Interpretation and Education

• Launched the Canal Quarters Interpretive Program by furnishing and making available 6 historic lockhouses for guests to stay in overnight and experience first-hand what it may have been like to live along the canal (2009 – Present)
• Developed Canal Discoveries, a web-based guide to 40+ sites along the canal, bringing the knowledge and stories of park rangers, along with historic and contemporary photos and nearby points of interest to the public 24/7 (2011 – Present)
• Brought on four summer interns to assist park staff with the development of a Launch Boat Resource Guide and Trails-To-Rails Resource Guide (2011 – 2012)
• Hired part-time interns to assist with canal boat operations in Great Falls and Georgetown, freeing up park staff to test new canal launches (2011)
• Supported the park in working with high school students to film, edit, and produce short videos on the C&O Canal (2011 – 2012)
• Provided tents and camping gear to allow 45 young people from the Latin American Youth Center in Washington, DC, to experience camping for the first time during an overnight adventure along the C&O Canal at the Marsden Tract  (2010)
• Digitally preserved over 5,000 historic photographs in the park’s collection (2009, 2012)
• Conducted on-site research and submitted a report to the Park evaluating boatbuilders’ skills and capacity to enable the park to acquire replica recreational launch boats (2008 – 2009)
• Helped bring nearly 7,000 schoolchildren (every 4th grader in Washington County) and 21,000 people in total to Williamsport to experience the interactive “Building America’s Canals” traveling exhibit (2008 – 2009)
• Developed 13 audio podcasts to provide interpretive content to Park visitors to encourage walking on the towpath as part of a healthy lifestyle (2007)

Volunteer Engagement

• Mobilized nearly 4,000 volunteers during the first 5 years of our annual Canal Pride Days to complete hundreds of backlogged maintenance projects prior to the visitor season in some of the most visited locations in the Park (2008 – Present)
• Adopted 10 sites as Canal Stewards including the grounds of each Canal Quarters lockhouse and their adjacent towpath mile, as well as 4 sites within the grounds of Great Falls (2011 – present)
• Engaged and supported Eagle Scout candidates and their troops in various projects, including the building and installation of benches at Paw Paw Tunnel Campground, the installation of new interpretive and directional signage on the Paw Paw Tunnel Hill Trail, and the building of a new, handicap-accessible fishing pier at Lock 70 in Oldtown (2010 – Present)
• Organized corporate volunteer days allowing companies to give back to the Canal (2008, 2011 – 2012)
• Revitalized the Marsden Tract, Spring Gap, Antietam Creek, and Paw Paw Tunnel campgrounds
• Recruited, trained, and supported a corps of 30+ volunteer Quartermasters to oversee the Canal Quarters lockhouses (2009 – Present)
• Mobilized 20+ volunteers to help sandbag around Lockhouse 6 in early September when forecasts called for a historic flood (2011)
• Enhanced recreational use of the Park by rebuilding steps used by paddlers to access the canal (Angler’s) and reconstructing a trail to the Lock 6 feeder canal for use by kayakers, including handicapped war veterans (2008 – 2009)
• Drafted a report to the Park with recommendations for improving and expanding its Volunteer In Parks program (2008)
• Coordinated the participation of 21 Potomac River Watershed Cleanup sites within the Park (2012)

Community Engagement

• Participated in the creation of the Canal Towns program in gateway communities along the park to stimulate Park-related economic development (2009 – Present)
• Provided updates, photographs, and signage to keep visitors and neighbors of the canal informed of ongoing construction projects in the park and their implications (2008 – Present)
• Served as the fiscal agent for A Washington Sketchbook: Drawings by R.L. Dickinson from 1917-1918, by Gail Spilsbury (2011)
• Helped launch a marketing alliance to promote the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (of which the C&O Canal NHP is a major component), including the development of a website, familiarization tours for travel writers, and travel itineraries (2009 – 2010)

Outreach and Advocacy

• Worked with members of the Montgomery County Council, its delegation in Annapolis, Senator Cardin, Congressman Van Hollen, and other partners to secure $1.1 million in Transportation Enhancement Program funds to match $3 million from NPS for repair of the breach near Anglers (2011)
• Led and actively supported advocacy efforts for the Park for Centennial funding, ARRA funding, Big Slackwater, the Angler’s breach, Western Maryland Rail-Trail, and the Catoctin Aqueduct (2007 – Present)
• Completely overhauled CanalTrust.org to better serve visitors needs

Awards

• Awarded the 2012 Maryland Preservation Award for Outstanding Stewardship of Historic Properties by a Government Agency for our work with Canal Quarters (2011)
• Superintendent Kevin Brandt received the National Park Service’s prestigious Appleman-Judd award for excellence in cultural resource stewardship for the launch of Canal Quarters (2011)
• Honored with the National Capital Region's Outstanding Individual Volunteer of the Year Award (2011) and the C&O Canal's Volunteer of the Year Award (2010) for the thousands of volunteer hours Robert Mertz, Vice President of the Trust's Board of Directors, has contributed to the Trust's Canal Quarters program
• Received the Hartzog Award for Outstanding Park Volunteer Group in the National Capital Region for the C&O Canal Trust Volunteer Scanning Team's exemplary innovation, creativity, teamwork, and organization to scan over 4,882 historic photographs from the C&O Canal National Historical Park's collection. The group and project were organized by Roy Sewall, Chair of the C&O Canal Trust's Board and avid photographer, with the assistance of over a dozen C&O Canal Trust volunteers (2009)
• Won the 2009 Hartzog Award for Outstanding Individual Park Volunteer in the National Capital Region for the efforts of Bud Cline, a Bike Patroller and the Trust's first volunteer Quartermaster (2009)
• Recognized by the Potomac Heritage Trail Association as the "Trail Organization of the Year" for spearheading efforts to repair the breach near Anglers Inn (2008)

Other

• Funded, in part, a preservation and project management intern to support park staff in design and construction projects at Williamsport, Palisades and other locations along the canal (2012) 
• Facilitated a community forum and media outreach to alert area residents and park visitors of impending construction of odor control structures for the Potomac Interceptor sewer (2010)
• Facilitated the adoption of the Pennyfield area by a local company resulting in demolition of dilapidated structures and replacement of 700 feet of fence (2009 – 2010)
• Secured pro bono electrical and HVAC services to bring the Trolley Barn in Williamsport up to code (2008)