Grace is originally from:
Originally, I am from Greensboro, North Carolina. I lived there my whole life before moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for undergrad!
Favorite ecosystem:
My favorite ecosystem is a marsh! Growing up in North Carolina my whole life, seeing a healthy and flourishing marsh instantly takes me back home in my mind!
Favorite thing to do when not working:
When I’m not working, I enjoy working on a variety of crafts. Currently, I am really into embroidery and punch needling. I usually accompany my crafting time with whatever show I’m watching at the moment. Right now, I am watching Derry Girls on Netflix!
Role model:
My role model is my dad. He has worked as a public servant for the entirety of his life (served in the Military and now works in IT for the judicial branch) and has always had a very well-rounded world perspective that I admire. He is a lover of animals and THE ultimate girl dad!
Childhood career ambition:
When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Growing up we always had a minimum of three pets in our house, so I grew up loving animals and always desired to work around them.
Pets:
My family currently has six pets. We have five dogs: Piper, Foxy, Claire, Mitzy, and Bree and one cat: Baby Kitty. Four out of our five dogs were adopted from the local shelter that my family volunteers at. Piper and Foxy are pitbull/lab mixes, and Claire, Mitzy, and Bree are chihuahua mixes. Claire (mother) and Bree (baby) were adopted together as a mother and daughter duo when Bree was 8 weeks old! Baby Kitty is ~16 and was rescued by me, my mother, and sister, on the side of the road as a kitten.
Special talent, skill, or passion:
During undergrad, I worked as a Student Intern with UNC’s on-campus gardens, Edible Campus. Edible Campus is a collection of urban community gardens maintained by student interns and student volunteers on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill. Originally started in 2015 by a student concerned about food insecurity on campus, Edible Campus aims to provide students with free and fresh produce that they may forage on their own. My responsibilities involved maintaining our on-campus gardens and leading educational events to promote awareness about sustainable agriculture and food insecurity. Through this role I became passionate about addressing food insecurity in communities, particularly college environments where food insecurity often goes unaddressed. At UNC, it’s estimated that 25% of undergraduate students are food insecure, so being able to provide students with access to fresh produce was an incredibly special opportunity to me.
Most memorable experience in nature:
One of my most memorable experiences in nature was from a four day long exploratory research trip through the Ecological Society of America where I flew out to Konza Prairie Biological Station in Kansas. The Konza Prairie Bio station sits on the largest area of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America. During the field work portion of our trip my group was surrounded by a group of grazing American Bison. Nearly extinct, American Bison have been repopulated throughout the U.S. through prairie restoration efforts. It was so special to be surrounded by so many of these powerful keystone animals.
