Faculty & Staff Story

When asked what made him choose Catawba, he said:

The strong sense of community and dedication to environmental science and conservation.”

Joshua Cool is the Preserve Keeper at Catawba College. Joshua is responsible for managing the Fred Stanback, Jr. Ecological Preserve, maintaining trail usability for function and pleasure for visitors, watching for hazards such as fallen trees, habitat enhancement such as biodiversity with plants and animals by increasing diversity of plant life, and much more.

When asked what he loves about Catawba, he said, “The strong sense of community. Most institutions say they are a family but a lot of the times that is just language. Catawba is a family.  Between departments there’s a real interest in cohesion. There is good communication. People are open and care about each other. I also love that we are an environmental leader.”

When asked about his accomplishments regarding the Preserve here at Catawba, he said, “We have had a lot of success with getting areas opened up and productive for animals such as deer, coyotes, and foxes. We have increased the size of the fields. We have improved the drainage situation a lot as well as increased the amount of early successional pollinators. We have increased the number of water fowl such as ducks. We have encouraged the growth of River Cane. We have also been working on invasive removal in order to help the native plants. Overall, the Preserve is a much better place now.”

“The Preserve is not a park. It is an ecological preserve with a diverse population of plants and animals. There are rules to abide by such as stay on foot, don’t bother the animals, and dogs must stay on leashes,” Joshua added.