SEACC Staff

Maggie was born in Juneau but moved around a lot and mostly grew up in rural northern Vermont where she developed a deep appreciation for nature. She jumped at the opportunity to travel to Alaska after high school, working for her uncle as a trolling deckhand out of Sitka to pay her way through college. Maggie found her passion for this place during her summers on the deck of the Lady Jo, delivering salmon throughout northern Southeast Alaska. During that time, she met and later married a commercial fisherman, continuing to return to Southeast each year until making Juneau her permanent home in 2013. 

Between fishing seasons, Maggie earned a bachelor of arts degree in Environmental Studies and Sociology from St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, focused on social movement organizations. 

After settling in Juneau, Maggie began her career in the nonprofit sector when she took up fundraising and finance work at Perseverance Theatre, serving as their Development Director for three years. She finally realized her dream of putting her talents to use in the conservation field when she accepted the role of Director of Development and Operations at SEACC in 2017; she was promoted to Deputy Director in 2020 and is deeply honored to be serving as Executive Director since 2024. She is grateful for the opportunity to work for a mission driven organization like SEACC, protecting the lands and waters of Southeast Alaska while learning and growing in her role.

Though she was born down south in Oregon, Raylynn fell in love with Juneau and the Tongass National Forest when she would visit family for the summer and winter holidays. When she was 15 she decided to relocate from the high deserts of Oregon to the lush temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska, where the love of nature and adventure runs deep.

Raylynn graduated from Juneau Douglas High School in 2008 and immediately began traveling between Oregon, Sweden, and New Zealand until she returned to Alaska and began pursuing her passion for gardening. In addition to managing an office full of SEACC team members, Raylynn is currently attending the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine to become an herbalist and Medicinal Herb Farmer. She is also a novice beekeeper, who has been keeping healthy happy bees in our temperate climate.

When Raylynn is not playing in the garden, harvesting medicinal herbs, or loving on her bees, she can be found fishing, camping, and adventuring with her two amazing dogs and wonderful husband.

Melissa joined SEACC as Communications Director in 2023, following six years serving in the same role with another non-profit and several more years’ experience in communications, journalism and campaign work. She earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Melissa was born on Ohlone land in California and raised there and on the lands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon. She moved to Lingít Aaní in 2007 “for a summer” and never found a reason to leave. Today, she lives in Sayéik (Douglas) with her family.

She’s an artist, baker, trail traipser, mushroom forager and enthusiastic community member who believes in taking care of what you love.

With more than 20 years of experience working on federal public lands campaigns in New Mexico and across the United States, Nathan is no newcomer to the conservation movement and has a proven track record of building sustainable coalitions and relationships with members, supporters, volunteers, indigenous peoples and political leaders to get things done. He has been professionally involved in or directly responsible for facilitating and organizing successful Wilderness campaigns through Congress, multiple National Monument designations, and Wild and Scenic Rivers legislation. Additionally, he has extensive experience analyzing NEPA documents and is excited to take on SEACC’s Federal Campaigns Manager position with a focus on the Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan. Since starting out in 2002, leading the charge for upholding the Roadless Rule in New Mexico and coordinating with national organizations, he has been enamored with the Tongass and Alaska. He first visited Alaska in the summer of 2018 on a month-long canoe trip in Gates of the Arctic Wilderness and Noatak Preserve; his desire to work to preserve the wild landscapes of Southeast was profoundly solidified by this experience.

When not spending time dedicated to public lands protection and community, Nathan enjoys spending time backpacking, kayaking, and painting.

Stacy began loving the land in the bunchgrass prairie hills of the Luiseño people in what is now known as Murrieta, CA. Under ancient oaks she hiked to pueblo sites and vernal pool wetlands, ran alongside coyotes, and wandered away into the hills to hike and photograph the Santa Ana Mountains that formed her concept of home. After gaining a degree in Visual Journalism from Brooks Institute of Photography, she migrated and fell in love with her new home in the Tongass, where she walks as a guest in Lingít Aaní. 

Over the past 16 years Stacy has been a naturalist photography guide by land and sea, a public elementary school teacher, an educational resource developer, a professional photographer, a media specialist, and an advocate for equity and environmental justice. Poised to treat each opportunity as a means to deepen her advocacy work for precious places and the beings that call them home, Stacy is excited to join the team as SEACC’s Mining Campaigner. 

