Welcoming 3 new teammates
2024 is an exciting year of growth for MARSB. Please join us in welcoming three new teammates to our staff. Learn more about our team here >
Amy Kousch
Amy Kousch, who joined us in August, is our new Outreach Liaison. Her duties will include outreach to the vast community of native plant material end users (consumers) to understand their needs and methods of procurement (through Needs Assessments and other tools), and get them thinking about longer term planning and projections of their needs . She will also begin development of our Online Marketplace where we hope to enlist these end users to participate by posting their needs to the widest possible audience, most importantly to the commercial growers that we are beginning to work with.
Amy has worked in the regenerative agriculture and native plant sector for over a decade with her hands in the soil, in the lab, running a nursery and farm, teaching students, writing grants, and collaborating with community peers. She holds a B.S. in environmental communications, an M.S. in agriculture extension education, and is pursuing plant and soil science doctoral studies. She is passionate about the health of Northeast’s watersheds, plant communities, and greater ecology.
Emily Gentry
Emily Gentry also joins us as our new administrative assistant. Emily will be playing a critical role assisting us in all aspects of administering the MARSB program.
Emily spent her early career working in environmental education, conservation and restoration. Her work has taken her all across the continental United States working with federal agencies, small businesses, farms, and environmental education programs. Most recently, Emily worked for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Resource Conservation Service. Emily is excited to bring her project management skills to MARSB.
Michael Butts
Michael Butts also joins us following four years managing Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Seedling Nursery where he expanded production to 1.1 million seedlings annually for post-wildfire reforestation efforts. Michael grew ecotypic seed for the Greenbelt Native Plant Center (NYC Parks) from 2014-21 and launched the Montana Native Seed Network in 2022. Before that, Michael conducted Mid-Atlantic flora research for the Botany Department of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Michael officially begins in mid-January, upon returning to his native Virginia.
Michael's working title is Grower Outreach and Support. Michael is an outstanding grower who worked for me at the Staten Island nursery. He is passionate about growing native plants and will work to aid new, existing, and potential commercial native plant growers with technical advice, site visits, workshops, etc. In addition, Michael will start development of an Online Grower Resource Database, for "one stop shopping" for growers to access critical information and protocols relevant to producing native plants- everything from species specific seed germination requirements to harvesting methods.
We welcome all three into the MARSB family!
