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Ashley Fortune Isham Appointed Research Coordinator

Thursday, March 28, 2024
Ashley Fortune Isham, a brown-haired woman, stands in front of a waterfall.

NE CASC recently welcomed Ashley Fortune Isham to our team as the center’s new Research Coordinator.  In this role, Ashley will carry out a wide range of duties critical to the center’s operation, including tracking and managing research projects, overseeing our annual proposal solicitation, coordinating review of funding applications, cultivating strong partnerships with our affiliated investigators, managing outreach events, and contributing to our communication efforts. 

Over the past two years, Ashley has divided her time between two federal positions: a temporary assignment as NE CASC’s Acting Research Coordinator and her primary job as a Biologist for the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), where she worked for more than a decade.  As a staff member at NCTC, Ashley amassed expertise in project management, instructional design, and work process development while leading the creation and delivery of more than 75 courses focused on decision analysis and climate issues. Notably, Ashley partnered with USGS to establish NCTC’s decision analysis curriculum, which laid the foundation for the center’s certificate program in this area. Prior to joining NCTC, Ashley worked as a Park Ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida, among other locations.  She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University in Massachusetts. 

“I am very excited that Ashley has accepted our offer to join the NE CASC team on a permanent basis,” said Carrie Brown-Lima, Regional Administrator (Federal Director) for NE CASC. “Her impressive array of skills in research administration, project management, and process improvement will make her an invaluable contributor to the center. Ashley performed extremely well at NE CASC in an acting role, and I look forward to even more great things from her in the future.”