In 2019, Emily completed an AmeriCorps VISTA service year with VOF in the Abingdon office. Now she holds a full-time position monitoring property under easement in the Shenandoah Valley region. She grew up in Abingdon and has a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Virginia. Emily credits her college courses in biology and environmental justice with opening her eyes to the social and environmental realities of southwest Virginia. She came away with a better understanding of how policy, industry, and society interact and a keen interest in how humans can build better relationships with the land. Emily likes to play music, write poems, go hiking, drink lots of coffee, visit new places, and unwind with a little thrifting every now and then.