How a Backyard Garden Sparked a Career in Soil Health and Conservation
My journey in agriculture and conservation began in the garden. When I was 11 years old, a 4-H representative came to speak to my 6th-grade class. She gave each of us a bean seed to take home and plant in a pot on our windowsill. To my amazement, mine sprouted in just a few days, a little green shoot sticking up through the dirt. Eventually, I took it out to my backyard and found a place to plant it. This one simple experience ignited a lifelong love of gardening, inspiring me to pursue science and conservation.
Each year after that, my garden grew bigger. I was a curious kid and read a lot of articles online about gardening, science, and nature in my spare time. I began to learn about the myriad crises facing life on Earth that we humans have created. These interconnected issues – including the loss of farmland and soil and the widespread contamination of our environment – struck me as worthy challenges to dedicate my life toward overcoming.
Deciding to start in my own backyard, I first addressed the loss of soil and nutrients from our property by mulching my garden and fixing eroded hills around my house. I then began regenerating my garden ecosystem by composting grass clippings and returning them to the soil. During my middle school years, I learned about biochar – charcoal used as a soil amendment – and its potential to improve poor soils and hold onto nutrients. I was particularly inspired by the success of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, who used charcoal and food scraps to turn the acidic, depleted clays of the rainforest into dark, fertile soils (called terra preta).
By the time I left high school, I had transformed the eroded Georgia red clay of my garden into my own terra preta using yearly additions of homemade biochar and compost. This early experience convinced me that it was possible to start solving our environmental problems and improving stewardship, one piece of land at a time.
Over the next seven years, I broadened my understanding of how we can serve the planet and support the environment. I earned my bachelor’s in Water and Soil Resources from the University of Georgia and completed my master’s at Virginia Tech, where I studied Soil Agroecology. During my studies, I conducted years of scientific research that explored how we can use biochar to recover nutrients from agricultural wastewater and improve soil, presenting at multiple conferences and authoring multiple publications.
My original career goal was to become a professor, but along the way, I realized that lots of agricultural research is done without input from farmers – and without first checking to make sure that the research will even benefit them. I didn’t want to contribute to that cycle. So, to deepen my understanding of the needs of farmers, I decided to go work on a farm, where I learned many things about the modern realities that growers face, including that farming is very different from backyard gardening due to the sheer scales involved.
From there, I left the farm and joined USDA-NRCS in Virginia as a Soil Conservationist. I was stationed in the mountains, and most of the clients we worked with ran grazing operations, grew specialty crops, or were landowners with forestry/native habitat projects. During that time, I built on the hands-on lessons I learned as a teenager, helping growers stop erosion and nutrient leaching and start building more productive agricultural systems. It was a great experience, and I learned a ton.
At the same time, I developed a passion for working on outreach projects, organizing several workshops on emerging topics, including biochar and agroforestry. In June 2024, I left NRCS to join the Soil Health Institute as a Soil Health Educator, where I focused on organizing and speaking at grower workshops as part of the US Regenerative Cotton Fund. I had the pleasure of working directly with farmers in South Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma to increase the adoption of cover crops. I learned to show, not tell, farmers about the benefits of soil health practices, and I really strengthened my outreach and communication skills.
All these experiences – from my family’s backyard to the mountains of Virginia to cotton fields across the country – led me to American Farmland Trust. I joined AFT in March 2026, and I am enjoying every minute of my work.
In my role as a Southeast Implementation Specialist, I am bringing my soil health expertise, passion for helping farmers and the environment, and outreach experience to help South Carolina growers take their land stewardship to the next level. I am in a partnership position with South Carolina USDA-NRCS, where I assist them with conservation planning, grower technical assistance, and program management. I am especially excited to help growers who participate in the new “Regenerative Pilot Program,” as well as those doing practice “336 – Soil Carbon Amendment.” Are you a farmer who’d like to learn more about these efforts? Please reach out – I’d love to speak with you.
Ultimately, my career goal is simple – and it points back to the same magical experience I had as a child. I want to help farmers experience the wonder, excitement, and blessings that come from investing in soil health and taking land stewardship to the next level.
