Meet the VACD Team
Jill has nearly thirty years of non-profit management and sustainable development experience, mostly overseas. She lived and worked in Thailand and Cambodia for eleven years, managing relief and development programs for several organizations. She returned to the US to attend graduate school, where she earned two masters degrees – one in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and the other in Economics from Boston University. After graduate school, Jill moved to one of her favorite places – Vermont – where she worked for eleven years at the Institute for Sustainable Communities managing civic participation and sustainable development programs. After traveling the world, Jill began learning more about conservation and community development in Vermont and in the beautiful Mad River Valley, where she lives and facilitates sustainable agriculture initiatives. Jill is particularly interested in supporting local food production and building bridges between different segments of the community.
Born and raised in Vermont, Luc graduated from UVM in 2021 with a degree in Geography and Geospatial Technologies. During his time as an undergrad, he was able to participate in an erosion mitigation research project in collaboration with VTrans. Since then, Luc has been able to start his own drone business for real estate photography and have done GIS volunteer work for his local town's planning commission. He's quite passionate about landscape photography, playing/listening to music, backcountry skiing, and traveling. As a GIS/sUAV Resource Support Technician at VACD, Luc looks forward to understanding the possibilities of implementing conservation practices with UAV and GIS technology.
Born and raised in Rockland, Maine, Troy grew up enjoying life on the ocean as a Rockland High School Tiger dabbling in cross country, track, drama and other theater groups. He also developed a strong passion for guitar and music. After high school he attended Vermont Technical College majoring in Civil Engineering Technology. In the summer months he worked as a Stern-man on a few lobster boats and played guitar in a few professional rock bands. During his senior year at VTC, Troy did work-study for the Vermont Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Councils Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force on the Rural Fire Protection initiative. In the spring of 1998, the VT Legislature started funding the Dry Hydrant Grant Program and Troy has worked as the Engineering Technician for that program for 15 years until the RC&D's closed their doors in 2013. Troy has now moved on to become the Rural Fire Protection Program Manager for the VACD to continue the Dry Hydrant Grant Program and help evolve the Rural Fire Protection Program to another level of service & support for Vermont communities & Fire Departments. To date, Troy has helped install nearly 1200 dry hydrants in 235 towns and communities across the state. In 2017, Troy’s daughter Joule Loretta Dare was born and, in the Fall of 2018, he bought a house in Sumner Maine.
Mike celebrated his first year working at VACD in August 2024. He worked in the northwest region of Vermont supporting Franklin, Grand Isle, and Lamoille counties with both planning and implementing conservation practices. Mike has also assisted other regions with contracting their RCPP applications ensuring the CEAP research can be completed. He has also assisted with the VPFP program helping to improve water quality around the state and supporting the landowners who are passionate about the cause. Mike has received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences from University of Vermont. He has achieved planner level 1 certification in August 2024 and is working on completing level 3.
Originally from outside of Philadelphia, Will is a recent graduate of Middlebury College where he majored in Conservation Biology. After graduating in 2022, Will worked remotely for the USFS Southern Regional Office as a Cartographic Technician. Will is extremely excited to join the VACD and NRCS GIS team and is looking forward to meeting everyone! Outside of work, Will can be found skiing, hiking, and exploring Vermont.
Cassidy has spent her entire career with plants and people. She started in horticulture in the northeast before moving to the southwest to continue her work in native plant ecology. She’s conducted rare plant surveys, native seed collections, and experimental propagation techniques at a horticultural research institute to aid in the restoration of native plant species of the Colorado Plateau. She became increasingly interested in riparian landscapes in the southwest and moved back to Vermont to work in wetlands ecology in 2022. Being especially passionate about restoration, she is always excited to talk to people about all things ecology, and she looks forward to getting to know and helping communities as a whole in this role as Wetlands Easement and Restoration Outreach Technician.
Growing up in Northwest Indiana, Evann developed a deep love for the outdoors and a strong passion for conservation as she explored the unique ecosystems of the Great Lakes region. Eager to venture beyond the Midwest, she earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies, with a minor in Geospatial Technologies from the University of Vermont. Motivated to make a difference at the local level, she worked with various environmental nonprofits, including the Vermont River Conservancy, during her college years. After graduation, Evann worked as an outdoor guide in Wyoming before returning to Vermont to conduct field surveys monitoring forest health across the state. The call of the West soon drew her to Nevada, where she spent several years as an Ecological Monitoring Project Manager, overseeing post-fire and land health surveys across the state in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management.
Now ready to put down roots in the Green Mountain State, she’s thrilled to join VACD’s team, where she can apply her skills to support innovative conservation projects across the state with NRCS’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. In her spare time, Evann enjoys rock climbing and going on adventures with her dog, Watson.
Amanda was born and raised in Vermont, and grew up in the Champlain Islands. She always had a love for the outdoors, and enjoyed exploring mountainous and natural places. On the other side of Lake Champlain she would visit my paternal grandparents in the Adirondacks of New York. Back across the state and over the Green Mountains she would visit her maternal grandparents in the Northeast Kingdom. The more time she spent visiting and learning about these special places, the more her love for them and the natural world grew, along with her drive to conserve and protect them.
