Ben grew up in Montana and developed a connection to stewardship and serving public lands and received a B.A. in English from the University of Montana. He spent a season serving as trail crew leader for Montana Conservation Corps, followed by leading a backcountry crew for the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and brief stint in Alaska with the NPS. Ben has worked all over Montana and slices of Idaho and cherishes each second spent outdoors, and is eager to embrace the opportunities and challenges of the MSOEE program. In his free time, you can find Ben riding his bike pretty okay, frolicking with gnomes, or panicking anytime he catches a fish.