said “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.”Roaring Brook Nature Center has been Katelyn’s heart and soul for most of her professional life. She is proud to be part of a devoted team of people who work tirelessly to educate our community about how to help and live cohesively with wildlife. Katelyn is State and Federally certified for wildlife rehabilitation, which means she is licensed to rescue and provide medical care to sick, orphaned or injured wildlife. In the past she has worked at Mercy Housing and Shelter in Hartford and the Forum in addition to equine therapy facilities and environmental awareness organizations. Katelyn enjoys “anything outdoors” as well as weightlifting and martial arts, when she can find the time.
Katelyn’s husband Josh is an environmental consultant and Canton native. He is also a wrestling coach at Canton High School. They currently live in West Hartford with their seven month old son, Jayden who is a newly inducted “Rototot” and their thirteen year old yellow lab. You may see Jayden from time to time at a Rotary meeting, when his grandmas are off duty from babysitting.