After graduating from Castleton University in 2019 with a Bachelors in Ecological Studies and a Minor in Women's and Gender Studies, Amanda worked for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation seasonally for four years. Three of those years spent as an Assistant Manager for the State Parks. Over that span of time she worked at Grand Isle, Kill Kare, and Brighton State Parks. The urge to work more closely with conservation efforts, protecting, and improving natural resources lead her to VACD. She looks forward to the new experiences to come, and making a difference in conservation in Vermont.
Amanda enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, gardening, and nature/wildlife photography. She now resides in the Northeast Kingdom with her cat Mavis.
Shannon was born and raised in Midcoast Maine where she grew up exploring the outdoors. She graduated from Saint Michael’s College in 2022 with a degree in Environmental Science and minor in Biology. In undergrad, she developed skills in GIS and ecological restoration. After graduating, Shannon worked as a biological fisheries technician for the USFWS Lake Champlain Conservation Office conducting invasive species control to benefit native fish populations. Outside of work, Shannon enjoys hiking, skiing, fishing and gardening. Shannon is excited to join the VACD team and use GIS and UAV technologies to implement practices that improve Vermont’s water quality.
After graduating from Beloit College with Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and political science, Clare spent four years with an AmeriCorps program as a conservation crew leader and wildland firefighter in Missouri and Montana. During this time, she also acted as an emergency response coordinator, providing leadership in volunteer and data management in the wake of natural disasters across the United States. In 2015, Clare joined the L-A-D Foundation where she managed human resources, finances, and outreach initiatives for one of Missouri’s largest conservation nonprofits. Despite her field-based background, she is, in fact, a “numbers person” who loves the problem-solving power of a beautifully designed spreadsheet. A St. Louis native, Clare married a New Englander in 2017, and both she and her husband are excited to be brand new Vermonters. Outside of work, Clare enjoys hiking, wood working, gardening, and playing old-time fiddle.
Emily was born in Vermont and grew up with life revolving around the lake, spending time in both the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks. She has always loved the outdoors and felt connected to the land at an early age. She studied Environmental Conservation at the University of New Hampshire which allowed her to study abroad in New Zealand, deepening her love of the natural world and solidifying her desire to preserve biodiversity and resources.
After graduating from college, she worked on a small vegetable farm in Maine where it was easy to see and feel the connection between conservation and farming. This subsequently led her to continue to work in agriculture over the next twelve years where she worked on over half a dozen farms across Vermont.
She is excited to join the VACD team to continue working toward conserving and protecting the natural resources of our beautiful state while supporting the farmers that work so hard to make our home what it is. Outside of work she enjoys camping, canoeing, x-c skiing, making bread, and spending time with friends and family.
Julia (she/her) joins VACD as our Communications Manager. A recent transplant to Vermont, she has ties to New England having attended Northeastern University in Boston and family residing in Southern VT and Massachusetts. Prior to VACD, she was the Digital Communications Coordinator at the Peconic Land Trust, a land conservation organization based on Eastern Long Island, New York. With experience crafting farmer, landowner, and donor stories she looks forward to sharing the work of each conservation district. On weekends you can find Julia exploring her new environment either on foot or in a kayak. Although she'll miss the ocean and bays surrounding Long Island, she's enjoying hikes with a bit more elevation gain!
Katy joins VACD as an ECO AmeriCorps member with the American Climate Corps. She graduated from UMass Amherst in 2023 having studied Public Health and Spanish. Katy was heavily involved in Alzheimer’s Awareness and Engineers Without Borders student organizations during her time at UMass. She most recently served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest as a Public Health AmeriCorps member in Bend, Oregon connecting individuals with community resources mainly pertaining to affordable housing. Katy is passionate about environmental and community health and is excited to learn all about Vermont and the community here. She enjoys basketball, pottery, and baking and is excited to be closer to family and friends.
A native Vermonter, Alli was privileged to enjoy her childhood growing up in the Green Mountain State. While camping, hiking, traipsing through bogs and catching frogs, she developed a deep connection to place. Though trips abroad were enticing, Alli always wanted to return to the state she called home. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Integrated Environmental Science and Wellness and Alternative Medicine from Johnson State College. Her passion for the environment led her to work in hazardous waste remediation, collaborate with farmers on water quality projects as a VACD agricultural resource specialist, and coordinate the NRCS-supported Lake Champlain Regional Conservation Partnership Program and other water quality grants through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Program. As a mother, she strives to live in close relationship to the land and those who inhabit it, so that her son may develop the same awe, respect and commitment to the special place that Vermont is.
Jessica’s career began in the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest, where for two years she led a citizen science program that monitored aquatic macroinvertebrates. A caddisfly lumbering along a stream bed never failed to leave her agape, and she found a home in the quirky and curious human communities that form around natural history. She went on to monitor rare moths in New England pine barrens and wild bees in mid-Atlantic farms; when she returned to school, Jess investigated the impact of mowing regimes on the butterfly diversity of Champlain Valley hayfields. Her career took an administrative turn, and for the last decade Jessica has worked in business, state government and nonprofit administration, mastering strategies for knowledge management and process improvement. She joined VACD in 2022 eager to use the skills and insights of this work to streamline grant administration. Jess is an avid home herbalist and open to trades for intel on secret swimming holes.
