News

On Tuesday, Sound Rivers welcomed its newest staff member: Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman.

Katey hit the ground running this week, getting caught up to speed on the organization, the roles of the other team members and scouting potential locations for green stormwater infrastructure projects in the Jack’s Creek watershed in Washington with Program Director Clay Barber on Wednesday. On Friday, she’ll be meeting up with Clay, Water-Quality Specialist Taylor Register, Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz and Clay for a lab tour at Wayne Community College.

“We are thrilled to have Katey join our team,” said Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop. “She comes to us with some very relevant experience with another Riverkeeper in South Carolina, and passion for clean water and the work that we do, specifically. Katey is familiar with our work — the weird intersection of our work — and she’s super-passionate about it.”

A native of Pennsylvania, Katey is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University in Sound Carolina; her degree in sustainability and coastal resilience. For both her junior and senior years, she worked with Winyah Rivers Alliance, running Swim Guide and working as the Waccamaw Riverkeeper’s assistant.

It was when she began working with the Waccamaw Riverkeeper that she truly found her calling, Katey said.

“Growing up, I always said that I wanted a career where I could make a difference, make an impact, and I’ve always had a love for the environment,” Katey said. “The reason this is what I want to do is because I truly care about protecting the rivers and all of their natural resources, and sustainability as a whole. That bleeds over into my daily life — I try to live as sustainably as I can.”

Katey will be working out of the Washington office. If you’d like to welcome her to the Sound Rivers team, she can be reached at katey@soundrivers.org.