Carolyn assisted with the AMD Sampling with the EPCAMR Staff in the Loyalsock Creek Watershed.

EC worked with the King’s College Office of Career Planning to offer King’s students the opportunity to apply for one of two EC Summer 2026 Scholarships. This EC scholarship allows King’s students to gain hands-on experience through an internship which aligns with EC’s mission. Furthermore, the work that students do in this internship counts for three college credits, funded by the scholarship, which helps students work towards earning their degrees. Carolyn has been selected as a recipient of the Earth Conservancy Summer 2026 Scholarship and has chosen to return to work with EPCAMR for this internship opportunity.  You can read about Carolyn’s initial time with EPCAMR in this previous news article. 

Carolyn tells us, “I’m so honored that I was selected as a recipient of this amazing scholarship! I never would have expected that such an opportunity would have been made possible for me so early in my college career. Without this internship, I would have needed to wait until the fall semester of college to return to work with EPCAMR as a Community-Based Federal Work Study student intern. I would have missed getting involved with all the sampling and monitoring that EPCAMR does throughout the summer, which I’ve really wanted to be a part of! Now, thanks to Earth Conservancy, I can focus on getting out in the field without worrying about falling behind with course work!” 

“I really like how this internship is run differently from my other college courses. There are virtually no assignments, except for updating my supervising professor, Dr. Brain Mangan, on my tasks and activities each week. Instead of me taking a midterm and final exam, Bobby has to complete a midterm and final assessment of the quality of my work. It’s more like I’m giving him homework! I’ll have to work hard so that he has only good things to say about me!” Carolyn joked. 

Carolyn organized the Holy Cross Day of Service EPCAMR AMD Tie-Dye Activity on Campus in Wilkes-Barre just before the Spring Semester came to an end with Bobby and Maria.

Carolyn mentioned, “In all seriousness, I’m very grateful to have been chosen for this opportunity. There are a lot of people who helped me secure this internship. Dr. Brian Mangan, who is the Director of the Environmental Program at King’s and my supervising professor for this internship, informed me of the opportunity and encouraged me to apply. I am so thankful for his unwavering support. The Office of Career Planning was extremely helpful in the application process, answering any and all questions I had. They were also partly responsible for deciding which students would be awarded the scholarship, so I’m grateful they chose me. EPCAMR has my gratitude for welcoming me back so soon after I finished this semester’s Community-Based Federal Work Study with them. I look forward to continuing to be a part of the EPCAMR team! And finally, a big thank you to Earth Conservancy, who proposed and funded this scholarship. This scholarship truly reflects their efforts to increase involvement in similar causes to their own.”

Carolyn attended the Schuylkill River Watershed Congress at Alvernia College in Reading to be a Room Facilitator, along with Maria, while Bobby was there to present.

Bobby stated, “Carolyn has been a valuable member of the EPCAMR team through her involvement in the Communit-Based Federal Work Study Program. It is very beneficial to us, since we often do not have the funds to create paid internships, unless grant funds are budgeted and can be allocated to support the internship positions. The students are paid through the Work Study Program, I serve as their Supervisor and Mentor, and they follow our activity description of tasks and work projects that we are currently working on during the time that they are with us. She will continue to get lots of hands-on learning and applied science activities during her internship over the next 12 weeks. This scholarship from Earth Conservancy is wonderful for her and for us. They have been a very strong advocate and supporter of our work over our entire time we’ve existed and we’ve been a part of their work in many capacities and still are. Carolyn already works very well with the rest of the Staff and our community volunteers and has already gained a lot of knowledge on the work that we do in the region to assess and restore our watersheds impacted by legacy AMD. She’s been very instrumental in helping to categorize my Google Contacts list to help EPCAMR target reaching out to vendors and partners of ours to invite them to attend our Fall 30th Anniversary Banquet and Dinner/Reception to celebrate this amazing milestone of ours. That’s no easy task with over 7000 contacts to be sorted and labeled,” Bobby joked.

Carolyn lives in Shickshinny, at the southern part of the Wyoming Valley, where we are working on completing a Coldwater Conservation Plan for the Shickshinny Creek, Rocky Run, and Paddy Run watersheds. She’s familiar with the area and is currently reaching out to the Shickshinny Historical Society and Museum’s Director, Jimmy Bach, to research any historical mine maps of the area that EPCAMR can scan and utilize in our report. Jimmy has an amazing YouTube collection on the site and his History with Jimmy videos are great! We’ve offered to scan the maps for Jim and provide them to him digitally for allowing us to borrow the maps and scan them to get them into our report and possibly into the Mine Subsidence Insurance’s (MSI) Mine Map Atlas and PA Historical Underground Mine Map Inventory System (PHUMMIS). We will be scheduling some days in June for additional stream and culvert assessments in both the Shickshinny Creek and following up with our partners in the Bowman’s Creek watershed too! Welcome back Carolyn! 

