Field Coordinators
Field Coordinators
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Raelyn Toya, from the Pueblo of Jemez in New Mexico is coming to us from Ancestral Lands CC. She has vast experience in leading both front and backcountry crews working with invasive species and graffiti removal, trail work, surveying, fencing, and preservation.
She will never forget a trip taken with Ancestral Lands- 11 day river trip down the Grand Canyon!! During her time at the bottom of the canyon, she learned a lot about herself and grew both professionally and personally.
Raelyn has worked alongside the National Park Service, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and Conservation Legacy. She brings great leadership skills and is always willing to go out of her way to help others. She has a tremendous amount of experience in natural resources and being outdoors and is excited to make new memories and gain new skills that will be helpful now and in the future.
Raelyn is friendly, easy going and gets along really well with all of her peers. She brings great energy and is very stoked to meet new faces and gain lifelong friendships while working at RMYC this season. Needless to say, she is very excited to be a part of this amazing organization that has done so much for the land and conservation.
Raelyn chose RMYC this season because of the opportunities and experiences that were being offered by this organization. The Natural Resource Internship Field Coordinator position offers a variety of work experience and skills that will help her grow tremendously. From doing behind the scenes administration work, going out to the field and gaining hands-on experience while being in a leadership position and helping other interns in the field - that is something that she is looking forward to and is very excited for.
Since Raelyn is in online school, she is well aware that she needs to find different experiences and opportunities herself that will help her grow in her career and education. She knew RMYC was a perfect opportunity and she took it! Raelyn is certain that this will be a great life-changing experience and one that she will be able to look back on.
Sarah grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas (Nevada City, CA to be specific). After graduating from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Anthropology and Geography she began pursuing a career in outdoor education.
Following a season working at NOLS in AK and UT in operations/outfitting 3 years ago, she moved to Steamboat and has been here since! Sarah ski instructs full-time in the winter and this is her second summer with RMYC.
In the past, she has worked as a Summer Camp Naturalist at Yampatika, as a Science Educator at RMYC’s Yampa Valley Science School, and as a Crew Leader on the Community Youth Crew.
She loves to mountain bike and ski in her free time!
Sarah Brennan
Youth Corps
She/Her/Hers
sbrennan@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Kayja grew up in northern California and randomly ended up in Steamboat a couple of years ago. Since graduating from Cal Poly she has worked a variety of seasonal jobs, travelled and spent some time working and living on a farm in Paonia. Last year she got the opportunity to be a crew leader for the first year of the all-ladies youth crew which was a transformative experience. She especially loved being able to help create a space for her crew members to learn about how to live in community as well as build trails.
Kajya's favorite part of youth development has been seeing how much transformation and growth can happen in two weeks on a crew and the lasting connections that are made. She is stoked to be back for another season at RMYC and excited to be returning as a Field Coordinator.
KajYA Mann
Youth Corps
She/Her/Hers
KMann@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Abigail Henschell
Youth Corps
She/Her/Hers
ahenschell@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Abby is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Being a true Michigander, she loves days on Lake Michigan and is sad to miss a summer in the Great Lakes State. However, she is excited to experience the Rocky Mountains for all seasons.
Before moving to Colorado, Abby received her B.S in Environmental Studies and Sustainability, and Sustainable Park, Recreation, and Tourism from Michigan State University. Since graduating in May 2022, she has worked seasonal jobs between Michigan and Colorado. Over the last two summers, she has worked in the hospitality department at Lavender Hill Farm in Petoskey Michigan. So, she knows plenty of fun facts about Lavender! When she’s not in a lavender field, she works as a ski instructor at the Steamboat Resort Snow Sports School.
Abby chose Rocky Mountain Youth Corps because of her two passions: helping to preserve our environment and igniting passion in her local community to conserve. Abby is thrilled to start this season and to meet you!
William Naughton
Conservation Corps He/Him/His
wnaughton@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Will is originally from the Phoenix area but moved all over the White Mountains in Arizona while growing up. Will’s first conservation corps experience was with RMYC in 2022 as a trail crew member building bridges and ‘buck and rail’ in Arapaho National Forest. His next season at RMYC was as an Assistant Crew Lead in the summer helping manage a ‘hybrid’ crew, meaning the crew worked on trail and chainsaw projects. In the fall of that year, he was promoted to Crew Lead on a full-time chainsaw crew.
Will has worked in a lot of different “blue collar” fields, including, general maintenance, high voltage electrical, and landscaping. In the winter months, he spent some time maintaining mining equipment in copper mines and working on his truck. We expect that none of the “surprises” that come up on crew life will phase him!
This season he’s returning as a Field Coordinator and is super excited to work with the next generation of conservation workers! The reason he chose to return to RMYC is because a sense of community is one of their core values and it is felt from the trail crew members to the CEO.
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Alexander Daby
Conservation Corps
He/Him/His
adaby@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Alex is a New Englander (MA) turned desert rat (AZ). This dude came to his first conservation corps in the now-defunct Tucson branch of S.C.C. in 2012. Alex came to RMYC because of the endless tales of Colorado and how dope the organization is.
His favorite things are ramblin, shamblin, rootin, and a tootin all around the world trying to find a dope way to live life. He's worked various jobs like building pianos, water-harvesting, blacksmith, landscape designer, touring musician, permanently unhoused person; constantly in search of the next engaging skill to learn.
Olivia Stuart
Conservation Corps
She/Her/Her
ostuart@rockymountainyouthcorps.com
Livi is originally from Roswell, GA, and has been all over the West since graduating from the University of Georgia with a BA in International Affairs. Her first post-grad experience was with a conservation corps based out of southern Utah, which changed the trajectory of her personal and professional goals. She had never even camped before starting her corps term and decided to throw herself into something completely new and unknown, and she is so glad she did- it taught her so much about life and herself!
After moving around for a while working mostly in the service industry, she landed in Steamboat Springs at the start of last winter and found a new home here. She is so excited for this new season of following her passions and doing work that really matters in the place she loves most!! Her conservation corps experience was incredibly impactful, and she is so excited to help facilitate and be a part of that experience for other young folks!
If Livi was a trail tool, she would be a boot mattock- it is the under-sung hero of tools and is arguably one of the most reliable ones out there. Boot mattocks always get the job done! Livi is STOKED to spend her first season with RMYC!!
Luke grew up in a small town outside of Syracuse, NY where he later studied at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Forest Health after which he was a youth crew leader and then a YVSS educator for RMYC! The following summer he returned to RMYC - this time on the Conservation Corps side, leading a full-time saw crew in the summer and fall seasons! In the winters he returned home to NY to work in private forestry in Vermont and throughout NY state. He is stoked to be coming back to RMYC for his 3rd season here, returning as a Field Coordinator. He's excited to be back digging in the dirt and ripping saws. His favorite part of trailwork is being out in the woods camping 24/7, and hanging out with the different people RMYC brings together. He’s looking forward to making new friends and going on adventures this season.