Staff & TerraCorps Members

Emma comes to Mount Grace as an avid hunter, angler, hiker, and outdoors woman. She lives at the base of Mount Tully, a Mount Grace protected property. Emma feels very passionate about protecting her “backyard” and grateful to be able to call it a job. Emma spent the last 20 years as a union organizer and negotiator, fighting for social justice, for working class people to have a voice on the job, and for a chance at a decent quality of life. She is thrilled to be applying those same collaborative skills to conservation, She believes deeply in our need to bridge differences, foster a culture of finding common goals, and stand up for what we believe in if we are to be successful. She follows in the footsteps of her family, who were active Mount Grace Community members. Love of the land is in her blood. In this age of crazy storms, unprecidented weather, and bird population decline, conservation of our “backyard” is more important than ever. 

As the Vice Chair and Agricultural Interest representative of the seven person board of MassWildlife, and as a board member of the Conservation Law Foundation, Emma is able to have a statewide voice, advocating for protection of our state’s biodiversity. 

 Email: ellsworth@mountgrace.org

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MaxFeldman is the Deputy Director of Mount Grace, where he drives strategic initiatives and operational efficiency to strengthen the organization’s impact. Working closely with Executive Director Emma Ellsworth, he oversees financial management and internal operations, ensuring long-term sustainability. He also contributes to staff development, works to streamline processes, and builds relationships to advance land conservation efforts.

Max previously served on Mount Grace’s Board of Directors for nine years, including three as President. He holds a Master’s in Business Analytics from the Isenberg School of Management, applying data-driven strategies to enhance decision-making and organizational growth. His diverse background—as a recording engineer in the entertainment industry, operations manager at Honest Weight Artisan Beer, and stay-at-home dad—has shaped his leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving skills.

Max finds joy in woodworking, hiking, and cooking for his family. Living in Petersham, he prioritizes time with his family, enjoying nature and being part of the local community.

 E-mail:  feldman@mountgrace.org

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Dave Small grew up in Royalston, Massachusetts, at the Tully Dam flood control project, where the nearby woods fostered his love for wildlife. His passion for natural history was further inspired by his 8th-grade science teacher, Bob Coyle, sparking a lifelong interest in studying wildlife.

Dave’s career and vacations were centered on exploring wildlife across the Americas, including immersive studies of Odonates at Eagle Hill in Maine and Lepidoptera at the Southwest Research Station in Arizona. Summers now finds him monitoring moths at his Athol home, while his days are spent searching for birds, snakes, and other wildlife.

As president of the Athol Bird and Nature Club and director of the Millers River Environmental Center, Dave shares his expertise through workshops, lectures, and field trips across New England. His volunteer work includes contributions to organizations like the Ma Natural Heritage Advisory Committee, The Millers River Watershed Council, and the National Moth Week Science Advisory Board.

Dave retired in 2013 after 35 years with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he served as Assistant Regional Director at the DCR Quabbin Reservoir. His dedication to conservation and natural history continues as he leads a team tasked with protecting the landscapes he loves.  

E-mail:  small@mountgrace.org

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David joined Mount Grace in 2007. He is responsible for managing major gifts fundraising, foundation grants development, and the annual and spring appeals. He has worked in fundraising for nonprofit environmental and conservation groups for over ten years, including four years with Greenpeace and four with the Citizens Awareness Network. He has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College.  E-mail:  kotker@mountgrace.org

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Jenn is responsible for the integration of Climate and Land Justice into every aspect of Mount Grace’s work: conservation, stewardship, and outreach. Before Mount Grace, she held a faculty position at Mount Holyoke College in the Environmental Studies Department where she taught classes that focused human-environment interactions associated with climate change, environmental pollution, sustainability, and food systems- all from the perspective of human health and social justice. Jenn holds a Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Sciences and a B.S. in Environmental Science, both from the UMass Amherst. She held postdoctoral positions at Harvard Forest and UMass Amherst. Her academic research focused on how climate change will impact plants that produce allergenic pollen both within populations and across the landscape, and thus impact human health. Outside of work, she plays leadership roles in two community organizations working to create racial equity and justice: The Holyoke Food and Equity Collective, focused on creating a more equitable and just food system in Holyoke, MA through direct action and policy work, and the Petersham Anti-Racism Coalition (PARC), focused on education, awareness, and action to help our rural communities find our roles in building racial equity and ending systemic racism. In her free time, you can find her on wheels or sled runners behind her team of Siberian Huskies, where she is the lead musher for the Swift River Siberians racing team, as well as working in her garden in the summer.  E-mail:  albertine@mountgrace.org

