"When in National Forests, we are never alone. Among dancing canopies, cycling nutrients, and emerging understories, there is an abundance of life that invites us to be part of its ongoing story."
BIO
Chad Kim (they/he) joined the NFF in September 2024 as the Northern Arizona Wood for Life Project Coordinator, supporting the program through forest restoration project oversight/inspection and community engagement. Prior to joining the NFF, Chad collected vegetation data for the BLM as a lead field ecologist for Eastern Research Group. In addition, they have 5 years of field experience, working on trail, invasive species removal, forest thinning, and forestry monitoring projects through AmeriCorps and private organizations.
Chad studied Conservation Biology at Middlebury College in Vermont, where they developed a passion for scientific communication, community engagement, and dance. There, they served as a coordinator for the Middlebury Area Land Trust, a community-based learning project assistant for the college, and a member of the Dance Company of Middlebury, to name a few. Chad supports the use of arts to bypass conventional barriers that have limited peoples' ability to intimately connect with their environment. In their free time, Chad enjoys listening to music, foraging, clambering on rocks, rollerblading, and just about anything that involves being outside.