About Ellie…
Working with Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity’s Rock the Block crew to transform concrete stairs into a handicap ramp for an elderly homeowner.
Standing with colleague Levi George on a nearly completed handicap ramp constructed with Habitat’s Rock the Block crew.
The geography of Arizona played a major role in my desire to ensure environmental welfare. Early on I connected to the spirit of the land and was moved by the diversity of ecosystems inside the state. The vast Grand Canyon, rocky Navajo and Hopi reservations, red-toned Sedona, resilient Sonoran Desert, and proud Ponderosa Pine forest all feel like family members to me- I never grow tired of learning their wisdom. As a young girl I was taught about climate change and how it threatened my beloved landscapes. I knew I’d found my purpose and vowed to do everything I could to preserve and protect all natural environments.
In 2022, I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography with an emphasis on land, water, and society interactions and a double minor in Environmental Science and Urban and Regional Development.
In summertime of 2021 I found myself in Iowa, my family’s ancestral land. I worked as an environmental steward in the Energy and Community Branch of Green Iowa AmeriCorps, which focuses on energy efficiency, conservation of natural landscapes, and housing for low-income, veteran, and elderly people. My daily tasks included conducting home energy audits, working with Habitat for Humanity in the metro, conducting seed harvests and invasive species removal with Polk County Conservation, and water quality monitoring with the Izaak Walton League.
This is what we use for blower door tests to gauge locations of air leaks in a house.
