Ryan comes to SBFC from Ashland, Oregon where he wore many hats including founding and operating businesses in the outdoor recreation sector. Ryan also served as the board treasurer for Siskiyou Mountain Club. In addition to business and nonprofit work he is also an avid outdoor recreationist and has pursued many different avenues of mountain travel. He has travelled around the US and the world as a professional ultra-marathon runner. Ryan and his family have relocated to McCall, Idaho and look forward to exploring the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas.

Caitlin Straubinger is a Florida native who cultivated her love of the outdoors by leading backpacking and paddling trips throughout the Southeast and the Appalachian Mountains. After a stint working in the Colorado high country, Caitlin moved to Idaho in 2014. Since then, she has been busy exploring Idaho and Montana on foot, bike, and boat with her husband, daughter, and dog. Caitlin brings over a decade of experience in communications, development, event management, experiential education, and community engagement. In her spare time, she enjoys trying out new hobbies, most recently, playing the banjo and fly fishing. She is always happy to connect over a shared love of Wilderness!

Josh grew up in a 100+ year old family farmhouse in central Michigan. In 2015, Josh headed west and spent an uninterrupted 6 months in Wilderness with the California Conservation Corps. Since that first formative season working in Wilderness, Josh has spent the last nine years leading and teaching crews in the Selway and Frank. He spent 2018-2020 as an SBFC Crew Leader, and is thrilled his winding trail brought him back to SBFC as Program Director in 2022. In his free time, Josh can often be found playing with his two cats and beagle. When the pets aren’t demanding his attention, getting overly competitive in board games with his wife Erika is a favorite pastime.

Krissy is based in the SBFC Program Office in Missoula, Montana and has been coordinating and growing SBFC volunteer programs since 2019. She grew up in New England and spent over 15 years working around the United States and in Canada for conservation organizations. Krissy is an avid hiker, skier, kayaker, and the mother of two young adventurous kids.

Originally from Philadelphia, Ian moved to Montana in 2010 to attend the University of Montana. He has an academic background in nonprofit management and environmental policy, and has worked in conservation since 2017. After leading youth crews in Montana and Idaho for three years, and a stint with the Montana DNRC Fire Bureau, he spent two years traveling for his wife’s professional disc golf career before joining the SBFC team in 2023. When not in the mountains for work or pleasure, Ian can be found at the movies or with a good book in hand.

April grew up in Eastern Kentucky. After graduating high school, she moved to Utah and spent a year with a conservation corps doing trail work, invasive species removal, and more. She then spent four years as a wildland firefighter with the Forest Service in Arizona, California, and Montana. Next, she went back to Kentucky to get a degree in Natural Resources and work as a backcountry ranger. She graduated in spring 2024 and moved to Missoula to work for SBFC as a crew leader. After an inspiring season, she is returning in 2025 to lead our Youth Expeditions hitches. She loves Wilderness because it represents nature in its truest form and provides mental and physical well-being to all who access it. She is passionate about maintaining these places for ecological health and access for all people.

Berkeley has spent the first 26 years of her life beep-bopping around the Western US. Originally from Seattle, she went to school in Salt Lake City where she spent her time taking dance classes and playing in the Wasatch Mountains and nearby desert. Her first experience with fieldwork was with the Montana Conservation Corps in 2019 and after working trails and outdoor education jobs in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, she is stoked to be back for her second season with SBFC! On her off time, you might find Berkeley skiing, biking, trail running, crafting, and offering glitter (plastic-free!) to strangers on the trails.

Brendan grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and found his love for nature through trips to the Outer Banks and his grandad’s cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. After a brief stint in the Tetons, he moved to Missoula in 2022 and has spent the last 3 seasons working for Montana Conservation Corps as a Member, Leader, and Senior Crew Leader. He has worked all over Western Montana and Central Idaho doing a variety of work but continues to be drawn to the wilderness and its rugged, remote beauty. In his free time, Brendan can be found wherever the live music is!

Caleb grew up in the Boston area and spent a lot of skiing and hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He started working in residential construction in Boston, but decided to move to Montana four years ago for the skiing and public lands. During the summers, he’s worked trail crew for the Montana Conservation Corps and the Great Burn Conservation Alliance, with some time in Utah doing fuels reduction and other conservation work. In the winter, he’s a ski instructor, most recently at Whitefish Resort, and he’s an avid backcountry skier.

After spending a season with the Montana Conservation Corps in 2021 clearing the West Side Canyons in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Emma’s passion for wilderness stewardship and trail work blossomed. She returned to her home state of Michigan to complete her Environmental Studies degree before dedicating two years to the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program. As a Land Steward for both Leelanau Conservancy and Little Forks Conservancy, Emma focused on stewardship, trail maintenance, habitat restoration, and volunteer collaboration. Montana has always called her back, and she’s thrilled to return to the Wilderness as part of the SBFC team. Off hitch, you can find Emma paddleboarding, birdwatching, or reading at a coffee shop.

Enzo grew up in Boise, Idaho. As a city kid, he was blissfully unaware of the adventure and excitement of the wilds that lay just a few hours to his north. In college and lacking direction, a dear friend placed a fly rod in his hand, unintentionally setting into motion a lifestyle of dirt baggery and woods-wandering previously unforeseen. After his graduation from BSU with a BA in Environmental Studies, he was graced with an opportunity to work with SBFC as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow in 2023. Following his initial season, Enzo's luck continued and he worked with the USFS as a Wilderness Ranger in the Frank Church, based out of a remote backcountry station. Enzo hopes to follow his passion for wild places working in the boonie bushes and plans to pull saw for the foreseeable future.

Martial began working on trails in the spring of 2012 in the damp, mosquito ridden woods of Minnesota with Americorps. The hard work, the forest smells, the interactions with wildlife, it all became like first nature to Martial. Fast forward 10 trail seasons in Montana, Utah, Washington, and Idaho, Martial can now be spotted in the deep woods of the wilderness areas near Missoula. Their journey is truly fascinating, as they use the stars and earth's magnetic field to migrate through the seasons. If you're lucky, you might hear one of their wild calls, which is often mistaken for the Ruffed Grouse.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Noah has been moving around Montana and Idaho since 2019. He spent five field seasons working on wilderness trails, finding a sense of purpose in maintaining these remote spaces for others to explore. Over time, he developed a deep appreciation for the quiet comfort these places offer. Most of his trail career has been spent working in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, and he is excited to continue that work with SBFC. With experience in various forms of conservation work, he has gained invaluable lessons along the way, some of the most rewarding learned in the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness.