It isn’t often that we lose a WeedWise team member, but this week we bid a fond farewell to WeedWise Specialist and CWMA Coordinator, Sarah Hamilton.
Sarah joined the WeedWise program in 2014 and has split her time working on invasive species management in the Sandy River watershed, and in coordinating both the 4-County and the Columbia Gorge Cooperative Weed Management Areas.
She came to us after working in the field of ecological restoration, first as a contractor and later a crew leader. Prior to delving into restoration, Sarah spent 4 years conducting demographics surveys of northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in the Oregon Coast Range. She has also conducted forest health and research surveys around the west coast for the Forest Service and Oregon State University, interned at West Multnomah SWCD, and spent a winter on a wildlife refuge in Iowa for AmeriCorps.
Sarah’s interests in ecology began early when her grandfather introduced her to the idea of invasive species during a family fishing trip in the Umatilla National Forest. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University in Environmental Sciences specializing in Forest Ecology, and an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in horticulture, where she set out to learn more about native and invasive plants, and about human interactions with the environment.
Recently, Sarah moved to the Salem area after buying her childhood home, where she has recently started a small native plant nursery. Sarah is leaving us for our partners at Marion County SWCD to the south. So we are happy for her and for our Marion County partners as well. We know her commute is a lot shorter, and we are pleased to know that we will still get to see her from time to time.
Learn more about Sarah and then energy she brought to our program on her Staff Spotlight.
We wish Sarah all the best in her new position and in all her new adventures!
