Growing up in the mountains of Colorado, I spent my childhood exploring the forests behind our family home. Our extended family lived in a small valley which meant that I could jump on a bike and within minutes be with my cousins to build forts, hike, climb trees and chase crawdads in the creek.

It was these foundational experiences that instilled a deep sense of wonderment and appreciation for our forests and grasslands. These experiences are also what led me to go on to study natural resource management and rangeland ecology at Colorado State University.

I spent a number of years teaching environmental education and science for nonprofit institutions across the west coast and Alaska before returning to graduate school at Oregon State University. There I studied environmental social science and worked with a team examining strategies to increase public acceptance of fire mitigation practices and tolerance of smoke.

Before joining the National Forest Foundation, I was the Central Idaho Director for the Idaho Conservation League and had the pleasure of leading an effort to establish the nation’s first Dark Sky Reserve in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley.

I joined the NFF in October 2018 as the Northern Rockies Program Manager and am looking forward to supporting collaborative efforts and regional conservation and restoration projects in Idaho and Montana. I’m especially looking forward to meeting new individuals over many cups of coffee in what I consider to be some of the west’s best small towns and beautiful places.