Mattie was raised in the Sawtooth Mountains outside of Stanley, Idaho and has had an interest in building relationships with the land and her food since an early age. Gardening, hunting, fly fishing, and foraging were all integral parts of her homeschool education. Her combined interest in ecological systems and food inspired her to study permaculture design at age 18, and continued through college where she helped develop a campus community garden before graduating with a B.A. in Environmental Studies-Geology from Whitman College. After school, she traveled and volunteered on farms across Southeast Asia before returning to the West, where she worked seasonally conducting field studies, wrangling for a hunting outfitter, and tending several small goat farms. In 2018, she moved to Bozeman, MT where she served two years as an Americorps VISTA at a non-profit food bank. Her work involved managing a small volunteer-powered farm that grew fresh food for their customers and creating a new community garden space where visitors can learn about the agricultural histories of the region, Indigenous food systems, and food forestry. When the COVID pandemic struck, she returned to Montana State University to learn more about the systemic barriers and opportunities for strengthening local and regional food systems and earned an M.S. in Sustainable Food Systems. She is excited to support the next generation of agrarians across the Northern Plains, and to continue connecting people with the land to create a more robust and resilient food system. She currently lives in a cabin outside of Bozeman with her cat, Luna. She likes to listen to live music, wander through the mountains, and work with her hands. 

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