Emily was born and raised in Michigan, and took advantage of the state’s natural beauty as soon as she could crawl. She participated in her first citizen science conservation project in 3rd grade, when she went on daily hikes to identify frog and toad calls. While studying at the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Emily discovered her passion for agroecology. This passion grew while she worked as a farmhand on a Certified Naturally Grown vegetable CSA farm. In her previous role as Director of Education at BaySail, Emily worked with conservation districts to deliver water quality outreach and education programs onboard tall ships sailing the Great Lakes. A lover of interdisciplinary learning, Emily’s background in sociology and psychology complements her M.S. in natural resource management, allowing her to effectively connect with and support land stewards. Emily lives with her partner, two dogs, three cats, and countless houseplants. She loves swing dancing and quilting, and is venturing into the world of roller derby. She enjoys all outdoor activities, but feels particularly at home on a sailboat or kayak.
Born in Western Massachusetts, Kyle Rowe has spent many amazing years in the world of agriculture and land stewardship. After receiving his Masters Degree in Public Administration, Kyle worked for a number of colleges and universities administering data collection and analysis. The call of the natural world proved strong however, and he spent the next 2 years working on a variety of farms in Montana, milking cows, herding cattle, and managing homestead market gardens. Returning to Vermont in 2015, Kyle spent the next 5 years as a Park Ranger for the State, overseeing 2 state parks, and acting as Lead Sawyer for the Northeast Parks and Forest Region Hazardous Tree Removal crew. After his work in Parks, Kyle sugar’d, picked apples, and again herded cattle for several farms in the Northeast Kingdom. After moving to the Champlain Valley, Kyle began building and repairing greenhouses all over Vermont and New England, taking him to a wide variety of farms and homesteads. In his spare time, Kyle enjoys woodworking, gardening, serving as the Town Moderator of Ferrisburgh, and spending time with his family. He is excited to begin this next chapter of natural resource management!
The daughter of Canadian immigrants who moved to Vermont to have a better life, Lina was born and raised on a dairy farm in New Haven Junction, VT. There, she learned the value of hard work and developed a deep appreciation and love for Vermont. After attending college and moving to Montana for a few years, she returned home and worked as operations manager for a small cottage industry which brought her to the Northeast Kingdom employing home knitters to make specialty sweaters. Other jobs included raising two children, school secretary, managing her own specialty sweater business and working as a freelance bookkeeper for area businesses before being elected Town Clerk and Treasurer for the Town of Walden where she served for 20 years. She loves any activity that will allow her to be outside. Walking/hiking, gardening and building things as well as singing, reading, being creative and at the top of the list is spending time with family.
Michelle joined VACD in the summer of 2011 as a CREP planner and is now working as a Land Treatment Planner. Prior to her role with VACD, Michelle worked as a ConservationGIS Technician with USDA Farm Service Agency for more than four years where she gained extensive experience in GIS and conservation programs. Michelle is a MA native but has been living in Vermont for over thirteen years. She earned her undergraduate degree at Green Mountain College in environmental studies with double minors in biology and geology. As a graduate student, Michelle studied environmental sciences with a focus in conservation biology. She attributes her life-long love of the environment largely to her parents, who always encouraged her to explore the outdoors through backpacking, hiking, and family canoe trips.
The manager and bookkeeper of our virtual office is the current business office manager of Black River Design Architects. Carrie Youngblood is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has lived in Vermont for more than 30 years. Her previous office/financial positions have included the non-profits Downstreet Housing, VPIRG, Heaton Woods Assisted Living Facility, and Turtle Island Children's Center, as well as four years at Solar Works (now Real Good Solar). Carrie lives in Montpelier and is active in the United Church of Christ, currently a member of Bethany Church, Montpelier, and is serving on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Conference, where she will be Moderator of the 2024 Annual Meeting. She is also the Treasurer of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra and sings in the Vermont Philharmonic Chorus.
Drew is a retired NRCS staff member who has held many roles over the course of his 39 year career in conservation. Drew served as an NRCS Soil Scientist, a District Conservationist, a Resource Soil Scientist in Southern Vermont, and an Agricultural Advisor for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Drew has a B.S. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland and continued education from the Soil Science Institute of Texas A&M University and the Soil Geomorphology Institute of Penn State University. Drew has been a VACD Technical Specialist since 2014.
Bill is a retired NRCS Supervisory Soil Conservationist with 45 years of service in the conservation field. In addition to his role as Soil Conservationist, he has also been a NRCS Soil Scientist and District Conservationist, as well as an Adjunct Soils Instructor at Green Mountain College. Bill is certified in Wetlands Delineation by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Bill holds a B.A. in Plant and Soil Science from the University of New Hampshire. Bill has been a VACD Technical Specialist since 2010.