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Matt is the Director of Land Stewardship, working with a team of talented individuals to manage the portfolio of Mount Grace’s Conservation Areas and provide support and guidance to our deedholders. Raised in Dighton, MA, Matt completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont in Environmental Science/Conservation Biology and spent several years working on avian research projects around the country including, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Michigan. After completing an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware, he served as the Waterfowl and Upland Game Bird Project Leader for the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife for eight years. After moving back to MA and settling in Belchertown with his wife and two daughters, Matt worked as the New England District Biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation. In this role, he developed partnerships and worked with other agencies and conservation organizations to deliver habitat projects that benefited a broad suite of wildlife, as well as, programming and events to support and sustain the rich hunting traditions of New England. With over two decades spent working on wildlife and habitat conservation, Matt is excited for the opportunity to engage both local deedholders and the larger conservation community to build a more resilient landscape and foster a larger conservation impact. In his free time he enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, and playing games.

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Helen grew up surrounded by conserved land of the Little Mount Monadnock region, where she developed a strong connection to nature and a passion for exploring the outdoors. That early love for the land has guided her throughout her career, and she's excited to continue that journey at Mount Grace, helping to expand on the incredible conservation work the organization has accomplished over the years.

As Senior Conservation Project Manager, Helen works to protect special places across the region, acquiring new properties and conservation restrictions, and partnering on long-term projects that help ensure our forests, farms, and wetlands stay healthy and protected for future generations.

Before joining Mount Grace, Helen spent 27 years with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, working with landowners in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to put conservation into practice on farms and forestlands. For the past decade, she focused on conservation easements, helping to preserve working lands and critical habitats.

Helen holds a Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management from Antioch New England and a Bachelor’s from the University of New Hampshire. She’s especially passionate about working with landowners and communities to find common ground and protect the places we all love.

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Tessa has been catching frogs and poking under logs since she was a kid. Her inquisitive nature led to an invasive species lab at UMass Amherst, a master’s program studying salt marshes in Maine, and back to Massachusetts to serve as a TerraCorps member at Hilltown Land Trust. Serving as their Land Stewardship Coordinator made her realize conservation work connected all the pieces she loved about being an environmentalist: community, sustainability, research and education. When not delving into natural history, she can be found practicing swing dancing or attempting to quilt.  E-mail:  dowling@mountgrace.org

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Tyson comes to Mount Grace with two decades of experience in sustainable agriculture, farmer training, and conservation stewardship. As a farmer and land-based educator, Tyson has supported hundreds of new and beginning farmers in hands-on training though his work at The Learn to Farm Program at The Farm School in Athol, Massachusetts and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. He currently farms 250+ acres of permanently conserved farmland and working forest in Petersham. Prior to his career in agriculture, Tyson worked in community-based development projects in Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa and spent four seasons managing and training professional trail crews throughout the American West. Tyson lives with his partner and children on their home farm in Petersham. He holds a Master’s Degree in Ecological Design and Planning from the Conway School and Bachelor’s Degrees in International Development Studies and Planning, Public Policy, and Management from the University of Oregon.

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James grew up in Newtown, Connecticut but has been living in this area since he attended college at Franklin Pierce University and imediately fell in love with the open space and forested land. He holds a master's degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability from Antioch University New England. Before joining Mount Grace, James was in the food systems world, working with food cooperatives and local farms to secure funding to support local farmers and producers. In his free time, James likes to garden, hike, camp, and cook. James currently lives in Keene, NH with his fiancé and two cats, Bug and Noodle.

