Val is working with collaborators at Acadia National Park to develop a management plan for hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that kills hemlock trees and was recently detected in the park. Her work will shape the park’s response as this insect moves through Acadia, with the aim of reducing harm and protecting priority stands.
Prior to joining Schoodic Institute, Val has worked in field research and environmental education across the country. She is a generalist of ecology and natural history, from insects and plants to birds and rivers. When not at work, Val can be found poking through tidepools, turning her yard into a chaos of native plants, or being walked by her dogs. Regardless of the activity, she is probably smudged with dirt.
Val has a BS and an MS in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maine, both shoved in some drawer somewhere.
