Misty Boos, Executive Director
Misty Boos received a Master of Environmental Planning degree from the University of Tasmania and a BS in Sociology with an emphasis on Environmental Studies from Southern Oregon University. She took the reigns at Wild Virginia in 2013 and has over 20 years of experience in the environmental, non-profit sector. Misty can’t imagine doing anything but trying to fight to protect the environment, and she is particularly passionate about ensuring that we protect the ecosystems that support us all. She loves helping people find effective ways to protect the places they care about. Her favorite place in the world is in a river, on a hot summer day, with good friends.
David Sligh, Conservation Director
David Sligh has worked for 35 years to make the promises of our environmental laws real. He has consistently and successfully pushed private parties and government agencies to base their actions on science, law, and the public interest. He has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, a law degree from Vermont Law School, and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Dave has worked as a Senior Environmental Engineer for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Founder and Director of Virginia PEER – the state branch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Southeast Regional Representative for American Rivers, Upper James Riverkeeper, adjunct instructor of Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and as a consultant and advisor to citizen groups around the country.
Courtney Hayes, Habitat Connectivity Program Director
Courtney Hayes received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and is currently finishing her Master of Science degree in Biology from Eastern Kentucky University where her research focused on mesocarnivore ecology, especially of the eastern spotted skunk. Courtney has worked as an instructor and museum curator at EKU, as well as a zoologist and data scientist for the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Courtney is passionate about protecting wild animals, plants, and ecosystems through scientific research, good management practices, and getting people involved. In her free time, you can find Courtney at the summit of a mountain or in the woods looking for salamanders.
Kylie McLatchy, Conservation Support Coordinator
Kylie McLatchy received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked for the National Park Service, the Fairfax County Park Authority, and in the environmental non-profit sector. She was born and raised in Virginia and is proud to work for an organization that is committed to protecting the ecosystems that she cares deeply about. Kylie loves gardening, especially with native plants, spending time around animals, and being outside
Grace is proud to serve on the board of Wild Virginia, the organization that sparked her entry into the movement to protect Virginia’s communities and ecosystems. She started by attending a book club and loved the welcoming feeling of Wild Virginia events and their focus on learning. Grace then became a volunteer with Wild Virginia’s Outings & Education and Communications Committees, which she still very much enjoys. She spends every free second tucking native plants into her garden, seeding flowers, listening to podcasts, baking or enjoying a book from atop her kayak. During her time at the University of Virginia, while studying Public Health, Grace was a Co-Captain of the UVA Women’s Rowing Team and her love of water was set in stone.
For several years after graduating, Grace worked for Region Ten Community Services Board in Charlottesville as a Support Coordinator for adults with developmental disabilities. Grace is now the Coordinator of Protect Our Water Heritage Rights (POWHR), where she works as a grassroots community organizer to stop the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline and other fossil fuel infrastructure from further harming Appalachian communities, lands and waters. Grace has a particular fondness for bats, birds, bears, and salamanders and loves to see them in Western Virginia where she currently lives.
Ryan Wagener – President
Ryan grew up playing in the woods behind his house in Northern New Jersey, and remembers taking his first hikes with his family in the Ramapo Mountains. He went to college in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, where he soon found himself spending as much time as possible outdoors–much of it rowing on the waters of Cayuga Lake. After graduating with a degree in Economics, Ryan moved to Northern Virginia and joined the world of federal contracting. He now enjoys taking his kids on hikes each weekend, and tries to spend as much time with his family in the Blue Ridge mountains as possible. Ryan found Wild Virginia after becoming active in the fight against the pipelines threatening Virginia’s public lands, and was drawn to the organization’s focus on both education and advocacy. He looks forward to working with Wild Virginia to help reconnect those of us in Northern Virginia with our public forests, mountains, and waterways.
Lil Williams [Elizabeth Kennon Williams, MD]
Lil has been a life-long lover of nature. She grew up in Richmond, Va, and spent her summers either on a farm on the Chesapeake Bay or in the mountains of North Carolina, at a camp that sent the 12-13 year old girls out on 5 day backpacking trips with only sleeping bags as nighttime covers since tents were ‘too heavy’ for us to carry! The air, beauty, and natural life of both the bay environment and the South Eastern forests, deeply informed her childhood.
She graduated from Antioch College with a multidisciplinary degree in Botany/Latin American Studies and Modern Dance. After studying History of Science at the University of Kentucky, Lil began medical studies in her late 20’s at the University of Virginia. During her 30 year practice in Pediatrics in Charlottesville, an area of special interest was adolescents, especially teens and young adults with adjustment concerns, depression, eating disorders.
Lil retired a few years ago. Combining her love for Nature and years of professional focus on the healthy and happy future for all children, she has found Wild Virginia to be a wonderful organization to volunteer for. Wild Virginia, by providing multiple opportunities for the community to engage with our beautiful forests and advocating for the vulnerable ancient and splendid forest ecosystems, plays an invaluable role in today’s challenge of the threatened natural world.
Braeden Hubenko – UVA Net Impact Board Fellow
Braeden is in his first year at the University of Virginia. He is hoping to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Commerce in the McIntire School of Commerce. He is a Board Fellow through the Net Impact Club at UVA. He was raised in Virginia and loves spending time outdoors, specifically playing sports and going to the beach. He will find any way to get outside if it means he can be active. In his free time, he likes to read, do puzzles, and eat a lot. Having grown up and lived in Virginia for most of his life, Braeden has experienced a lot of what Virginia’s nature has to offer. This allows him to understand the importance of protecting the environment in Virginia. Although this is his first time advocating for the environment as part of a nonprofit, he looks forward to helping Wild Virginia.