What initially piqued your interest in the natural resources field or how did an experience as a youth impact your journey to get to where you are?
There wasn’t a specific event that piqued my interest in the natural resources field; rather, I gradually awoke to the idea of working in natural resources while stationed with the Navy in northern Washington. The job I held was especially stressful, as many assignments in the military can be, and I found refuge in the national forests close to home after long periods of sea duty (Everett is about an hour from some of Washington’s most beautiful federal lands). Realizing that I had such a place to restore my mental health and well-being just a short drive away—and that it was indefinitely free—was so refreshing to someone who grew up far from large tracts of public land in suburban New Jersey. I knew then that upon leaving the military that caring for public lands would be fulfilling; dedicating my professional years to such stewardship would mean that others could derive the same benefits from our natural spaces as I once did.
What other roles have you served in or what was the education path that has led to your current position?
I was a seasonal technician for Baxter State Park in northern Maine in 2017. I spent that spring and summer working as a timber cruiser (collecting tree-related data) in the park’s Scientific Forest Management Area, and then continued with an independent work project identifying spruce beetle infestation risk among large-diameter red spruce as part of my Master of Forestry degree the following year. Upon graduation in December of 2018, I applied for jobs in the United States Forest Service and was fortunate to be selected as the supervisory forester for the western half of the Routt National Forest. I moved to Steamboat Springs in the fall of 2019.
What drives you to do the work you do and how is it impacting the environment and community?
The mission of the USFS, to serve the people and care for the land, inspires me to do great work every day. I love that our agency provides a resource for so many different groups and balances their competing interests. It certainly keeps me on my toes. I’m especially proud that the Routt promotes forest health while removing trees and generating local economic activity as logs are converted into more refined wood products. With the ever-present threat of climate change so often in the back of our minds, it’s heartening to know that what I do helps fight back, if only in a small way.
