Our Team

I’d had enough. Twenty years on a Florida barrier island. Hurricanes, hurricanes, and more hurricanes. The bridge to the island even got blown out once. Did I mention sharks? Plenty of them, and their feeding time happened to coincide with my favorite swimming times: at night, in the early morning, or late in the day. And alligators. Not on a barrier island, you say? They don’t swim in salt water? Well, I’m here to tell you that alligators swim in fresh water, in sewer water, in chlorinated swimming pool water, and, in the summer, in salt water. They’ll come right up on the beach, just when you’re ready for bikinis and such. A real mood killer, those alligators. To save the meanest for last, there are cotton-mouthed moccasins. Everywhere. Under your house, on the trails through the woods, just waiting for you when you get out of your kayak to stretch your legs. But it’s the August humidity that usually drives Florida crackers to the mountains every summer.

Coming from Florida to Upstate South Carolina is like moving from Mars to Earth, so I enrolled in the Clemson Upstate Master Naturalist program, to begin what will surely be a life-long learning process to understand this amazing natural world of Lake Jocassee and the Jocassee Gorges. Kay has since completed the program as well, but as a native North Carolinian, she knew way more than me to begin with. When it comes to plants, to flowers, to trees, she’s got me whipped, but I’ve got her over a barrel when it comes to geology, to birds, to the climate. I intend to keep it that way. Otherwise she’d be a mess to live with. It has become quite a pleasure for me to be an occasional writer about our area in both the South Carolina Wildlife Magazine and the Jocassee Journal. Lastly, I must admit that I live to swim, and Lake Jocassee is the most sublime swimming experience I have ever enjoyed. You can take the boy out of Florida, but you just can’t get the boy out of the water!

* And since Kay’s won’t mention it, I should tell you that she is an extraordinary garden writer. In Florida, she wrote a regular column for two newspapers. Since moving to the shores of Lake Jocassee, she has been the garden columnist for the Sentinel, the bi-monthly publication for FOLKS (Friends of Lake Keowee). Lastly, she has recently penned her first children’s book, ‘Tales from a Tree’. The narrator is an oak tree. Imagine that.

Me? Why, I’m just happy to be here, introducing new friends to this special place we call the Jocassee Gorges.

I first found home in the southern Blue Ridge mountains as a young adult. Here, at the base of the southern Blue Ridge escarpment, I feel whole. Here, rhododendron and mountain laurel, doghobble and trillium, and even the dying hemlocks are my old, familiar friends. “You know us,” they whisper, “but there is so much more to learn.” There is, indeed so much more to understand about the relationships in nature — relationships between rocks and trees and fungus and fish and weather and mountains – and how that invisible thread links us all together. The Jocassee Gorges provides a classroom which allows for infinite lessons.

Oh, the bio. Brooks, my dear husband, says it should say something about me. For much of my life I worked as a professional gardener and wrote environmental gardening columns. I’ve worked in more beautiful community and private gardens than I can count. I am passionate about clean water, clean air, and clean food

Enough about me. You are here for the lake. Allow Brooks and me to share our experience on this lovely mountain lake with you and your family and friends. We will do our best to show you a good time, and have you leave a little piece of your heart with Lake Jocassee.

Tricia Kyzer has been a naturalist all her life. She grew up in south Florida, happily immersed in waters full of island mangroves and coral reefs, swimming with barracudas and chasing iguanas. As a child, she discovered the temperate forests, alive with deer and meadows full of butterflies, during a year in northern Michigan.

In 1999 Tricia discovered her calling as an educator. She has volunteered with the Discover Carolina program at Jones Gap State Park. and taught science classes to elementary through high school students. In 2012, Tricia became a certified Master Naturalist.

Currently, she serves as an educator at Lake Conestee Nature Park, bringing thousands of school children into forest, meadow and swamp to make discoveries with her, Tricia still finds herself in wonder of mountain coves full of botanical treasures and alive with forest creatures, and she enthusiastically shares these treasures with anyone who will join her.

Dan Whitten is a naturalist living in the Spartanburg County since 1980.  He graduated from Auburn University with a BS degree in Wildlife Management.  He retired from Michelin North America after 30 years and began to renew his study of nature by taking the Upstate Master Naturalist Class in 2008 and the Catawba Master Naturalist Class in 2010, and the Lowcountry Master Naturalist class in 2016.  He became a SC State Certified Naturalist in 2014.  He serves on the boards of the SC Native Plant Society (currently as programs chairman), Friends of Jocassee, the Tyger River Foundation, and was with the Foothills Conservancy from 2012 until 2018.  He works part time as a naturalist guide with Jocassee Lake Tours, a hiking guide with Jocassee Lake Tours and other organizations, and as a Poll Manager with Spartanburg Co. Election Commission.

