Newsletter

Autumn 2003

Au Sable Alumni at Work
By Laurel & Andy Sprenger

For the past three and a half years, Laurel and Andy Sprenger worked in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley with an international Christian conservation organization called A Rocha. Much of their work in Lebanon involved protecting the Aammiq Marsh (photo above), a key stop-over site for migrating birds along one of the most significant flyways on earth. The marsh is also home to a unique community of plants and animals rarely found in the rest of the country. In many ways the protection of the marsh has become a great success story, and for Andy and Laurel, it has been exciting to be a part of a project working to put into practice the Biblical call to care for God’s creation.

Andy is a very talented ornithologist with roots to an Ornithology course at Au Sable Institute in 1995. Much of his work in Lebanon involved bird studies, including a weekly census count on the marsh, bird banding and raptor migration surveys. Laurel was involved in a variety of projects including illustrating and producing a number of publications, environmental education and a community arts project for women.

After finishing their work with A Rocha Lebanon at the end of June 2003, the Sprengers are now looking ahead to what is next. At the moment their future holds a move to Maryland where Laurel will be working as administrator for A Rocha USA, and their first baby due to be born in January.

To learn more about A Rocha, visit www.arocha.org.