Senior Habitat Restoration Specialist
Sasha joined Thurston Conservation District as a Habitat Specialist in 2020. Her focus is the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, and providing technical assistance, design, and implementation on restoration and habitat projects in Thurston County’s diverse ecosystems and communities.
Before starting at TCD Sasha worked as a biologist throughout the Puget Sound region: with the Center for Natural Lands Management on prairie and oak savanna, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord collecting and analyzing habitat data and repairing maneuver damage, and in the botany department of the Olympic National Forest.
Sasha grew up in Oregon and has a Master of Environmental Studies from Evergreen, where she did thesis work testing the effects of soil microbes on the survival of native plants grown for restoration. She did undergraduate work that combined interests in ecology, agriculture, and architecture at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Before returning to the Pacific Northwest, Sasha spent time living on a boat in Brooklyn, in an Airstream in Austin, Texas, and working as a farm hand, editor, and cabinetmaker.
Sasha currently lives in a farmhouse on four acres of forest, peat bog, orchard, and flower and vegetable gardens in Northeast Olympia. She stays busy working on land and house projects, keeping the woodstove stocked, cooking and baking, and crewing on a sailboat that competes in races throughout the Salish Sea.
Educational Degrees & Certifications/Licenses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Master of Environmental Studies
- Wetland Delineation Certification
- Wetland Classification for Western Washington
- Pesticide Applicators License (Agricultural, Right of way, Aquatic Endorsement)
- USFWS Mazama Pocket Gopher Mound Identification Certification
Recognitions & Awards:
- Evergreen Sustainability Fellowship (2013, 2014)
- MES merit-based tuition waiver (2013, 2014)
- Evergreen Graduate Endowed Fellowship (2013, 2014)
- 2019 South Sound Sailing Society Crew Member Award