This December, we welcomed two new arrivals to the Hilltown Land Trust team. Jess Applin joined our staff as Conservation and Land Stewardship Manager, and Juliette Gomes will be with us through the summer as a Community Engagement Coordinator TerraCorps member.
Get to know Jess and Juliette below, and join us for an upcoming event or volunteer workday to meet them in person!
Jess Applin (left) and Juliette Gomes (right).
What will you be doing at HLT?
Jess: I will help manage HLT’s land conservation and land stewardship efforts.
Juliette: As the TerraCorps Community Engagement Coordinator at HLT, I will be conducting outreach and creating monthly programs and events to increase inclusivity, accessibility, and public education of HLT’s stewardship of conserved lands. I will be collaborating with HLT staff, partners, and volunteers to help serve rural land and communities in the Hilltowns.
What brought you to HLT and/or the field of conservation?
Jess: I moved to western Mass nearly 20 years ago from a small coastal town just north of Boston to work on a rural horse farm in Ashfield. Within the first few months of living out here I observed a mother bear relaxing in the sun as her cubs played at the top of the old hay field. I watched the farm’s resident red fox walk the field edges on a nearly daily basis as it hunted for its next meal. I started to scan the old apple trees behind the farmhouse for the juvenile porcupine that decided the goings on at the farm were safe enough to risk his daily treats. The ease and peaceful nature of these animals as they interacted with the land was magical to me. I realized that this was how it was supposed to be for them and that I wanted to be able to support that balance in any way I could.
Juliette: Having grown up in the Western Mass area, I am excited by the opportunity to reconnect with and learn alongside my community while exploring the beautiful and diverse ecological systems of HLT’s stewarded lands. I am looking forward to the prospect of collaborating with local organizations and artists to increase the intersectionality of land education, community resiliency, and climate awareness while gaining skills with the small and supportive team at HLT.
What is your favorite part of the work?
Jess: Connecting. Finding the many ways to connect to the wildlife that live on the landscape and trying to see the world through their eyes to understand them better. Connecting with the land through respectful exploration, trying to figure out its story, see all its special nooks and crannies, and to get to know it on a more intimate level. Connecting with the community and the people that also love this landscape. Sharing all these special connections with each other.
What were you doing before HLT?
Jess: I am coming to HLT from the field of Ecological Restoration. I have spent the last eight years learning how to assess and manage the good, the bad, and the ugly so to speak. My role was to identify all the stressors impacting the land, see through them to understand what the land wanted to be, and then to guide planning and management in a way that would help shift it back into a healthier, thriving, more resilient landscape.
Juliette: This past May, I graduated from Oberlin College where I studied geology and environmental studies. My previous experience is primarily in quantitative and qualitative geochemistry and environmental justice related research, including analyzing and producing industrial air pollution maps with ArcGIS software. Outside of research, my other focuses areas include community resiliency, engagement, and oral storytelling. Additionally, while serving as a Geocouncil representative of my Department, I helped support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives within the geosciences.
What skills and experience are you most excited to bring to your role?
Jess: My first love in this field will always be the wildlife, and my passion for the work lies in landscape level wildlife habitat connectivity. I believe this is one of the most important efforts for conservation in the face of so much environmental change. Wildlife, plants, and all organisms need the breathing room to move and adapt. I have spent the last 10+ years honing my skills in wildlife tracking and wildlife camera monitoring. I have also learned how to assess and understand the needs of the land to help guide mindful stewardship practices. My hope is that I can use these skills to help support and strengthen land conservation even further and relieve some of the pressure. I am excited to share this experience and combine it with the experience of others so we can gain an even bigger picture perspective and do even more meaningful work. The more we all know and understand about the land and all those who are connected to it, the better able we will be to conserve and steward it for the future.
What do you do with your time outside of HLT?
Jess: I love spending time adventuring and exploring with my lovable and crazy dog Leela. I enjoy camping, kayaking, snowshoeing, and traveling to new places. I also love to create nature and wildlife art through a mix of illustration, sculpture, or whatever medium may inspire me at the time. In the summer months you can find me working tirelessly in my garden.
Juliette: I am an avid potter and create ceramics at a local pottery studio in Florence, MA. My art practices are informed by my connection to and understanding of the land. I love to incorporate my geoscience education into my pottery while working with different clays and glazes; I especially get nerdy when firing pottery in the kiln and thinking about the mineral chemistry reactions occurring at different temperatures. I look forward to exploring all the pottery opportunities in the area and learning more about wood-fired kilns.
