Peter Turcik
I grew up in rural Western Pennsylvania, where I developed my love for wildlife and the outdoors. My playgrounds were the woods and fields, the creek, and the pond around my family's 13-acre property. As a family, we frequently ventured out into the local state park for picnics, where I spent the majority of my time crawling through the stream, lifting rocks to find salamanders, crayfish, and sculpin. I learned about conservation by catching crayfish for fish bait in my family's creek and finding out if I took too many, there would not be any left.
My education showed me how to share my passion for the outdoors through my writing. My career as a journalist and environmental writer showed me that passion is the spark needed to make the world a better place.
In late 2013 my writing caught the attention of Joel Dunn, then Executive Director of the Chesapeake Conservancy, a young environmental nonprofit in Annapolis. What started as a three-month internship bloomed into four amazing years doing everything from writing and editing publications, to grant writing and management, to travel writing for findyourchesapeake.com, and eventually to graphic design, webpage management, and videography. Both the communications department and I grew and matured over those four years and my time with the Chesapeake Conservancy has given me a diverse skill set that will serve me well over the course of my career.
Currently, I am the Managing Editor for the American Fisheries Society’s member magazine Fisheries.