Dan and Sherrie have 2 married daughters with 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

Ric Barnett is a native South Carolinian who was raised in the Upstate near Greenville, He currently lives on the land where he grew up, so for over 60 years he has watched natural succession transform the landscape. As a young boy, his father brought him to swim in the Keowee River before Jocassee Valley was flooded. (A slight pall was put over that trip, however, when his father, trying to impress the lad regarding the great change that was about to take place when the lake covered the valley, told little Ricky, “This is a very historical place.” To which the boy replied, “I don’t see nothing funny about that.” Sigh…..

Ric graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Recreation and Parks Administration and a commission in the United States Air Force. For a brief period after graduating and before entering the military Ric worked for Duke Power on the Jocassee project. He helped get the last two hydro electric generators on line and conducted environmental survey work for the Bad Creek project.

For 20+ years Ric flew fighters and taught survival skills for the USAF, a mission which took him all over the world. He finished his military career in Alaska and spent the next 18 years as a resident of North Pole, Alaska, where he also flew search and rescue missions with the Civil Air Patrol throughout “The Great Land.’ As a global traveler Ric says, “All things considered, I have never seen a finer lake than Lake Jocassee.

Ric is a South Carolina Master Naturalist who shares his love of the natural world with everyone who has an interest in what is going on around them. He also volunteers as an environmental instructor at Paris Mountain State Park, where he teaches 2nd and 5th grade classes.

Kenny Brower, also known as Pepaw, to his wonderful grandchildren is a retired “Lab Rat” who spent 30 years in Polymer Science. Now, he is free to roam the wild places so dear to his heart. Married to his sweetheart, Kim in 1979, they enjoy camping from the hills of Virginia to the Carolina shores. Kenny has had a lifelong love for the natural world. He completed the Upstate Master Naturalist program in 2017 and is a member of Friends of Jocassee and The Foothills Trail Conservancy.

Sheryl is a native of Oconee County, SC, and her ancestors are among the earliest settlers of the area surrounding Lake Jocassee. Her father was a Duke Power employee who worked on construction of Oconee Nuclear Station before moving the family to North Carolina in 1972. Some of Sheryl’s earliest memories are of starry nights camping along the Chattooga river at Burrell’s Ford campground, swimming in the clear, cold mountain lakes during the summer, and spending most of her time outside. College, raising kids, and work occupied her until her children fledged the nest and started their own journeys, and then Sheryl returned to Oconee County to be closer to her parents. You may have seen her around Chattooga Belle Farm, where she works part time at the farm store, or you may recognize her from her previous job at Head-Lee Nursery. In 2015, she completed the Upstate Master Naturalist program. Sheryl is also a SC Adopt-A-Stream volunteer and regularly monitors two local streams. Currently, she and her mother live in Tamassee Valley, at the base of one of the first wagon trails to climb into the southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

Before letting Gene tell you his story, we should tell you that Gene is the hiking king of Jocassee Lake Tours. He has thru- hiked the AT twice. We jokingly dare him to hike it backwards next time. We’ll be losing Gene to the trail this May as he heads out west to thru- hike the Pacific Coast Trail, a mere 2653 miles.  And did we mention that he’s thru-hiked (twice) the Foothills Trail, and once each the Benton McKaye Trail and the Tahoe Rim Trail. There is no stopping this man. And now on to Gene’s modestly written bio:

Growing up in SE Georgia my playground was the Savannah River and I never would have dreamed of working today at Jocassee Lake Tours in the headwaters of the entire Savannah River basin. I attended Georgia Southern University and obtained a degree in Business Administration. After 30 years of pencil pushing, I decided it was time to get outside!

Backpacking and hiking became my passion. On May 21, 2012 I felt compelled to drive to Springer Mountain in NE Georgia to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. I sat, reflected, envisioned, and wrote an entry in the trail log book: “Happy Birthday Mom, I Love You”. I promised to return and return I did, now having completed the entire trail twice since that day.

