Team Member Group: Staff

Bobby grew up in the piedmont of NC, working as a farm hand and landscaper throughout high school. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies from UNC Asheville in 2021, developing a passion for all things plants and ecology. After graduating, Bobby worked at Mellow Marsh Farm native plant nursery, gaining skills in native plant propagation and identification. This experience instilled in him the importance of native plants as the foundation for biodiversity conservation, leading to his interest in invasive plant management and forest restoration. In his free time, Bobby enjoys hiking, playing music, and learning about the natural world—you can never be bored when you’re outdoors.

Born on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Brittany spent time every summer in Whittier, where her great-grandparents had an adventurous start to a family tradition. They spent one summer camped out, building a small cabin with their children. That cabin is still in use today and it was there, on trips with her grandparents, Brittany’s love of the area and its forests was able to grow. It was a childhood dream achieved for her to make the move to the Asheville area in 2018 with her husband and their three dogs. She recently re-enrolled in school and is pursuing her Bachelor’s in Marketing from WCU. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, volunteering in animal rescue, and finding new trails to hike with her husband, often with a foster dog in tow.

Pat grew up in the Chicago area and earned a degree in print journalism at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before moving to Asheville in 2014. He worked as a journalist and photojournalist for 20 years before shifting to sustainability work through the Americorps Project Conserve program in 2020, serving one year as an education and communications associate with Conserving Carolina. Pat is furthering his experience in the conservation field by now working as a restoration technician with EcoForesters. When he’s not working, you can find him exploring the woods, traveling to the beach, and just taking in the incredible environment around us. He currently lives in Fairview with his wife Cari and two young children, Pearl and Olive. Bonus nerdy info: Pat collects flashlights and G Shock watches.

Andrew Danner is our western Forestry Associate and is eager to expand our mission into the southwestern region of NC. Native to North Carolina, Andrew’s affinity for forestry started at a young age, exploring the nearby woods and creeks. He is an Eagle Scout, has earned an AAS in Landscape Gardening from Forsyth Technical Community College, and a BS in Natural Resource and Conservation Management from Western Carolina University. Andrew’s experience includes working for government agencies & the private sector. His passion is providing landowners with technical assistance and resources to maintain healthy forests. “No job could be finer than walking the woods & making sound forest management recommendations,” – he says. Residing in the Tuckasegee Community of Jackson County with his family, life in the country couldn’t be finer. His hobbies include, hiking, canoeing, bonfires with good people, growing delicious veggies, and music, playing about every stringed instrument you could name. Always equipped with a short story or tall tale, be sure to say “hello” if you see him around.

Kelly grew up on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, spending time in the Cape Cod National Seashore. She studied Sustainability and Sociology at UMass until 2015, after which she worked with an environmental nonprofit based in the Boston Metro area. She was later hired on as the Outreach Coordinator for American Conservation Experience – Asheville and grew with the company until August 2020. She built and maintained trails as Conserving Carolinas Trails Associate and now brings all of her strengths to leading EcoForesters’ field crews. She loves the work she has done, and she loves the work she is doing. As the Assistant Stewardship Director, she plans to steward WNC lands with an ecological focus, with the help of our hardy restoration crews.

While growing up in a suburb of Chicago, Lauren spent many summers camping with her family and fell in love with being in nature. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from Columbia College Chicago, where she incorporated the outdoors in many of her projects. After graduating, Lauren did graphic design work but then decided to switch gears and hiked 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail. After completing that hike she decided she wanted to more directly give back to nature. In 2016 Lauren joined the Utah Conservation Corps, where she worked along the Escalante River eradicating the invasive Russian Olive tree. After her term with UCC, Lauren moved to Asheville, North Carolina where she worked as a corps member with the American Conservation Experience (ACE). While working with ACE she did many projects such as trail building, historic preservation, invasive species removal, and more. After her time as a corps member, Lauren moved on to be the Logistics Coordinator for ACE. She is very excited to be working with EcoForesters, where her love for nature as well as photography and design can both be utilized. In her free time Lauren also enjoys teaching and making pottery, and spending time outdoors near water with her dog.