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Furman alumni share work on water quality at National Land Conservation Conference
Rebecca Wade ’19, left, and Katie Hottel ’12 presented at The National Land Conservation Conference in September about their work at Upstate Forever protecting clean water sources. Photo provided by Upstate Forever.
Two Furman University alumni shared their work extending land conservation work into clean water initiatives at Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference.
Hosted by the Land Trust Alliance from Sept. 3-6 in Cleveland, Ohio this year, Rally brought together land conservationists from around the world to network and learn from one another. The Environmental Protection Agency invited Furman alumni Katie Hottel ’12 and Rebecca Wade ’19 from the Greenville conservation nonprofit and land trust Upstate Forever, to present their team’s work protecting water quality.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on restoration of water quality, but we asked the question what if we could also work on the protection of water quality,” said Hottel, Upstate Forever’s Clean Water and GIS Manager.
Staff from Greenville-based nonprofit Upstate Forever attended and presented at Rally 2025: The National Land Conservation Conference. From left: Wade, Hottel, Scott Park and Chris Starker.
Rally brought together more than 1,000 conservationists, and Hottel and Wade presented their work to a session of about 70 people. They shared how they pool public and private funds to implement land management best practices to protect water sources. These could include preventing cattle contamination of streams, or repairing septic systems to prevent seepage – and is paid for using a mix of public and private dollars, Wade said.
“There is no one way to do conservation here,” she said. “There are a lot of organizations starting to plan for water protection and they have different strategies for it, but we actually do that.”
Hottel knew she wanted to work in sustainability practices before she came to Furman, but during her time the university didn’t have the sustainability science major it does now. Faculty and staff worked with her to tailor an Earth and environmental sciences degree to include classes in environmental writing and policy. Prior to working at Upstate Forever, she was an intern with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. Furman funds students for summer internship and research experiences who would otherwise be doing unpaid work, and Hottel said her internship helped pave the way to her current role.
A transformative experience during a philosophy class at Furman got then-biology major Wade to add philosophy as a second major. She dedicated herself to seeking memorable experiences and engaging fully with her education. Trips like the Wild Semester study away program led Wade to her passion for conservation, and she “went on every study away that I could fit into my schedule.”
Furman gave them the foundation they needed, and now Hottel and Wade are building on those early experiences. Hottel said after their presentation, she’s received emails from other conservationists asking how to implement the strategies Upstate Forever has been employing.
“It feels very rewarding,” she said.