Zoe is a Natural Resource Specialist at the Idaho Army National Guard (IDARNG) in Boise, Idaho, where she has been working for the past nine years.

She grew up at the base of the Rocky Mountains where she spent most of her time fishing, hiking, and camping throughout northern Colorado’s forests and shrublands. Zoe went on to earn my B.S. and M.S. in Biology from Boise State University where she studied population dynamics and behavioral ecology of small mammals on the IDARNG Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC) in southwestern Idaho. Additionally, while in graduate school, she initiated an education/outreach program which aimed to increase the connectivity among Idaho’s K-12 students, researchers, land managers, and the lands they work and play in.  Zoe has continued the program since its inception in 2015 and in her position at IDARNG with increasing focus on the relationship between DoD installations and the natural resources they manage.
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In her current position with the IDARNG, she does the majority of her work on the OCTC, which is entirely within the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA). The OCTC is an important area to many raptor species and their prey (ground squirrels and jackrabbits), an endangered plant, many species of reptiles, long-billed curlews, burrowing owls, sagebrush obligate songbirds and many species of bats. The IDARNG Environmental Management Office conducts work to ensure the OCTC’s ability to support the military mission while maintaining compatibility with the NCA and its many land uses. Additionally, the IDARNG Environmental Management Office is highly involved in empirical research through partnerships with local universities and agencies. 

In her spare free time, Zoe can typically be found outside enjoying Idaho’s beautiful wilderness and inevitably being herded by her shepherd and corgi.