My wife, Gail, and I live in Oconee County near Westminster. I hike many days on the Foothills Trail that traverses through Jocassee Gorges. The diversity of plants and animals in this area is unbelievable and is considered as one of the most diverse in North America. I completed the Upstate Master Naturalist Program in 2018.

If you want peace and serenity, Lake Jocassee is the place to be! Go for a swim (warm season), hang out with northern loons (cool season), bald eagles and peregrine falcons, even migrating monarch butterflies, and more species of plants than you could ever remember.

Kerry McKenzie has been working in education for over 20 years. She holds a M.S., in Physical Education, Early Childhood Development and Health Education from West Virginia University and B.A. in Psychology from Wheeling Jesuit University. Kerry was a clinical instructor in the Physical Education Department at West Virginia University for several years where she instructed future teachers in physical education and early childhood motor development. She was the lead teacher and assisted in the development of award-winning physical activity programs for infants, babies, toddlers, pre-school and elementary school age children in both land-based and water-based learning environments. In addition, Kerry was the Program Coordinator of the Motor Development Center and the co-creator of a character named Choosy who promotes healthy decision making by children and grownups. As the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coordinator at Prisma Health System Children’s Hospital, Kerry dedicated her time helping children, parents and teachers lead healthy lifestyles through a program called Farm to Belly. Farm to Belly is a multifaceted curriculum around growing, cooking and sharing food. She advocates that young children need ample opportunities to move and learn about healthy lifestyles so they will acquire healthy habits at an early age. Nutrition and wellness counseling, gardening and yoga have been a part of Kerry’s life for many years. In addition to her Farm to Belly program, Kerry guides and supports individuals of all ages and abilities on a holistic health journey to establish healthy habits and to become the best possible versions of themselves through her personal business called Whole Again Wellness. Kerry currently resides in Pickens with husband David on a large property which offers much opportunity to explore the wonders of the natural world.

David White was born and raised in Pickens County, SC, with a patch of woods and a creek behind his house to roam, explore, swing on grapevines and catch crawfish. On his path to Eagle Scout, he learned valuable skills, camped, backpacked, swam and canoed in the Carolina foothills/Blue Ridge and taught aquatic skills to scouts on Lake Keowee in 1974 – all of which lit the fire of his passion for wild places and the beauty and complexity of nature.

His first memory of ‘Jocassee’ as an 8-year-old was a visit to his Dad’s partner’s cabin (“Riverview House”) in the mid-1960s near the confluence of the Thompson and Whitewater Rivers. It was in the late 1970s/80s that he started exploring Lake Jocassee by canoe and then, in the mid 90’s and beyond, by sea kayak – he was forever taken by this clear, cold deep body of water and how the water allowed him to explore the diverse landscape! By that time, he had a degree in biology from Wofford College, a masters degree in plant ecology from UGA and was employed as an ecologist for the US Forest Service. His education/work experience led to a diverse career in ecology ranging from watershed studies, impacts of human and natural disturbance, fire ecology, characterizing old-growth forests, documenting impacts of historical land use and the study of rare plants. For the past 10 years as a contract ecologist, he has surveyed/mapped/managed rare plants, rare communities and invasive species from Oconee Co. to the SC coast. He will complete the Jocassee Wild Naturalist Program in late spring of 2021.

David and his wife Kerry McKenzie live, love, breathe and toil on a beautiful piece of forested land between Pickens and Pumpkintown along with 2 sweet dogs, a garden that boasts 400 head of garlic a year, a woodstove that demands a firewood ritual, hiking trails, beautiful timber rattlers, black snakes, racoons, owls, hawks, warblers, seldom-seen bobcats, coyotes, and occasional hungry bears. David has 2 wonderful adult sons in the Asheville area. He also has a passion for playing and sharing music and dance– playing the old-time Appalachian fiddle and banjo music that preceded bluegrass. As a pontoon and kayak guide, David loves to give folks the opportunity to experience the rare jewel that Lake Jocassee and its river gorges provide.

A native of upstate SC, Rocky holds a B.S. in Biology from Furman University, an M.Ed. in Natural Science Education from Converse College, and a Ph.D. in Zoology/Ecology from Clemson University. He is currently in the Department of Biology at Brevard College in Brevard, SC, and he holds a certificate as a Mindfullness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator. Rocky has hiked the Foothills Trail multiple times, and he has backpacked and camped on four continents! In addition to academic interests and various outdoor pursuits, Rocky espouses the therapeutic value of nature and is the founder of Carolina Wilderness Renewal, a project to lead stress management workshops and outings for those in high-stress helping professions where burnout is high. He currently resides in Seneca, SC.

