Jessica Reid

Jess has spent most of her life living in eastern Massachusetts and Vermont, working within New England’s varied landscape and communities. She graduated from Saint Michael's College studying anthropology, focusing on how a place’s culture and ecosystem determine how people approach farming and food systems. After her academic experience, Jess joined the Peace Corps as an Agriculture Extension Agent in Madagascar, where she worked with farmers to facilitate regional tree plantings focused on erosion mitigation while providing educational opportunities for local schools. She has since worked with nonprofit organizations creating urban gardens for food and pollinators, as well as working directly with rural farms to install agroforestry systems and facilitate agroforestry education. She is especially interested in how perennial plants can benefit pollinators and other wildlife while enhancing on-farm production. In her free time, she loves to hike out to a mountain stream for swimming or work on a crossword with her cat.