Ande Peersen

University of montana - Environmental Studies Program, College of Forestry and Conservation

Ande Peersen grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, before completing her undergraduate degree at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where she graduated magna cum laude with a double major in anthropology and international studies.

After college, she moved back west and landed in Gardiner, Montana, where she worked on a wilderness trail crew for three seasons in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. She then worked as a range technician, implementing a study on cheatgrass, and later in public health, assisting rural hospitals and their communities.

The scope and longevity of her experience in rural Montana have made their mark; Ande is dedicated to empowering both landscapes and communities to flourish. She is interested in how the ways we conceptualize land and our relationships with it can have material impacts on conservation. After graduation, she hopes to work for an environmental advocacy nonprofit in Montana, helping bring the needs of people and the land to decision makers.