My name is Abby Grant and I’m from Newport News, VA.  I attended Christopher Newport University.  I am stoked to be a naturalist because I love teaching students about the environment and how to take care of it while having the Redwood Forest be the most amazing classroom I could ask for. Fun fact: I love to travel! I have been to 6 countries and to 37 of the 50 U.S. states.

Hi everyone!  My name is Annika and I was born and raised in the far-off land of South Dakota.  I attended college in Iowa, receiving degrees in biology and secondary education.  As a child, I loved nothing more than going to camp and was consistently exploring the outdoors, playing in the dirt, climbing trees, examining insects, and loving plants and creatures both big and small. Now that I am grown, I can say with confidence that not much has changed.  When I am not exploring nature, you can find me jamming with my 107-year-old cello named Florence.  I am extraordinarily excited to return to MSOE as a naturalist because I believe wonderful things happen when students come together to learn in the great outdoors—and who wouldn’t be excited to work with awesome people and students in the redwood forest?!

Hey, y’all! My name is Ashley Payne or as students like to refer to me as, “Artichoke Ashley”. I am originally a small-town girl from Prescott Wisconsin who decided to move to the big Redwood forests of California in order to pursue my passion for teaching middle school-aged students about nature, stewardship, and science. I went to college at Winona State University in Minnesota where I studied Communications with an emphasis on leadership and advocacy. I am excited to further develop my leadership skills here at Mission Springs and I hope to be able to inspire awe and passion in students through teaching. Just in case you needed to know, I absolutely love eating whole apples and I am terrified of Ladybugs. 🙂