Mara Chamlee, AmeriCorps Water Quality Administrator
As MountainTrue’s AmeriCorps Project Conserve Water Quality Administrator, Mara conducts water quality programming and educational efforts with volunteers, schools, and the greater Western North Carolina region. She learned to love the ecology, landscapes, and people of the Southern Blue Ridge while growing up in Greenville, South Carolina. Mara earned a B.S. in Biology from Furman University with a focus on conservation and ecology.
Mara developed a special interest in the role of sustainable agriculture in watersheds during her time working with the watershed team at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. Since then, she has worked as a farm-to-school educator and food justice advocate in Vermont and Massachusetts. She’s finishing up her Master’s Degree in Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University where her work and study focus on agriculture and watershed management in Northwest Colorado’s Yampa Valley. In her free time, Mara enjoys all forms of outdoor activities, especially biking, backpacking, and gardening.
