Team Member Group: Staff

My life revolves around plants, in the forms of traditional woodwork and craft, farming/homesteading, and conserving native species. They are my three most beloved pursuits, all of which I’ve done for work and hobby over the years. I have a degree in political science, environmental studies, and philosophy from the College of Charleston. Since then, I have primarily worked on vegetable and animal farms in the area, but I also did an Americorp stint with Conserving Carolina. I occasionally volunteer with the Natural Heritage program (whom I adore), and otherwise can be found carving spoons or working wood in some fashion. I fear microplastics, snowballing climate change, and extinctions (both cultural and natural). I love to read, work with my body, dance, argue, learn, be with friends, and grow all the material things you need in life– food, medicine, timber, fiber, wildness. I am excited to be here, engaged in the fight against the unraveling of the land.

Cybill grew up in Maryland on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, working for her family’s garden center and landscaping company. She has since worked on an organic produce farm, medicinal herb farm, native plant nursery, stream restoration company, and for the Forest Service doing trail work and botany. Her passion for native plants, public lands, ecology, and stewardship have taken her to Alaska, California, and all around the east coast, but no matter where she is always drawn to the mountains. When she is not at work you can find Cybill hiking with her dog, kayaking, fishing, foraging, making pottery, or looking for salamanders. 

Samantha grew up next to the Appalachian Trail in Northern New Jersey, where her appreciation for protected lands began. She earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Gettysburg College, then spent several years working in conservation easement monitoring and urban forestry in Western North Carolina. Samantha joined EcoForesters’ stewardship team in 2021 before pursuing a dual master’s degree in Forestry and Environmental Management at Duke University, where she focused on community based forestry and environmental justice. She has since returned to EcoForesters as a Forestry Associate, and enjoys working closely with landowners and looking for rare wildflowers. 

Ellie grew up in a suburb of Chicago, where she developed a love for nature, exploring the riparian areas and the forest preserves of Cook County. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Organismal Biology and Ecology from Colorado College in 2023.

After moving to North Carolina for a vegetation monitoring internship with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Ellie quickly fell in love with the region and transitioned to the nonprofit sector by joining EcoForesters. She believes that people have just as much power to help the environment as we do to harm it—and that through active stewardship, we can begin to heal our ecosystems and our communities. In her role at EcoForesters, she blends education and outreach with hands-on conservation work, helping to share the stories of the forests and the people working to protect them.

Outside of work, you can find her cooking, exploring the outdoors, tackling DIY projects, reading about botany and ecology, dancing to live music, and spending time with friends and family.

Maria hails from the midwest where she was raised in southwestern Ohio and went on to study Natural Resources and Environmental Science at Purdue University. Before moving to the Southeast, Maria spent three years in the Bay Area of California working as a grants specialist for the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. During this time she managed a wildfire prevention grant program for Marin county residents to utilize on private parcels and wrote grant proposals for landscape-scale wildfire prevention projects. She has been working throughout the Southeast for the past year as a conservation crew leader for American Conservation Experience where she has had the opportunity to implement projects that range from habitat restoration and vegetation management, forest stand improvement work, trail tread construction and improvement, and storm cleanup. In her free time, Maria enjoys hiking and camping, completing home improvement projects, watercoloring, and she is currently working on a camper van conversion.

Born in the coastal town of San Pedro, California, Sal grew up in the city. At 12, he moved to Tennessee and later attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He started college as a Civil Engineer but quickly switched over to Forestry having grown to love the mountains and all things nature. While in college he began to appreciate the complexity of various ecosystems and their dependence on fire. Having graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry, focusing on Restoration and Conservation he immediately went on to pursue his passion for fire. Sal traveled back to his home state to work on a fire crew in Whitethorn, California. After spending the summer fighting fires and getting lost in the Coastal Redwoods, he began to miss the Appalachian Mountains and wanted to return. In the spring of 2024, Sal found EcoForesters and has since made WNC his home. Outside of work, Sal enjoys running further and faster than he should, watching Star Wars, building Legos, eating, and relaxing.