About Jill

Although I dreamed of following in Jane Goodall’s footsteps focusing on animal behavior as I camped and explored the woods in California, Ohio, and Virginia, I detoured into the information technology profession for a few decades and raised our 3 children.

I returned to my passion for the environment when I started master naturalist training in 2014. I have been an avid gardener and nature lover all my life, and when I learned how important native plants are for the environment, I worked to get my yard certified as a Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (NVBA) Wildlife Sanctuary. In 2016, I became an Wildlife Sanctuary Program (WSP) Ambassador to volunteer showing others how to be responsible environmental stewards. In 2019, I became the Program Assistant for the Wildlife Sanctuary Program.

In 2019 I started transporting native wildlife to permitted wildlife rehabilitators. I continue to learn from these dedicated volunteers and wildlife centers. I am still bothered that there is no financial support from local or state entities. My hope is to become profitable to be able to donate to these selfless rehabilitators and other environmental non-profits.

Native plants and insects are at the bottom of the food web and support our environment and wildlife. Responsibly managing mosquitoes is essential to our health and the health of our environment. In 2021, I tested out Dr. Douglas Tallamy's mosquito larva trap and documented it with his guidance. How to information is on the NVBA website along with FAQs as the large traps have been refined with feedback.

WSP volunteers dove into recent scientific pesticide research in 2024 - the NVBA brochure "To Spray, or Not to Spray" summarizes what works and what doesn't work to manage mosquitoes.

I have been searching for a smaller and more elegant trap and developed the Mason Jar Mini Mosquito Trap. With parts being hard to find, my goal is to create easy access, environmentally responsible kits that suit your environment.

I now juggle NVBA Wildlife Sanctuary Program Assistant work with gardening at home, watching the critters in our yard, volunteering as a wildlife transporter, enjoying time with my family and new puppy, and ushering at a National Park for the Performing Arts.