Manager's Message
by Jim Serfass, Site Manager, Green Spring Gardens
Jim Serfass
Hello, Friends of Green Spring! I have really enjoyed getting to know the park and the people that make it special over my first few weeks as site manager! I am very much looking forward to learning more and planning for an even brighter future at Green Spring Gardens. I would like to take this opportunity to share a little about myself. I grew up on a dairy farm in the Wellsboro, Pennsylvania area (a region alternatively known as God’s Country, the Pennsylvania Wilds, the Northern Tier, the home of the PA Grand Canyon, etc.). At an early age, I developed a strong connection to the land and all the things that grew from it. As I got older, I spent time exploring the trails, forests, and waterways of Central Pennsylvania and beyond.
My interest in the environment led me to Juniata College, where I earned a B.S. in Environmental Science. In my junior year, I spent a semester abroad in Ecuador, which included a month-long internship in the Amazon rainforest (I may still have my observed plant species list somewhere). Shortly after college, I completed an Environmental Education internship with the Student Conservation Association in the Hudson Valley, NY, and fell in love with teaching in the outdoors.
That career path took me to Southern California and then the San Francisco Bay area where I worked as an environmental educator and campus coordinator for a non-profit called NatureBridge. In 2011, I moved back to the East Coast and worked for the University of Maryland Extension in Carroll County, focusing on 4-H Environmental Science Programs. In 2014, I returned to NatureBridge, this time in the Mid-Atlantic Region, where I held several roles that included sales/outreach, operations, facilities, grant management, and most other things you can think of. During that time, I also earned a master’s degree in Park and Recreation Management from Frostburg State University.
In November 2023, I was named the site manager at Hidden Pond Nature Center in West Springfield, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working for the Fairfax County Park Authority. It had long been a career goal of mine to become a park manager, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to bring all the things I’ve learned to Green Spring Gardens.
I look forward to meeting you all and will do my best to keep my name tag on when I’m on site. Please say hello whenever you get the chance!
