Gracie is a forester with experience in tropical forest restoration, wildland fire, and nonprofit development. She joined the ELTI team in 2024 to bring our field-based training model to life in Africa’s most population-dense nation. Her work focuses on on-farm native species restoration and supporting government agencies, NGOs, and community organizations to achieve more biodiverse, resilient, and productive agroforestry and natural forest systems.

Prior to working with WCS, Gracie served as forest manager for Yale Forests’ 10,000 acres of mixed hardwoods in southern New England. In that role, she led long-term planning, prescribed and implemented silvicultural treatments, managed timber harvests, collaborated with research scientists, hosted community forestry events, and oversaw the apprentice forester program. Through her career in conservation and community resilience, she has also lived and worked in Senegal, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the fire-adapted western US. In each context, the same theme has emerged: understanding the ecological toolkit at our fingertips and the willingness to accept and leverage the ecological constraints of our landscapes are critical to securing a future on our home, planet Earth.