Sound to Sea Staff

Penn Perry
Penn Perry is the Executive Director of Trinity Center. Penn is a longtime staff member of Camp Trinity, the residential summer camping program of the Diocese of East Carolina and Trinity Center. He has worked with Camp Trinity staff since 1988, and has been the Director of Camp Trinity and Episcopal Youth Coordinator at Trinity Center since 2001. Penn is a firm believer in the many benefits of residential, community-based programming, and he advocates for all children to have access to the various programs of Trinity Center. Penn lives in Pine Knoll Shores, and he enjoys poetry, science fiction, frisbee, cooking, and the ocean. He shares his home with his feline roommate, Charlie, and new bride, Heather Perry, who rule the roost in his absence.


Melinda Furrer
After graduating with a BS in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Mindy wasn't sure she was quite ready to teach in the classroom. Instead, she joined the Peace Corps where for two years she lived on an island roughly the size of Bogue Banks, except that she was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, rather than 1 ½ miles from the North Carolina coast. As a Peace Corps Volunteer to the island nation of Kiribati, Mindy spent her time teaching Junior High School level ESL and Social Science classes. One afternoon while swinging in her hammock in her stick house Mindy came across an announcement for the Sound to Sea Environmental Education Program on the Outer Banks; she somehow knew this would be her next adventure. She didn't know at the time that it would also become her home. Mindy has worked at Trinity Center since 2002, first as an instructor and then as the Sound to Sea Program Coordinator. As an instructor with the Sound to Sea Program and Elderhostel, Mindy enjoyed the unique atmosphere of teaching hands-on in an outdoor setting. As program coordinator, she also found herself drawn to curriculum design and program development. She now enjoys doing both in her position as Trinity Center Program Director and Elderhostel Coordinator.


Suzannah Crandall
Suzannah was born and raised eating cheese in northern Wisconsin. Her love for the environment began at a young age and led her to study biology at Beloit College in WI. She graduated in 2004 with a B.S. in Environmental Biology and then launched herself into a two and a half year adventure in South America serving in the Peace Corps and traveling. During Peace Corps, Suzannah served in Paraguay as an Environmental Education volunteer working with elementary and middle school teachers to design and implement environmental lesson plans. She also directed environmental awareness camps for youth focusing on human impact on the environment. Her desire to continue teaching kids and working in the great outdoors brought her to the Sound to Sea program. And she has so enjoyed living in North Carolina eating hush puppies and sippin' sweet tea, she decided to stay a while and take over as the Sound to Sea Program Coordinator.

Amy Aerni
After attending Catholic school for thirteen years on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio, Amy went to college expecting to branch out and see the world. Fortunately her wishes came true. She spent a semester in Europe and a month in the Bahamas studying botany, geology and marine ecology. In May 2008, Amy received a BA in Environmental Science and Botany from Miami University of Ohio. She believes the children of today hold the future of the earth in their hands. "If we can make learning fun and hands-on, then everyone will appreciate and respect nature and strive to protect our planet." If you're looking for Amy on the weekends she will most likely be in the ocean, on the tennis court or contemplating her next move in gin rummy.

Brent Anderson
Brent was born and raised in River Falls, a small town in western Wisconsin. He grew up exploring the ponds and waterways of the local Kinnikinnic River, catching turtles, snakes and other creatures. Brent attended the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where he majored in Biology and Chemistry. While at UWSP, Brent studied abroad in Sydney, Australia, spent a summer tagging Bull sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, and illustrated insects for a published textbook. He has traveled to New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rica and Belize, but one of his favorite places is the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota. He has been teaching environmental education in Minnesota for the past two years and is very excited to be in North Carolina teaching students about his passion; the ocean and its amazing inhabitants.

Jana Dennis
Jana was born and raised in Wilmington, NC located on the coast not too far south of Sound to Sea! She graduated from North Carolina State University where she received a BS in Science Education. After graduating, Jana worked as a high school earth science teacher right outside of Wilmington. Jana is glad to now be working in the environment she knows best and enjoys the most. Jana enjoys hiking, surfing, running and of course being an educator. Her goal is to help others develop a respect for the environment and nature. She can’t wait to share her passion for the earth with her Sound to Sea students.

Karena Kwauk
Karena was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama where she grew up figure skating and playing the piano. When college came around, she didn’t move too far away going to The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee where she obtained her B.S. in Ecology and Biodiversity in 2009. She also spent a semester in Australia studying animal adaptations and invertebrate zoology. Since her first earthworm dissection in middle school Karena has always loved hands-on experiential learning. When she is not teaching, she can either be found on the beach reading, throwing the frisbee or playing board games.

Lara Koca
Lara grew up in the small town of Greenfield, Missouri. She always enjoyed being outside and going to Girl Scout camp in the summer. She attended Ozark Christian College, getting her bachelor's degree in biblical literature with an emphasis in youth ministry. After graduating, she worked at the Texas Outdoor School for a year and a half, and loved working with children and teaching them about the outdoors. She then decided to continue in outdoor education here at Sound to Sea where she loves the ocean and seeing kids learn information for the first time. For the past 7 years Lara has celeberated her own weekly holiday as a caped super hero. Ask her about "Looper Day." Wahoo for life!!

Travis Leftwich
Travis was born and raised in Glade Valley, NC. He grew up rock climbing, kayaking, hunting, and fishing in the Appalachian Mountains with his father. His love for the outdoors inspired him to earn a degree in recreation management with a concentration in outdoor experiential education from Appalatian State University in Boone, NC. After college, Travis worked as waterfront director and environmental education instructor for Camp Harrison where he developed wetland and fish ecology programs. Travis comes to Sound to Sea full of energy with hopes of instilling environmental values in the minds of our future generations. When he is not teaching, he can be found in the ocean or on the beach, usually falling off some type of board-shaped apparatus, and/or laughing and enjoying life.


Allison O’Brien
Allison was born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her love of the outdoors and educating others inspired her to get a degree in Environmental Education and Interpretation from the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point. Two of her favorite college experiences were studying aboard in Australia and playing rugby. After graduating, Allison wanted to live in a new climate, so she took a position as an AmeriCorps Member at the Feather River Land Trust in northern California. Her love of working with children and the desire to live by the ocean led Allison to Sound to Sea. In her free time, she loves being outside and is always up for new adventures!


Andrew Rominger
Andrew grew up in Newland, a small scenic town in the mountains of North Carolina where he spent most of his time playing sports, trout fishing, wandering around in the woods, and attending App State football games. After receiving his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from N.C. State in 2007, Andrew worked with various environmental state agencies conducting fisheries research. Most recently his days were spent teaching environmental education at Camp Thunderbird near Charlotte, NC and with NC State University conducting telemetry research on a rare fish species in the Pee Dee River. In his spare time you can find him playing basketball, adapting to fishing in salt water, playing his mandolin, or traveling around the world. He most recently returned from Kenya’s Kibera slum, home to over 1 million people living in a single square mile! Ask him about Kibera, he would love to share his stories with you!

Atiqah Zailani
Atiqah grew up in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she had limited access to the outdoors and wildlife. She was reduced to vicariously experiencing it through National Geographic and the Discovery channel. Now, armed with a Biological Sciences degree from Stanford University, Atiqah is ready to make up for lost time. Starting with Sound to Sea, she hopes to continue working in the outdoors and to share her love for nature and passion for sustainable living. In her spare time, Atiqah enjoys reading, traveling, learning new languages, scuba diving, snowboarding and watching hilarious Korean variety shows on YouTube. And no, she does not speak or even understand Korean very much.