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Staff
Featured
Caitlin Straubinger is a Florida native who cultivated her love of the outdoors by leading backpacking and paddling trips throughout the Southeast and the Appalachian Mountains. After a stint working in the Colorado high country, Caitlin moved to Idaho in 2014. Since then, she has been busy exploring Idaho and Montana on foot, bike, and boat with her husband, daughter, and dog. Caitlin brings over a decade of experience in communications, development, event management, experiential education, and community engagement. In her spare time, she enjoys trying out new hobbies, most recently, playing the banjo and fly fishing. She is always happy to connect over a shared love of Wilderness!
Josh grew up in a 100+ year old family farmhouse in central Michigan. In 2015, Josh headed west and spent an uninterrupted 6 months in Wilderness with the California Conservation Corps. Since that first formative season working in Wilderness, Josh has spent the last nine years leading and teaching crews in the Selway and Frank. He spent 2018-2020 as an SBFC Crew Leader, and is thrilled his winding trail brought him back to SBFC as Program Director in 2022. In his free time, Josh can often be found playing with his two cats and beagle. When the pets aren’t demanding his attention, getting overly competitive in board games with his wife Erika is a favorite pastime.
Krissy is based in the SBFC Program Office in Missoula, Montana and has been coordinating and growing SBFC volunteer programs since 2019. She grew up in New England and spent over 15 years working around the United States and in Canada for conservation organizations. Krissy is an avid hiker, skier, kayaker, and the mother of two young adventurous kids.
Originally from Philadelphia, Ian moved to Montana in 2010 to attend the University of Montana. He has an academic background in nonprofit management and environmental policy, and has worked in conservation since 2017. After leading youth crews in Montana and Idaho for three years, and a stint with the Montana DNRC Fire Bureau, he spent two years traveling for his wife’s professional disc golf career before joining the SBFC team in 2023. When not in the mountains for work or pleasure, Ian can be found at the movies or with a good book in hand.
Wyatt Day is a mountain man deluxe. He was raised in the Bitterroot Valley adjacent to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness where he has spent plenty of time working and playing. With his dog, Cowboy, usually at his side, he has packed mules, maintained trails, performed weed control, led horseback rides, guided hunters, and has done a good deal of exploring, from the Frank Church to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He earned a B.A. and a B.S. in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana and hopes to spend his life working for and in the Wilderness. Whether horseback or on foot he enjoys contemplating wildness itself.
April grew up in Eastern Kentucky. After graduating high school, she moved to Utah and spent a year with a conservation corps doing trail work, invasive species removal, and more. She then spent four years as a wildland firefighter with the Forest Service in Arizona, California, and Montana. Now, she's wrapping up her college degree in Kentucky, where she also worked as a backcountry ranger. She loves Wilderness because it represents nature in its truest form and provides mental and physical well-being to all who access it. She is passionate about maintaining these places for ecological health as well as optimal access for all people.
Robbie drove to Missoula from their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in 2023 for their crew member season with the Montana Conservation Corps, which they spent working on the Continental Divide Trail in Idaho and the Rock Creek wilderness near Missoula. Robbie is excited to get back to working trails and spending every possible moment outside. On an off-hitch, you can find them volunteering at the Roxy Theater and sketching outside.
Joe is from Omaha, NE and gained experience working wilderness trail crews in the Boundary Waters. He is passionate about public land and is working towards a career in conservation. He spends his free time riding bikes, sauntering in the woods, and fretting about the ephemerality of being.
Berkeley has spent the first 25 years of her life beep-bopping around the Western US. Originally from Seattle, she went to school in Salt Lake City where she spent her time taking dance classes and playing in the Wasatch Mountains and nearby desert. Her first experience with fieldwork was with the Montana Conservation Corps in 2019 and after working trails and outdoor education jobs in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming she is stoked to be back in Missoula and returning to the place where it all began: the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness! On her off time, you might find Berkeley skiing, biking, trail running, crafting, and offering glitter (plastic-free!) to strangers on the trails.
Phoebe moved to Missoula, Montana in 2019 to finish up her degree in Geoscience and GIS at the University of Montana. She has been stewarding wilderness seasonally ever since with SBFC, Wild Montana, and the Forest Service. She started out her trails career with SBFC as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow, which led to her career in the Forest Service as a Wilderness Ranger in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and on a trail crew/packing the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Needless to say, she is overjoyed to be circling back to where it all began for her with SBFC!
With dreams of chasing snow, Emily initially moved from Texas to Montana in pursuit of becoming a ski patroller. During her time in Texas, she enjoyed volunteering with state parks, natural areas, and horse stables while working full-time in the ethical research department at the University of Texas. In the past few years, Emily has spent her time in Montana working with the Forest Service in various roles. If you happen to catch her outside of work, you'll likely find her painting postcards, skiing, wandering museums, biking, reading, or dabbling in a new hobby that's captured her interest.
Ryan comes to SBFC from Ashland, Oregon where he wore many hats including founding and operating businesses in the outdoor recreation sector. Ryan also served as the board treasurer for Siskiyou Mountain Club. In addition to business and nonprofit work he is also an avid outdoor recreationist and has pursued many different avenues of mountain travel. He has travelled around the US and the world as a professional ultra-marathon runner. Ryan and his family have relocated to McCall, Idaho and look forward to exploring the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas.