About

On the Upper Gauley River, plowing through Hawaii Five-O at the Second Drop of Lost Paddle (V). An absolute favorite river trip. (Front left of center.)

 
Gries_Ashley_2019
 

Ashley Gries received a dual bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and Interior Architecture from Iowa State University, and an M.S. in Environmental Conservation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she focused on biocultural restoration, southwestern hydropolitics, and conservation management. Ashley's experience includes community-based mangrove and tropical forest restoration in neo-tropical coastal communities, biocultural restoration of Indigenous food systems and culturally-sensitive non-native species management in the Great Lakes region, and dryland riverine restoration research in the southwestern U.S.

She has also worked on water policy research, advocating for improvements in the formation of a durable WOTUS definition by USACE and the EPA, for improvements in federal funding opportunities for Native-led watershed restoration projects, and for improvements in co-management opportunities for Native Nations and Indigenous communities on federal and state lands.

Her research interests include Indigenous water governance, durable river protections, socio-ecological sustainability, and environmental justice.