Stacy enjoys cinema, playing music, reading, writing, hosting, and creating art. She recharges her spirit by walking, camping, and foraging through the woods — often with a husband, standard poodle, and camera in tow.

Tyler brings over a decade of experience in climate strategy, conservation, and community development to his role as Environmental Policy Analyst at the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. His previous work in Latin America focused on biodiversity analyses and supporting community adaptations to climate change.

Tyler holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Development Practice from Emory University. He believes that genuine community buy-in and trust are key to implementing effective conservation strategies. Tyler aspires to help create structures and frameworks that foster collaboration rooted in environmental justice.

At SEACC, Tyler analyzes policies to identify threats and opportunities for protecting Southeast Alaska. He is particularly interested in understanding how communities interact with their environments and how policy shapes those interactions.

Outside of work, Tyler is a multiple IronMan finisher, an amateur musician, and an enthusiastic forager of wild edible plants.

Kayla is a wildlife ecologist, photographer, and science communicator with a deep love for Alaska’s wild places. She currently resides on Áakʼw Ḵwáan ancestral lands and has spent the past eight years between Southeast Alaska, the Interior, and far-flung corners of the world—but always finds herself gravitating home to Juneau.

Originally from Iowa, Kayla first came to Juneau through the National Student Exchange program at the University of Alaska Southeast, where she studied the intricacies of ecology in the Tongass. Since then, she has worked on research projects across Alaska ranging from muskox behavior studies in Nome to small mammal research in remote Southeast communities. A skilled storyteller, Kayla has produced educational media for universities, nonprofits, and tourism operators, blending her expertise in ecology with her talent for photography and videography.

When she’s not behind the camera, Kayla spends most of her free time exploring with her adventure kitties, thrifting, and creating art in various forms.

Kat grew up on the homelands of the Anishinaabe and Dakota peoples, in what is now called Wadena, Minnesota — a place of quiet lakes and long winters. During her university years, her path bent steadily toward advocacy and environmental justice, recognizing that caring for people and ecosystems are one and the same.

Since moving to Lingít Aaní, Kat has found herself deeply moved by the powerful presence of Indigenous knowledge, art, and leadership — and the way it continues to shape community, resilience, and relationship to the natural world. As SEACC’s Development Coordinator, she supports the web of connection between people and place, tending to relationships that sustain long-term environmental care. She loves sharing her passion for environmental protections and responsible development. Kat believes we have a duty to protect Southeast Alaska’s unique landscape as we all stand on the same land, breathe the same air, and drink the same waters.

Outside of work, Kat can often be found climbing mountains, scheming her next ascent, or hiking forested trails with her dog Lucy who shares her love for rolling around in the mosses. From ridgeline to forest floor, she holds reverence for the lush landscapes of Southeast Alaska.

Jayden Lampe joins the SEACC team this summer as a First Alaskans Institute intern. She was born and raised on the Iñupiaq lands of Utqiaġvik. She is majoring in Social Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast, built on the ancestral territory of the Áak’w Kwáan Tlingit people. Her main concentration is in Political Science, with two minor concentrations in Anthropology and Sociology.

Outside of school, Jayden enjoys spending time outdoors, riding her bike, and exploring the beauty of Southeast Alaska. Whether she’s on a trail, by the water, or simply enjoying a sunny day, she loves being outside.

Jayden is passionate about environmental advocacy and Indigenous self-determination. As an FAI intern placed with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, she is gaining hands-on experience in community-centered advocacy and environmental stewardship. She hopes to use her education and internship experience to advance community-driven solutions, strengthen Indigenous leadership, and protect Alaska’s lands and waters for future generations.

Cecily Parks joins the SEACC team this summer as an Alaska Conservation Foundation intern. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay, she first became acquainted with the quiet pockets of wilderness on Ohlone lands — wandering through redwood groves and hiking paths that curve with the Pacific coast. She spent the last five years on Lenapehoking homelands, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at The New School in downtown Manhattan.

An urge to tell stories brought Cecily to Southeast Alaska. She is a writer with published work on local news, art, music, and the environment. She spent her final year in university completing a thesis which culminated in a reported feature story on the environmental and cultural stewards of a forgotten, polluted creek and EPA Superfund Site wedged between two New York boroughs. This intimate experience with environmental vulnerability catapulted her passion for documenting the narratives of nature and supporting real community resilience. As an ACF intern placed with SEACC, she is exuberant to bring her experience in environmental storytelling to advocate for conservation of Alaska’s forests, waters, and Indigenous knowledge.