Megan Fletcher grew up locally in Westwood. She started out as a member in the P-CREW program in 2018. After that, she knew conservation was something she wanted to do as a career. In 2020 she was a AAA for P-CREW, during this time she found her passion for youth stewardship. In the spring of 2021, she graduated from Feather River College with an A.S in Environmental Studies. The following summer, she returned to Sierra Institute as a part of the Wilderness Trails crew. In 2022, she worked part time as a P-CREW Coordination Assistant until the P-CREW program began, where she was a P-CREW leader for the summer of 2022. She returned in 2023 as the Assistant P-CREW Coordinator and is excited to now be the 2024 P-CREW Program Coordinator 2024. Megan enjoys her time in the summer by hiking, and exploring the beauty of the Lassen and Plumas county area. In the winter you can find her enjoying the slopes, snowboarding, or spending time indoors with her cats.
As a Santa Rosa resident, Mae Saunders (she/they) grew up in a city surrounded by vineyards without much opportunity for outdoor recreation, but found her love for conservation during local creek cleanups with her Environmental Studies class in high school. They spend most of their free time baking, hiking, writing, and swimming and she is a club officer at their school's student newspaper. Session 1 of P-CREW 2023 helped her solidify their decision to pursue conservation work as a career and is planning to attend Feather River College in 2025 to earn an Associate's degree in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor's degree in Ecosystem Restoration and Applied Fire Management. She is ecstatic to have the opportunity to work as a part of the P-CREW team again both behind the scenes and in the field, and is over the moon that she gets to help P-CREW be as amazing of an opportunity as possible for you!
For the past 36 years, Amy has led outdoor education and leadership training trips throughout the U.S., including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. Her students have ranged from college students at the National Outdoor Leadership School, rural and urban high school students and youth at risk. Amy co-created Sierra Institute’s P-CREW (Plumas Conservation Restoration Education in Watersheds), GOAL (Greenville Outdoor Adventure Learning) and Friday Night for Teens programs as well as Plumas County’s Mt Visions, a backpacking program for teens with mental health challenges. She taught as a substitute and ran the after-school program at our local Greenville Jr/Sr High School, helping students who were failing classes get back on track to graduate. She also raised 3 children here in Indian Valley who have earned various degrees from California Universities. Her certificates include Adult Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Behavior First Responder and Wilderness First Responder. She serves as the P-CREW’s Crew Member Experience Specialist, weekend Recreation planner and the Alumni Communications Coordinator. She goes into the field on an as needed basis to help the Crew Leaders and Crew Members have the best experience possible. In addition to her diverse experience in outdoor leadership programming, Amy has also served as Sierra Institute’s financial manager since 1998. In her spare time, you can find Amy hiking, running, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing with her dogs, working diligently in her garden, and backpacking or climbing in the High Sierra.
Danielle began working for the Sierra Institute in 2019 as the Stewardship Project Coordinator and is involved in both the collaborative forest stewardship and wood utilization initiatives. Prior to this, she served as the Sierra Institutes' Collaborative Landscape Stewardship Apprentice. She received a B.S. in Biology from CSU Bakersfield and an M.S. in Environmental Policy and Management from UC Davis. Born and raised in the southern San Joaquin Valley, she spent her free time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks where she revered the studies of John Muir and developed a passion for the outdoors. Throughout her time working within private, public, and NGOs sectors, Danielle has acquired a range of experiences and has come to recognize the importance of interdisciplinary communication in the implementation and effectiveness of environmental stewardship. As an advocate for the conservation of natural resources, she is interested in the application of environmental science to real-world environmental policy and management issues. When Danielle is not working you will likely find her partaking in the many adventures the Sierras have to offer.
Dillon will be joining the Sierra Institute this dry season to help lead the Plumas Conservation, Restoration, and Education in Watersheds crew. Since 2019, Dillon has been moving from place to place where lands remain undeveloped, working seasonal jobs on small sustainable model farms and with the Forest Service. From the Peninsular Ranges to the Canadian Cascades, and the Coast Range to the Rockies, he’s on a mission to know and heal the general hydrologic, botanic, and climatic patterns of the West. Outside of work, he can be found hiking, floating, skiing, swimming, riding, driving, spring hunting, or uncontrollably sliding down slopes anywhere public wildlands exist.
Andrew is a P-CREW Alumni whose time in the program built a profound passion for the outdoors. He joined the United States Marine Corps in the fall of 2020, developing a strong set of leadership and life skills that he continues to carry into everything he pursues. In that time, he has participated in several volunteer events from beach clean-ups to fire prevention operations. He has also returned to work with the Sierra Institute twice as a volunteer for Point Reyes Park management Andrew has dedicated his life to improving himself and strives to leave the world a better place than how he found it. Some of the things he enjoys are nature watching, hiking, herping, and just generally interacting with nature in a positive way.
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Milo originally worked on P-CREW in 2020. The experience helped motivate him to major in civil and environmental engineering, and he is now in his fourth year. He also writes for his school newspaper and leads his college's Student Steel Bridge Competition. When he isn't pursuing knowledge or a career, Milo enjoys going on hikes, playing board games, and reading science fiction.
Sam Hall led the goofy, passionate P-CREW members in impactful project work last year, and she could not turn down the chance to return to the Sierras for another season to meet more inspiring high schoolers ready to work and recreate outdoors. Sam is studying Community Sustainability with an Environmental Justice emphasis at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point. She was first introduced to conservation work and fire management in 2020, serving with AmeriCorps in Idaho’s breathtaking Salmon-Challis National Forest, and she is passionate about sharing the rewarding feeling of working outdoors with others. Sam is currently abroad in New Zealand, working as an intern at an urban farm, backpacking from hut to hut, and continuing her studies in sustainable transformations. She enjoys doing yoga, knitting, and eating home-cooked food in good company
Heyy P-CREW!! My name is Isa and I'm from San Francisco, though I just finished my first year as an environmental studies major at Bates College in Maine. I feel most like myself when I'm backpacking through west coast redwoods or roller skating down the streets in SF, but lately I've gotten into skiing and playing the mandolin (it was a long first winter...). I love hand stitching and mending, and you might catch me reading in a tree after a long day of trail work. So excited to be a 2024 AAA!
Shelbi lives in the small town of Burney and is a proud member of the Pit River Tribe, under the Madesi Band. Shelbi was a P-CREW member in 2023 and wasn’t always as sociable as she is now. Thankfully the amazing P-CREW staff pushed crew members to do their best and really helped her find her voice. Shelbi hopes to give the same support to any new crew members feeling the same way. She loves swimming in the many beautiful and hidden swimming holes in the area and loves learning about people and their stories.
Caden graduated from Berkeley High School this year and is planning on taking a gap year before college. He has always loved spending time outdoors, whether that be running, hiking, rock climbing, or botanizing the local flora. As a crew member in 2023, he enjoyed the trail work, and PB&J tortillas. Apart from the outdoors, he enjoys reading, writing, and watercolor painting. He is always willing to lend a listening ear and is looking forward to stepping into a leadership role this summer.
Lucy is from Berkeley and is planning to study biology at UCLA in the fall. She first did P-CREW in 2023, and she had an amazing time. She loves rowing and playing other sports, and is excited to swim in any body of water she can find. Currently, Lucy is in the process of becoming an EMT and plans to work on an ambulance in college. She enjoys learning about plants and animals, making art, and playing card games. Lucy can’t wait to return to P-CREW this summer!