From the world of corporate IT to traveling the globe as a professional photographer, having photographed on every continent, and most recently a Master Naturalist and environmental educator, it hasn’t been boring. Pam has enjoyed the outdoors her entire life and as she slows down just a little she finds working with nature is extremely rewarding. After getting the Master Naturalist certification in 2013, she also became a Certified Interpretative Guide in 2016 to better prepare for teaching people about nature. It’s been a life of learning ever since. Pam is a native of North Carolina but has lived in SC for over 30 years.

Hiking and exploring the beautiful Jocassee Gorges area has been a favorite adventure for Cam and Tony for years. They retired recently after careers in education and nonprofit work. Both are graduates of Furman University and completed the Upstate Master Naturalist class in 2021. The McDades reside in Simpsonville near their daughter and son and their families.

“We look forward to each Lake Jocassee expedition as we discover the natural wonders of this magnificent place with friends old and new.”

A Rock Hill native, Andy graduated from Presbyterian College in 1973 with a degree in History-Political Science. Andy has completed Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, successful ascents of Mt Rainier and Mt Hood, completion of the 77 mile Foothills Trail and numerous equally exciting adventures. After his retirement from banking in 2016, he completed the Winyah Bay Master Naturalist Course, the Master Wildlifer Course, Urban Forestry Certification, SC Adopt-A-Stream Certification for chemical and for macroinvertebrate stream monitoring, Wilderness First Aid and numerous advanced Master Naturalist courses throughout the state. In addition to the SCWF Board, he also serves on the board of Friends of the Reedy River.

Kerry McKenzie and David White, husband and wife team, have been Lake and Ocean kayaking together for over 14 years and David has been at it for 25 years. They are both Level 2 ACA kayak instructors and have paddled many of the lakes, rivers, springs and oceans in the south east. The place they dearly love and paddle the most is Lake Jocassee. They know Lake Jocassee and all her nooks and crannies well-her beautiful landscape, the numerous large and small waterfalls, great places to swim and snorkel in the blue crystal-clear water, the diverse plants and critters and so much more! They also know how she can be temperamental throwing wind and rain into the gorges and making the lower basin dance with large waves and whitecaps. Kerry and David cannot express enough the importance of safety and preparation. They lead great workshops on self and assisted rescue, how to pack and prepare, how to paddle efficiently using various strokes, help identify the best kayak and paddle suited for an individual, and more. Kerry and David also lead kayak tours for folks from beginners to more experienced. Since many of the beautiful waterfalls and other special areas are a little out of range for some paddlers, they use a pontoon boat to carry paddlers and to tow 10 or more kayaks behind to get to areas where paddlers can explore Jocassee’s most beautiful and diverse places.

Dan has worked with Jocassee Lake Tours since 2016 and often has Sherrie as co-captain. They have paddled, hiked and camped in and around the Jocassee Gorges since the mid 1980’s. Dan and Sherrie have both served on the Upstate Master Naturalist Association board for seven years each including 2 years each as president. They both were founding members of the Friends of Jocassee and Sherrie is serving as president for the last 4 years. They both are advisors on the Jocassee Wild Outdoor Education board since it’s inception. Dan also serves on the Native Plant Society Upstate Chapter board since 2014 including 4 years as president. In addition, he serves on the Tyger River Foundation board since 2013 and has previously served on the Foothills Trail Conservancy board. They both love the outdoors and Jocassee Gorges.

Born and raised in Orlando, Fl. I made my way to the Carolinas 11 years ago. I have been married for almost 40 years and have 2 grown sons. I am in love with the mountains and the laid back lifestyle. I have found the Jocassee Gorges and Lake Jocassee are the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. I am also fortunate that I get to work with a great bunch of people. Brooks and Kay are dedicated to helping preserve and educate folks about this beautiful place.

Zach grew up the in the Upstate of South Carolina, but left home to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky. After graduating, he returned to the Upstate and managed two small, locally owned businesses. After several years of office work, he realized that working inside was not his calling. Eventually Zach found work in the area known as the Blue Ridge Escarpment, an area where he had grown up fishing, hunting and enjoying the outdoors. Whenever he is not shuttling hikers or working alongside the guides with Jocassee Lake Tours, you can most likely find him on a river or lake doing what he loves most: hunting, fishing, and enjoying virtually everything to be found outdoors in nature.