Maria Schmitt

Forest Restoration Technician

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.