The post Carolyn M. Phillips, returns to EPCAMR, sponsored by an Earth Conservancy Summer 2026Scholarship appeared first on epcamr.org.

Stanley A. Shimko

CBWS allows eligible College and University students to use their Federal Work Study award to work off campus, at a local non-profit. Students earn their wages while supporting meaningful community work and gaining real world experiences and assisting non-profits with their impacts withing the communities that they serve by providing some additional organizational capacity to the organizations.

CBWS is designed for students who want their work to matter by contributing locally to the communities that surround their Colleges and Universities. They can gain hands‑on experience in real nonprofit settings, build skills that translate directly to future careers, explore fields like education, social services, history, environmental work, and community outreach. On top of the soft skills and opportunities for applied science, they can also earn certificates that they can add to their resumes and make a positive impact while getting paid. EPCAMR encourages students can contact their Financial Aid or Community Engagement office to learn more about eligibility and placements. Students at King’s College should inquire if they have questions or need more assistance on the process, by stopping by Kelly Gibbons’ office at the Shoval Center or book an appointment with her (in person is preferable)  Book time to meet with me

Stanley shares deep familial ties with the coal region, and intends that the lands in which he was raised, may be healed from the long history and scars of past  anthracite mining. He comes from a lineage of generational coal miners in Eastern Europe around Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. He expressed interest in working (after graduation) in a field related to anthracite mining. To this end, he expressed his gratefulness and his interest in the opportunity to participate  EPCAMR’s Work Study internship program. Stanley will use his historical insight from his education at King’s to aid in EPCAMR’s preparation for its 30th Anniversary in the Fall, during his work study and for research into anthracite mining history topics that will become a part of several of our reports and watershed assessments that we are currently working on.

Stanley expressed his desire to share EPCAMR’s history at the 30th Anniversary Reception, as bringing EPCAMR’s history and past projects to the forefront of local conciseness would bring forth a greater sense of awareness to the type of work and activities involved in EPCAMR’s abandoned mine reclamation, which directly benefits the regional population centers impacted by abandoned mines in Northeastern and Northcentral PA.

Stanley tells us, “My generation does not have the constant visual reminder of anthracite
history which past generations had. I mean coal breakers, colliery buildings, washeries, shafts, slopes, and tipples which were scatted across the Wyoming Valley have been by and large, torn down. So I have noticed that my generation has begun to forget about the long, painful and oppressive history of anthracite mining, entirely”. He later said, “Despite there being little reminders of the deep mining on the surface, there are still endless catacombs of coal veins and water-filled gangways and rooms, with their pillars removed, beneath our feet that remind of of their existence when they open up occasionally during mine subsidence emergencies in our communities, revealing with that geological hazard that comes along with living in the Coal Region, the long unforgettable history of Anthracite.”

Bobby Hughes, Executive Director mentioned, ” We’re glad to have Stanley with us through the CBWS Program at King’s College, which is an invaluable program that supports non-profits like ourselves that don’t often have the funds to financially support paid internships, but have the space and can host the positions. We also are providing some valuable experiences for the students that they can get outside of the classroom and the opportunity to network and have professional mentors in the workforce that can educate them and give them firsthand chances to engage with the surrounding local communities that they are a part of while attending College or a local University. ”

Bobby joked, “As Stan and I were talking on his first day, he recalled attending a PA American Water Wonderful World of Water Camp at The Lands at Hillside Farms when he was very young and he remembered making an AMD Tie-Dye T-shirt and was first introduced to EPCAMR in his early youth. That was rewarding to hear, since I had conducted that educational event and led the workshop to create those t-shirts for the campers, which is an Environmental Education Program that we have been doing for decades with Susan Turcmanovich, External Affairs Manager, from PA American Water, both at The Lands at Hillside Farms over the years, when the Educational Center building was first constructed up on the hill, and yearly at the Valley Library, along the Lackawanna River, in Peckville.”

Stanley will be coming in to the Office twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he doesn’t have classes, so there is no conflict with his on campus education, and providing us with 10 hours a week for 10 weeks. His Activities are outlined in the following Volunteer Activity Description (VAD) entitled, EPCAMR Coal Region History Researcher and Archivist_Job Description

He will also spend time archiving and scanning our 30 years history of news articles, projects, photos, into a digital archive for EPCAMR. We hope to have it complete to reveal at the 30th Anniversary Reception in September 2026.

