Meet the Essex County Team

Sam joined the district in 2022 after several years of work for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. He has helped develop and implement a number of wildlife and fish habitat projects over the years and brings this experience to his work at the district. He has a BA in Biology from Bowdoin College and an MS in Environmental Conservation from UMass Amherst. At UMass, Sam's master's thesis focused on the role of songbirds in insect pest control on small, diversified farms. He enjoys finding situations like this where management of natural systems can provide ecosystem services to benefit wildlife and people. Sam loves the opportunity at the district to help local people and the environment at the same time. Outside of the district, Sam lives in Lancaster, NH where he serves on the town's Conservation Commission, plays soccer and volleyball, birdwatches, and uses his yard as a mini wildlife management area.

Clara started with the Essex County NRCD in July. For the last four years, she has been managing a small commercial sheep and hay operation in central Vermont. She also worked with Redstart Forestry as a member of their forestry and restoration crew and, more recently, planned and implemented forestry projects with a water quality focus for the Vermont DEC Regional Conservation Program Partnership. She is passionate about ecologically, economically, and socially resilient farms and forests and believes that working landscapes are a cornerstone of healthy rural communities. Prior to moving to Vermont, she worked in environmental education, vegetable farming, habitat restoration, and rangeland monitoring in the Mountain West and New England. Clara grew up in northern Colorado and has a BA in Environmental Science from Barnard College. Clara currently lives in Glover, VT and enjoys playing folk music with friends, exploring rivers and mountains with her dog, and keeping an eye out for pastures for her future sheep flock.