OUR TEAM
OUR TEAM
The primary instructors are Ken Bridle, Ph.D., and Chris Marsh, Ph.D., each of whom has over 30 years of experience teaching the natural history and field biology of the Carolinas. Administration and more are managed by Rebecca Craps and Ann Robertson.
Please contact Rebecca Craps at N.C. Cooperative Extension – Forsyth County Center at rlcraps@ncsu.edu if you have any questions or concerns about the requirements or need more information.
Dr. Kenneth A. Bridle
Instructor | Piedmont Land Conservancy
Ken Bridle has been a professional scientist for over 40 years. Trained as a botanist with emphasis on plant physiology and natural product chemistry (Ph.D.), these interests have been applied to a variety of projects. He has worked as a natural heritage and watershed inventory biologist, field ecologist, science museum exhibits director and environmental consultant. He has been active with PLC for over 30 years as a member, volunteer, consultant, board member and staff member.

He is the author of several county Natural Heritage Inventories (1998-2002) as well as watershed assessments, wetland delineations and rare plant and animal surveys. He has conducted other local and regional conservation research and restoration projects in North Carolina and around the southeast for a variety of groups. He is a founding member of the Dan River Basin Association and the Carolina Butterfly Society and has served on the board and been a volunteer for many conservation groups in North Carolina and Stokes County where he lives. He is a past Chair of the Wildlife Resources Commission, Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee which helps to facilitate work and listing of rare animal species in this state, a board on which he served for two decades. He is also a past president of the North Carolina Native Plant Society and Past President of the North Carolina Prescribed Fire Council and a founding member of the Triad Mushroom Club. He is a frequent leader of hikes and nature walks and a speaker on local conservation issues.

Dr. Chris Marsh
Instructor | Forsyth Audubon
Chris is a co-founder of the South Carolina Master Naturalist program and co-taught the Lowcountry Master Naturalist courses for 21 years. He is also a co-founder of the Port Royal Sound Foundation, located in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Chris’s interest in birds goes back to his very early days. He grew up in Raleigh, NC and joined the Raleigh Bird Club when he was 14. As an intern for the North Carolina Museum of Natural History he traveled throughout North Carolina doing bird identification from 1974-1977. Chris completed his Ph.D. in zoology from Oregon State University in 1982 and became an assistant professor of biology at Brevard College that same year.
From 1984 to 1998 he served as a professor at Coastal Carolina University, where he taught biology, animal behavior, ornithology and marine ecology. He conducted shorebird surveys with the South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources and worked as an environmental consultant from 1986-1994.
Chris began to work with Betsy and Jim Chaffin on Spring Island as an environmental consultant in 1993. He also conducted bird workshops for members. In 1998 he left academia to become the first full-time Director of the Spring Island Trust and also became the Director of the LowCountry Institute when it was founded that same year. Now retired, Chris continues to contribute to conservation in the Lowcountry as director emeritus.
Rebecca Craps
Forsyth County Cooperative Extension
As a Natural Resources and Environmental Systems Agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension, Rebecca’s role is to oversee day-to-day administrative operations of the Northwest Piedmont Master Naturalist Program including communications, marketing, and course evaluation. She is also responsible for coordinating volunteer opportunities, tracking and reporting volunteer hours, and overseeing Certification and Continuing Education processes. Finally, Rebecca connects participants with N.C. Cooperative Extension resources and opportunities.


Ann Robertson
Program Co-Founder
Ann conducted much of the research to help get the Northwest Piedmont Master Naturalist program started. She currently provides administrative support, coordinates administrative and social logistics of field experiences, and helps to gather feedback from participants.
Ann grew up in the Sandhills of Moore County. She developed an early awareness of environmental issues, being the only student in her high school who celebrated the ORIGINAL Earth Day. She then attended St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, which at that time was an avant garde foment of revolutionary thinking. She took what was likely one of the first courses in the Literature of the American Indian, taught by Dr. Whitney Jones, whose base expertise was Shakespeare. She also took what may have been one of the earliest Environmental Studies courses in the US, under the tutelage of Dr. G. Tyler Miller, a chemist and environmental educator who made a name and a career for himself writing excellent textbooks. The Second Law of Thermodynamics was helpfully symplified for us as, “Things fall part”; without, of course, the infusion of energy into a system. The “energy” part was clearly up to us. And, to galvanize action, we were also taught the synergy of “1 + 1 is greater than 2.” These very common concepts now were novel then – at least to a country girl. “The Whole Earth Catalog” was one of our textbooks, as was “Movement and Revolution”. Those of you old enough to remember this may chuckle now.