✿ ELLIOT'S FIELD OFFICE ✿

biotic profile

Hello! My name is Elliot Maxwell. I have a varied background, with roots in environmental anthropology and archaeology, and branches reaching for restoration ecology and conservation. My research interests include incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into the restoration of different landscapes, the role of destructive invasives in Appalachian forests (namely Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Chestnut Blight), different motivations for applying fire to the land, and transdisciplinarity in ecological sciences and biology. I love reading, volunteering, hiking, writing, research, and art and have a lifelong passion for learning. I hope I never stop learning.

By combining my BA Anthropology with my MNR and Restoration Ecology Graduate Certificate from Auburn University, I hope to play a role in connecting human history and culture with restoration ecology, especially in Southern Appalachia.

Some books that helped me to get to where I am...

• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
• Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant
• Erosion by Terry Tempest Williams
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl
• The Ecology of Freedom by Murray Bookchin
• The Day the World Stops Shopping by J. B. MacKinnon
• and for my ever growing list of books 📖click here
• and if you would like to join my naturalist reading challenge 📖click here

the heartwood

As much as many would not like to admit, we humans are a part of the natural world. Humans and nature are not two discrete entities, but two parts of a larger whole. As such, it is our responsibility to steward our wild areas, just as it is our responsibility to advocate for those without a voice. In my mind, ecological restoration is an art and a science, but also an important responsibility that we all share. Restoration is a necessary process for our wild and not so wild lands and it works best when all perspectives are heard and considered. Western science is not the only way to approach the world, and often looking through the world through only one lense blinds us to important information. Restoration can mean restoring our local ecosystems or restoring our local communities. I value conservation, community, restoration, and making the world a better place for future generations because there is no Planet B. Accordingly, I will always pursue opportunities to improve our human and more than human communities, educate those who wish to learn more about our world, and strive to encourage the same in my community.

"Nature in the wildlands is the birthright of everyone on Earth." ~ Edward Owen Wilson, Half Earth

future growth

My goals and directives for 2026:

• Volunteer Wilderness Ranger Patrols - Sipsey Wilderness, 2026
• Project Safe Flight Monitoring - Downtown Birmingham, 2026
• Graduate from Auburn University with MNR - Auburn University, 2026
• Eastern Fire Network Summer Graduate Fellowship - Tall Timbers, Tallahassee, Summer 2026
• Alabama Master Naturalist - Alabama Extension, In Progress
• B-Sawyer Certification - Wild Alabama, Timeline TBD
• Wilderness First Aid and CPR - Red Cross, Timeline TBD
• Trail Safe Course - NPS, Timeline TBD
• Leave No Trace Level 1 - LNT, Timeline TBD

equipment bag

the archives

career data packets: