Staci was raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and
spent her summers helping on her grandparents’ farm where they raised beef
cattle and bred and showed Tennessee Walking horses. She moved out west where
she worked for the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon, Bureau of Land
Management in California and the Farm Service Agency in Northern Nevada, before
receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Radford University in Natural
Resources Management. For more than 15 years, she has worked for Soil and Water
Conservation Districts (SWCDs). She moved to Central Oregon in 2019 serving as
District Manager for Jefferson County SWCD and administered the Middle
Deschutes Watershed Council. She quickly
discovered that she was drawn to the Oregon coast and made it her mission to find
her way here. She enjoys hiking, trail
running, beach walks, kayaking and everything the Oregon coast has to offer—seafood
included! Oh, and she loves spending
time with her dogs. She is very excited to continue writing and managing grants
to implement conservation projects in the Nestucca, Neskowin and Sand Lake
watersheds!
Natalie grew up in Ohio and attended Denison University where she received her B.S. in Biology in 2016. She then worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for Star of the Sea Foundation – a hunger-relief nonprofit in the Florida Keys – for three years. After completing her service as an AmeriCorps member, she decided to go back to school and graduated in 2022 from the University of Miami with a Masters in Marine Conservation. In 2023, she moved to the Oregon coast with her husband Nick, and two cats, Zap and Luna. Since living in Oregon, she has worked as a Seasonal Park Ranger at Devil’s Lake State Park in Lincoln City and enjoys mushroom foraging, camping, hiking, reading, and any water-related activities in her free time. She is looking forward to working with the Council and community to improve the health of south Tillamook County’s watersheds.