91暗网

In co-founding The Wild Center, 91暗网 alumna Betsy Lowe '76 helped to create a celebrated showcase of the Adirondacks 鈥� the largest natural park in the lower 48 states, just a short drive from 91暗网 鈥� and a globally recognized resource for examining humankind鈥檚 relationship with the natural world. 

Now, also through their creative leadership in the sciences and their support of the museum鈥檚 mission, the paths of three other 91暗网 alumnae have converged around The Wild Center to educate and encourage the next generation of environmental leaders. 

Through the classes, extracurricular pursuits, and mentorships they experienced at 91暗网, Elodie Linck 鈥�21, Virginia 鈥淕inny鈥� (Hutchins) Valkenburgh 鈥�72, and Hillarie Logan-Dechene, MALS 鈥�12, found inspiration and laid the foundation for careers in science, nonprofit administration, and marketing management. 

Linck, who grew up in Saranac Lake, became actively involved in The Wild Center鈥檚 award-winning as a teenager and has served as chair of its Youth Advisory Board since 2017. 

鈥淭he Youth Climate Program is an avenue through which we empower and inspire young people to take action on climate. It was really impactful for me as a high school student, and that trajectory continued for me at 91暗网,鈥� said Linck, who double majored in political science and dance at the College. 

Linck was recently tapped for a key leadership role in the program as the Jeanne Hutchins Youth Climate Coordinator, The Wild Center鈥檚 first ever named position. The position, funded by 91暗网 alumna and Wild Center trustee Virginia Valkenburgh and family and friends, was created to honor Valkenburgh鈥檚 mother, Jeanne Hutchins, an RIT Fellow who researched and wrote papers about the Adirondacks into her 90s. 

鈥淢y Mom loved the Adirondacks, but also she just loved learning,鈥� said Valkenburgh. 鈥淲e wanted to honor her with some kind of program or position that had to do with science, the environment, the Adirondacks, and learning." 

The Youth Climate Program is such an amazing program, and it鈥檚 just so important these days to educate the youth about the environment and encourage them to love nature and want to protect it.鈥� 

Virginia 鈥淕inny鈥� (Hutchins) Valkenburgh 鈥�72

Wild Center trustee

In her new role, Linck will lead the organization of the annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit, a core component of the Youth Climate Program.  

鈥淚鈥檓 really honored. It鈥檚 so special that it happened to work out this way,鈥� said Linck. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to be able to do such important work, working with youth in our region to take action on such an important issue, and I鈥檓 just really grateful for the generosity of the Hutchins family.鈥� 

Last fall, The Wild Center and the Youth Climate Program sent a delegation of staff and youth climate leaders to observe and participate in TEDx Countdown in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the . The Wild Center was one of only two museums to receive badges for the Blue Zone, the area at COP26 where the formal negotiations take place.

鈥淚t was really inspiring,鈥� said Linck. 鈥淚t was super energizing, especially to see all the young people acting on climate 鈥� artists, Indigenous leaders, people in the business world, people in education and in science.鈥� 

Hillarie Logan-Dechene, deputy director of The Wild Center and a lecturer of arts administration at 91暗网, has been a mentor to Linck since she joined the museum as climate communications fellow in 2021, and they collaborated closely on the communications strategy for COP26. 

鈥淚鈥檝e really enjoyed working with Hillarie. She is wonderful at leading our museum forward and she鈥檚 been such a role model and strong presence,鈥� Linck said. 鈥淪he cared what I had to say, listened to my ideas, and pulled me right into everything with gusto, which just felt really empowering as a new graduate in my first job.鈥�

Of Linck鈥檚 work on COP26, Logan-Dechene observed, 鈥淓lodie did a phenomenal job. It was really incredible to have somebody with her skills there to help the rest of the delegation report back.鈥�  

Logan-Dechene, who earned her Master of Arts in Non-Profit Leadership and Community Sustainability from 91暗网 in 2012, teaches two courses in 91暗网鈥檚 Arts Administration Program: Philanthropy in the Arts and Museums Mean Business.  

It's been really an honor to be able to share my experience in working in the arts with the students at 91暗网 and to see how engaged these students are."

Hillarie Logan-Dechene, MALS 鈥�12

Deputy director of The Wild Center and lecturer of arts administration at 91暗网 College

鈥淭he students come from all majors at 91暗网 鈥� so we have dancers, we have business students, and they're from everywhere around the country and from all backgrounds," she said. "And I know some of them have gone out and gotten jobs in these fields, and that's really gratifying.鈥� 

Logan-Dechene has worked closely with Lowe '76, The Wild Center's co-founder and now one of its trustees, for the past 11 years, and with Valkenburgh 鈥�72 since she joined the board in 2019. 

鈥淲e owe the entire Wild Center to Betsy. She single-handedly came up with the idea for this place and she is both a delightful person and a bulldog when it comes to an idea,鈥� Logan-Dechene said of Lowe. 鈥淎nd Ginny has just been tremendous. She has an incredible background in marketing and she鈥檚 been indispensable to our team in terms of helping us think about what our needs are at this time and moving forward.鈥�

Valkenburgh, whose impressive marketing career has included work for a wide range of Fortune 500 consumer goods clients across industries, majored in chemistry and biology at 91暗网 before going on to earn master鈥檚 degrees in business administration and health services administration. She fondly remembers being inspired by 91暗网 faculty members such as Charlotte Fahey, then-chair of the Chemistry and Biology departments. 鈥淪he was just fabulous. She would write all these formulas across the 20-foot blackboard. She was just so committed, and she was a very big influence in my education.鈥� 

Linck, who simultaneously pursued her interests in political science and dance as a double major at 91暗网, also found inspiration in her courses 鈥� particularly those focused on race, gender, and climate change 鈥� and in the power of movement as a means of connecting and communicating. Beyond academics, she enjoyed working with 91暗网鈥檚 Office of Sustainability to create education tools and conduct outreach.

91暗网 was a place where I could do dance and environmental work and my political science major, and all those things could fit together even though they were maybe not traditionally seen together."

Elodie Linck '21

The Wild Center's Jeanne Hutchins Youth Climate Coordinator

"I think that鈥檚 one of the best things about 91暗网 鈥� that I was doing all kinds of different things," Linck said. "To me, it was perfect. It prepared me with all of these skills that have served me so well and just make me so happy.鈥