PR/Media/Special Events Coordinator/1st Alternate. My name is Jessica Terrell and I am twenty-five years old. I currently live in Jefferson City, Missouri, although I was born and raised in the rural farming community of Wilmington, Ohio. I earned my B.A. in biology in 1999 at Hiram College, a small liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. My career interests are varied, but generally lie in the fields of conservation and ecology. I enjoy traveling when I can, and I had the opportunity to study in Australia during both high school and college. For the last three years, I have worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Department of Natural Resources. My positions at both of these agencies have impressed upon me the need for public education concerning our natural resources. When I am not working, I enjoy reading, photography, hiking, bicycling, running, exercising, and most any other outdoor activity Missouri has to offer.

****2004 UPDATE****

A half an hour away from Jake’s new Columbia, Missouri, home, in Jefferson City, Jessica Terrell works at a new public lands’ job. “Not a day goes by that I do not think about American Frontiers and the world that it has opened up to me. Besides giving me the opportunity to speak to the public about my experience, I came away from the journey with some wonderful friends for life and a new excitement about my career. I had always wanted and pursued an occupation that would keep me out of the office and under the big blue sky, and I got that chance shortly after returning from the American Frontiers trek. In January 2003, I became the Trails Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks. I regularly travel throughout the state, dealing with everything from trail planning to re-routes and conflict management in most of our 83 parks and historic sites. I am more passionate than ever about public lands, especially since I now have a direct influence on how some of them are to be used here in Missouri.”