Emma Wilson

Emma was born in Minnesota, and some of her earliest memories involve hiking and searching for shells along riverbanks in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. She also lived in North Carolina for twelve years, where she spent time in both the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. She earned her BS in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and Plant Biology from North Carolina State University, where she discovered her passion for amphibian and reptile conservation. During her undergraduate studies, she had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork with butterflies on military lands, grassland birds on working landscapes, and freshwater turtles in desert rivers. Emma remained at NC State for her MS, focusing on the ecology of spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) in one of the most rapidly urbanizing counties in the US. As a Private Lands Biologist with ARC, she channels her enthusiasm for aquatic ecology and the Southeast’s rich biodiversity into fostering partnerships with private landowners and community stakeholders to support conservation initiatives on working lands.