Staff

Erin De Vries

Conservation Director

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Erin joined VRC staff after serving as VRC’s River Stewardship Manager. Erin brings a deep knowledge of Vermont waters and watersheds from previous experience as a watershed and lake education coordinator and state wetlands ecologist. She is a people person dedicated to building awareness and partnerships that benefit communities and their health, our environment, and the economy. As Conservation Director, Erin leads design and implementation as well as monitoring and stewardship of river corridor easements. She also manages conservation partnerships, writes baseline documentation reports and management plans, and contributes to river restoration projects. Erin’s work mantra is respect, relate, protect, conserve, restore, celebrate, repeat.

Erin currently lives in Essex, VT, with her partner and two active and curious kids while they search for a home with a little bit of land for homesteading experiments. Erin and her family love to hike, explore swimming holes, cook with friends, bake pies, and travel to new places.

Kassia Randzio

Development and Operations Director

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Kassia joined VRC’s staff in 2021, bringing with her nearly two decades of experience at state and national conservation nonprofits, where she’s worked to inspire people to invest in protected lands and waters. As development and operations director, she leads efforts that make each of our conservation successes possible — from writing grants to secure funds for dam removal, to connecting donors with opportunities to protect riverside wetlands and forests, to overseeing the organizational systems that support all VRC’s efforts. Across all of our communications, Kassia helps us share the stories of our projects and the impact Vermont River Conservancy has on wildlife, families, and communities.

Kassia’s basecamp is in Montpelier, VT, from where she heads out paddling, backpacking, XC skiing, and traveling, getting to know some of the world’s wildest places alongside her husband, daughter, and black lab.

Alaya Morning

Administrative Assistant

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Alaya joined our team in November of 2022. She brings several years of administrative support and office management experience and specializes in identifying and creating simplified systems for getting the essential work done. With undergraduate studies in ethnobotany and conservation biology, she also brings a passion for understanding humans and our relationship to nature.  Alaya grew up swimming in Vermont’s rivers, lakes, and reservoirs and holds a deep respect for VRC’s dual legacy of access and conservation. As administrative assistant, Alaya manages the daily tasks that keep VRC (and our mission!) humming. If you give us a call, Alaya will probably be the one to answer!

Alaya lives in her hometown of Montpelier, VT along with her husband and two children. They love good food, good books, and a good day spent outdoors together. In the summers you can find them swimming, paddle boarding, and fishing along Vermont’s waters.

 

Remy Crettol

Conservation Manager, Site Steward

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Remy joined VRC’s team in February 2023. His passion lies at the intersection of conservation and recreation and has been working to protect Vermont’s natural resources through project management, regional coordination, and field assessment since graduating from the University of Vermont in 2015. As VRC’s Conservation Manager, Site Steward, Remy hopes to use his experience in community engagement, volunteer management, and recreational development to manage Vermont’s natural resources and improve accessibility to its waterways.

Remy enjoys being the caretaker of Colchester Pond Natural Area with his partner and their Australian shepherd. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, he enjoys snowboarding, disc golfing, kayaking, gardening, and everything else Vermont has to offer. When he needs to recharge, Remy craves good food, close friends and a night of board games.

Hayley Kolding

Conservation Manager, Southern Vermont

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Hayley is an ecologist and conservation specialist who joins VRC’s staff from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont, where she has created tools for municipalities, nonprofits, and private landowners. Her experience with river and stream conservation includes projects at home in New England, and farther afield: for her master’s project, she conducted ecological assessments, geospatial analysis, and stakeholder interviews to build a riparian management plan for a 500,000-acre cattle ranch in southeast Oregon.

As Conservation Manager, Southern Vermont, Hayley joins with communities in the Connecticut River Watershed to tackle the same question she asked out west: with limited resources and diverse ecological and cultural goals, which riparian areas should we protect first — and how? A poet and former high school teacher, she also brings a spark for hosting public events that gather us together around our waterways.

As she completes her masters degree, Hayley lives in Burlington with an intentional community of friends who share (and expand) her belief that humans can exist in relationship — generously and sustainably — with each other and with the natural world. She looks forward to engaging with the Brattleboro community as she makes the area her home in May 2023.