Meet Our Fellows

Current Fellows, 2026-2027

Aiyana Washington, Sanctuary Engagement Fellow 

Aiyana Washington (she/they) is a storyteller and advocate whose passions rest at the intersection of climate science, social justice, and community-based art. She studied Earth systems and environmental communication at Stanford University, learning to build grassroots campaigns and craft media that champions decolonial and cooperative ecological stewardship. She is dedicated to dismantling systemic barriers to engagement with the outdoors and aims to uplift the wisdom of communities who are both underrepresented in environmental decision-making and most harmed by environmental destruction. When she’s not outdoors, Aiyana also enjoys theater, reading science fiction and fantasy, and playing board games with friends. 

Angel Del Valle Cardenas, Ecological Restoration Fellow 

Angel Del Valle Cardenas (he/him) is from Chelsea, MA and recently graduated from Bowdoin College with a bachelor's degree in Biology and Latin American, Caribbean & Latinx Studies. Growing up in an environmental justice community, Angel is passionate about increasing access to nature, ecological restoration, community engagement, and conservation. As an Ecological Restoration fellow, he looks forward to working in the field and assisting in the recovery of ecosystems. In his free time, Angel enjoys playing jazz, tabletop card games, and exploring tide pools. 

Hedy Yang, Diversity and Inclusion Fellow 

Hedy Yang (she/her) is from New Jersey and recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics, Environmental Studies, and Journalism from Brandeis University. She is passionate about expanding equitable access to both information about the environment and outdoor spaces themselves through community education and environmental journalism. Her past work ranges from producing environmental news broadcasts for the public radio show Living on Earth, to drafting policy toolkits for lawmakers to address corporate power in the healthcare and tech industries, to teaching students to identify various trees on Brandeis’ campus. Hedy is excited to help Mass Audubon advance its values around DEIJA by identifying opportunities for community education and building partnerships with indigenous communities. In her free time, you can find Hedy baking various flavors of sourdough bread, going for runs, crocheting, and playing ultimate frisbee. 

Jessie Traxler, Land Conservation Fellow 

Jessie Traxler (she/her) is originally from Massachusetts. She recently graduated from Georgetown University, where she majored in Political Economy and minored in Environmental Studies and Chinese. She is passionate about increasing access to the outdoors, especially for youth and historically marginalized communities. Her past roles have included advocating for youth outdoor recreation policies with the Sierra Club and completing trail maintenance in Rocky Mountain National Park as part of a conservation corps. She is incredibly excited about learning more about the relationship between conservation and outdoor recreation, as well as working directly with landowners at Mass Audubon. When she's not out on the trail, Jessie enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and refereeing youth soccer. 

Taryn Chung, Nature in the City Fellow 

Taryn Chung (she/her) is from New York City and graduated from Cornell University, where she majored in Environmental Policy and pursued minors in Urban Studies, Sustainable Business, Law, and Gender Studies. Since learning about guerrilla gardening from Ron Finley at age 10, Taryn has been fascinated by the multidimensional ways people interact with one another, nature, and the built environment. She is passionate about fostering safety and accessibility in public spaces through community development, place-based ecologies, and feminist geography and is excited to be joining Mass Audubon as part of the Nature in the City team. In her free time, you will probably find her on a 10-mile walk. 

Past Fellows

2025-2026

Tiare E. Sierra Rivera, Tami Gordon, Isabella Acosta-Jimenez, Hannah McGrath, Scarlett Gonzalez

2024-2025

Abigail Garcia: During her time as the Bird Conservation Fellow, Abi (she/her) supported a variety of projects that helps protects birds in coastal, forest, and grassland habitats on the Bird Conservation team by creating outreach materials, creating connections, and conducting GIS analysis.

Emily Jones: During her time as the Ecological Restoration Fellow, Emily (she/her) provided project management support to four restoration projects, including active dam removal, urban wetland, cranberry bog, and salt marsh restorations. She also co-developed a GIS framework for prioritizing active and abandoned cranberry bogs for restoration with an ultimate goal of facilitating marsh migration and coastal resilience.

Isabella Chung: During her time as the Nature in the City Fellow, Isabella (she/her) supported community-focused environmental projects based in Boston, Worcester, and Lowell. She also conducted an analysis of the transportation accessibility of Mass Audubon's sanctuaries with recommendations for expanding that access. After her fellowship, she went on to pursue her Master's in Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University.

