Taylor Johnson has been CCNRCD's conservation specialist since May 2023. Taylor grew up in a rural mountain town near the Mexican border and spent her formative years raising heritage wool sheep, riding horses, and wandering the backcountry. She graduated from Humboldt State University with a BS in Biology (ecology & biodiversity conservation) and a BA in Anthropology and has spent her career at the intersection of community development, food security, and natural resource conservation. Prior to moving to Vermont, Taylor was a research consultant for the Food Bank of the Rockies where she addressed issues of food access and equity in underserved communities" throughout Colorado and Wyoming. She has also worked as a consulting ecologist and botanist in California, in rancher- wildlife conflict prevention and education, and with a variety of special projects ranging from native plant propagation to community agroforestry and culturally relevant forest management planning. Taylor is working towards her Level III Certified Conservation Planner certification with NRCS and has taken on the bulk of district agricultural programming, including assisting producers with their nutrient management plans, providing project coordination services to county agricultural producers, and planning workshops. In her free time she enjoys long distance backpacking, identifying and eating local flora and fungi, snuggling her dog, contra dancing, and learning how to play in the snow.