E-mail:  holcomb@mountgrace.org

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Liz is originally from Rehoboth, a small farming town in southeastern Massachusetts. When she wasn’t out fishing with her father, she usually spent her childhood getting lost in the woods with her sisters, riding her bike, or exploring her neighbor’s farms. After graduating with a master’s degree in History from the University of Connecticut, she moved to her husband’s childhood home of Winchendon in 2012 and worked as an operations supervisor in the financial sector prior to joining Mount Grace in 2019. She loves to read, swim, try new restaurants with her friends, and explore local trails and parks with her husband Deric, her son Isaac, and her dog Stormy.  E-mail:  wilson@mountgrace.org

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Caitie is responsible for enhancing community outreach, development, and fundraising. She grew up in Barre and Petersham with a deep connection to the land. Her belief that all children have a right to a relationship with the natural world led her to work in education. Caitie taught science in Worcester and Boston Public Schools and more recently directed programs at Green City Growers in Somerville. In that role she enjoyed long standing productive relationships with Boston Public Schools that supported building more than fifty school gardens with garden programs in schools across Boston. Caitie understands the importance of Mount Grace’s vision to connect with all sorts of people in our communities. She is excited to continue to explore and facilitate what it means for all of us to live in connection with this land to which we belong. Caitie carries on her family’s commitment to conservation. Her dad Mick was a board member. She holds a bachelor’s in biology and master’s in teaching from Clark University and a master’s from the Conway School Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design. As an outdoors woman who has lived most of her adult life in cities, Caitie is happy to have moved back to central Massachusetts and looks forward to exploring the countryside with her husband and young daughter.

E-mail: dwyer-huppert@mountgrace.org

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Kolya is responsible for coordinating and executing Mount Grace’s digital and print communications, online fundraising campaigns, membership engagement and managing Mount Grace’s website content. He has a background in marketing and digital media and completed his B.A. in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in 2022, after which he spent two years working as a conservation corps field leader in Colorado and Maine.

Kolya is passionate about helping people connect with the natural world. An avid outdoorsman, he spends his free time hiking, fishing, and writing. In 2023, he launched Lands Untold, an outdoor storytelling platform that features multimedia hiking guides and nature-inspired stories. 

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Seth Kelley’s journey has taken him from his roots in Athol to Colorado, Alaska, and Nicaragua, where he worked in youth development and helped individuals with developmental disabilities lead fuller lives. Along the way, he and his wife also founded Red Tail Coffee, a mission-driven coffee shop that employed homeless individuals, providing them with a hand up towards stability.

Now back in Athol, Seth is grateful to be part of the Mt. Grace Land Conservation Trust, where he combines his passion for community organizing with his love for the land. When he’s not working on conservation projects, Seth continues to coach wrestling and soccer, staying deeply involved in his community. Though his coffee shop days may be behind him, his commitment to building stronger, more connected communities is stronger than ever.

E-mail: kelley@mountgrace.org

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May grew up in the woods of Franklin County. She graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in Historical Studies.  In college she found her passion for the environment while involved in citizen science water quality projects on the Hudson River Watershed. Post-graduation May worked in environmental and outdoor education. She spent two years in the JET Program, teaching English in Japan. After returning to the States, she worked for Nature’s Classroom. In that role she taught residential environmental programs, focusing on sustainability and ecology, but most importantly sparking children’s curiosity about the natural world. In her free time you’ll find her traveling and camping in beautiful places, reading, petting cats, and taking photos of cool things she finds in the woods. E-mail:  grzybowski@mountgrace.org

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Jessie is serving as the Land Stewardship Coordinator at Mount Grace! She has a particular interest in habitat restoration, landscape-level ecology, and soil science. She graduated from Colorao State University with a degree in Restoration Ecology and is excited to learn more about New England ecosystems. In her free time, you can find her hiking, skiing, cooking, or crocheting. She will also be joining Mount Grace for a second TerraCorps service term in 2024-2025! 

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