Nicolás Reyes: During his time as the Land Conservation Fellow, Nico (he/they) utilized GIS to assess and create boundaries for conservation restriction properties, generated a disposition layer for disposed properties, and served as the go-to mapmaker for the land conservation team.

Uzoma Adichie: During their time as a Climate Education fellow, Uzoma (she/they) initiated and led multiple climate education and policy projects, serving as the project manager of the Climate Resilient Schools Coalition. This coalition brings together students, educators, and community members to write and campaign for specific, date-certain climate action commitments in their district. She also co-led the Climate Resilient Schools Coalition Youth Cohort, where she worked closely with fifteen paid high school students from eight different Massachusetts public school districts to form teams and write district-level policy. For her professional project, she evaluated the Boston Nature Center’s Green Up Schoolyards program.  

2023-2024

Anna He: During her time as a Conservation Science Fellow, Anna (she/her) conducted fieldwork and GIS analyses for ecological restoration. After her fellowship, she went on to manage GIS data and collaborate on community outreach for the Harvard Geospatial Library and the Harvard Map Collection.

Bobbie D. Norman: During her time as Environmental Education and Engagement Fellow, Bobbie (she/her) studied community engagement at an urban nature center and supported the internal evaluation of Mass Audubon’s education and engagement programs. After her fellowship, she went on to work at Data+Soul Research, formerly known as MXM Research Group.

Fana Scott: During her time as a Conservation Science Fellow, Fana (she/her) led White-tailed deer surveys at 4 wildlife sanctuaries, supported the adoption of Landscape (a new land conservation software) by staff across three departments, and developed an ecology workshop series for high school students historically excluded from conservation, aiming to foster their relationships with green space in their community. After her fellowship, she went on to work at the New England Aquarium as the Community Engagement Coordinator.

Meenakshi Jani: During her time as Policy and Advocacy Fellow, Meena (she/her) supported the recruitment and management of volunteer advocates and worked on other projects related to Mass Audubon’s policy campaigns. After her fellowship, she went on to work at Conservation Law Foundation.

Priya Dixit: During her time as the Marketing and Communications Fellow, Priya (she/her) supported the Marketing and Communications department through marketing the Early Career Programs, writing social media and web content, and reporting on digital marketing analytics. After her fellowship, she went on to work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Taylor Lo: During their time as Land Conservation Fellow, Taylor (she/they) monitored conservation restriction properties and researched organizational relationships with Indigenous communities. After her fellowship, she went on to work for Mass Audubon as their D&I Coordinator. 

2022-2023

Isabela Chachapoyas Ortiz: During her time as Policy and Advocacy Fellow, Isabela (she/her) conducted an organization-wide analysis and data collection project on environmental justice work. She also organized the Environmental Justice learning group where staff come together to deepen their knowledge on environmental justice, and helped support a grassroots campaign at Mass Audubon working to mobilize all of its members to advocate for conservation policy. After her fellowship, she went on to work at Mass Audubon as the Nature in the City Community Engagement Coordinator in Worcester.

Anna Cass: During her time as the Marketing and Communications Fellow, Anna Cass (she/her) developed programming to train young activists to share their ideas effectively using design and marketing principles. After her fellowship, she went on to work at MIT in the Knight Science Journalism Program.

Amara Chittenden: During her time as Conservation Science Fellow, Amara researched participatory science protocols, surveyed nesting shorebirds, salt marshes, and amphibians, and helped to implement a new ecological management software. After their fellowship, Amara moved on to Mass Audubon’s Nature in the City team to work as a Community Engagement Coordinator and now Program Manager for the Boston Tree Alliance.

Isabella Guerero: During her time as Environmental Education Fellow, Bella (she/they) learned about evaluating curriculum, completed teacher naturalist trainings, and brought environmental educational into Boston Public School classrooms. After their fellowship they went on to work at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center as a Teacher Naturalist.  

Jovan Bryan: During his time as Land Conservation Fellow, Jovan (he/him) supported monitoring conservation restrictions, and worked on how Mass Audubon could improve its community engagement. After his fellowship, he went on to the Connecticut Land Conservation Council as their Community Conservation Coordinator.