Another assignment will be to research the history of coal mining towns and communities where coal breakers were once prominent as we develop our watershed assessments for a number of watersheds in the region. In particular, he will be looking at the E.S. Stackhouse Colliery and Greater Shickshinny Area as we continue to develop our Coldwater Conservation Plan for the Shickshinny Creek Watershed and both the Paddy Run and Rocky Run Valleys, along the southern tip of the Northern Anthracite Coalfields, along State Route 11, in Shickshinny and Salem Township.

E.S. Stackhouse portrait from 1886.

The majority of the colliery history is located in State Game Lands 260. He’ll be looking for maps and history on the people, landmarks, and local communities that influenced the mining industry in those areas that EPCAMR always includes in our watershed assessments and Coldwater Conservation Plans.

A transparency over a historic mining map showing the E.S. Stackhouse Colliery Breaker original location along State Route 11 just outside of Shickshinny.

He will be helping our former AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer Dennis Dukinas, continue to build on our new Story Map on the Anthracite Region’s Historic Coal Mines, Breakers, and Washeries, in the Northern, Middle (Eastern), Western Middle, and Southern Anthracite Coal Fields, Geographic Information System (GIS), online, interactive map.

Screen shot of the online Story Map and Interactive Historical Coal Mines, Collieries, Breakers, and Washeries in the EPCAMR Region’s Anthracite Coal Fields

He expressed his interest in attending the EPCAMR 30th Anniversary Reception with his fiancée, and wishes for you to be in attendance as well, on September 19th, 2026 from 5-9PM, at the Sand Springs Country Club, in Drums. More details on the planning of this pivotal occasion will be forthcoming, so please SAVE THE DATE! We will be highlighting our accomplishments over the last three decades. Dinner and a Cash Bar will be provided. Registration will open soon and sponsorships will be sought from our regional partners across our 16-county region.

We look forward to his contributions to our organization over the next 10 weeks! Welcome aboard Stanley! Join us in welcoming him to this great opportunity for the both of us.

The post EPCAMR Brings on Stanley A. Shimko as a Community-based Federal Work Study student intern from King’s College as Our Coal Region History Researcher & Archivist appeared first on epcamr.org.

Location of the whirlpool breakthrough into the Ewen Mine workings, beneath the Susquehanna River

The programs are sponsored by the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Anthracite Heritage Foundation, King’s College, Luzerne County Historical Society, Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes University, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, EPCAMR, Greater Pittston Historical Society, Anthracite Living History Group, Old Forge Coal Mine, and Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Committee.

All events are open to the public free of charge, except the first one.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR MINING HISTORY WEEK 2015

Jan. 10th, 8 am
Boy Scouts of America, “Mining in Society” Merit Badge Day, King’s College – open only to Boy Scout members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council; program ends at 6 pm

Jan. 15th, 7 pm 
Msgr. John J. Curran Annual Lecture, Prof. Walter T. Howard of Bloomsburg University, speaking on “Socialist and Communist Labor Organizers in the Wyoming and Lackawanna Coal Fields during the 1930s,” King’s College, Burke Auditorium, McGowan School of Business – refreshments served at 6:30 pm

Jan. 17th, 2 pm
Knox Mine Disaster Annual Remembrance Program, Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, Scranton: displays; music; special tribute to photographers, Steven and William Lukasik Sr., and news reporter, Jack Scanella; new segments of The Knox Disaster Documentary by David Brocca of Los Angeles, CA; commentary by Chester Kulesa, William Lukasik, Jr., and Robert Wolensky – refreshments provided

Jan. 18th, 10 am
Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Service, St. John the Evangelist Church, Pittston

Jan. 18th, 11:30 am 
Knox Mine Disaster Public Commemoration, PHMC Historical Marker in front of Baloga Funeral Home, Port Griffith – coffee provided, courtesy of Baloga Funeral Home

Jan. 20th, 6:30 pm
Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Atty. F. Charles Petrillo of Wilkes-Barre will present and discuss two classic Anthracite-related documentary films at Earth Conservancy, Ashley – refreshments provided

Jan. 22th, 6:30 pm 
Luzerne County Historical Society, William Hastie and Robert Wolensky will speak about their book, “Anthracite Labor Wars,” Wyoming Presbyterian Church, Wyoming – refreshments provided

Jan. 24th, 2-4 pm
Meet and Hear Local Authors, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Wilkes-Barre Township: local authors will speak about their books, beginning at 2:30 pm, and meet and greet patrons before and afterwards; authors include William Conologue, John Dziak, William Hastie, William Kashatus, Kathleen Munley, Sheldon Spear, Kenneth Wolensky, and Robert Wolensky

The post Regional Mining History Week Events to take place January 10-24th appeared first on epcamr.org.