Rebuilding the Canopy: How Forestry Alumna Alexios Brown Leveraged Leadership and Culture for Ecosystem Restoration

A medium shot of Alexios Brown leaning against a weathered wooden barn wall, smiling and looking off-camera. Celebrating her background, she wears a woven straw hat adorned with a lei of red and pink flowers, a shell necklace, a black turtleneck under a denim vest, blue jeans, and a large custom western belt buckle.

For Alexios Brown, learning forestry didn’t happen behind a desk—it happened in the thick of the woods.

Alexios graduated cum laude from the University of Montana in 2023 with a B.S. in Forest Management and a minor in Ecological Restoration. Guided by her identity as a Native Hawaiian and a determination to diversify her field, Alexios treated her time at UM as a masterclass in professional networking.

Today, she is actively blending her educational foundation and leadership experience to drive major native ecosystem restoration projects from Montana to Hawaii.

The Strategy: Stacking Leadership and Professional Networks

Alexios joined campus organizations with a clear, strategic goal: to build a network of connections that would support her future career. By stepping into high-responsibility roles, she transformed campus clubs into professional launchpads.

  • Revitalizing Professional Chapters: Following the campus shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Montana’s Society of American Foresters (UMSAF) student chapter had completely dismantled. Intimidated but determined, Alexios spent the summer of 2021 formulating a plan of action, successfully recruiting a leadership team, and rebuilding the organization from scratch. Her efforts culminated in becoming the first woman to chair the prominent chapter.
  • Diverse Campus Governance: Alexios expanded her management skills by serving as the President of the Mortar Board Honor Society, Vice President of the Pacific Islanders Club, Firewood Boss for the Woodsman Team, and an active member of the Forestry Club.
  • State-Level Professional Roles: Her campus leadership seamlessly crossed over into the professional realm. She has served as the Communications Director for the SAF Missoula Chapter, Educational Chair for the Montana State SAF Board of Directors, and an Executive Board member for the Montana Tree Farm System.
  • Federal and Extension Field Work: Over her summer breaks, Alexios worked for the U.S. Forest Service out of the Region 1 Office on the Timber Strike Team. Following graduation, she stepped into a role as the Forestry Stewardship Coordinator for Montana State University Extension, where she authored grants and implemented statewide workshops for private forest owners and accredited loggers.

The Career Launch: Restoring Indigenous Flora

Every connection Alexios made during her time at UM directly fueled her professional ascent. Attending regional conferences as a student unlocked the job insights that secured her roles with the USFS and MSU Extension Forestry.

After taking a gap year to establish herself as a Professional Forester, Alexios began graduate school through Montana State University’s Land Resources and Environmental Science program, focusing deeply on Forest Restoration.

Now, she is taking her advanced expertise back home to the Big Island of Hawaii to raise her young son around family and step into an elite conservation role.

A full-length portrait of Alexios Brown standing in an open, grassy mountain clearing on a partly cloudy day. She is smiling, wearing a red long-sleeve shirt, a bright orange field cruiser vest, and tan work pants. Behind her, dense evergreen trees stand against a sweeping backdrop of forested mountains and a distant valley.

Alexios is currently the Conservation Manager for Ho’omau Ranch Conservancy, where she leads the Loulu Palm Habitat Restoration project—directly fulfilling her lifelong goal of using forestry administration to physically repopulate and protect indigenous ecosystems.

Being a woman of color in science is empowering,” Alexios says. “The effective communication skills, confidence, and resilience I gained from this experience have all added to my decision to pursue a career as a forest administrator… I plan to see indigenous flora repopulate ecosystems across Hawai’i. I am determined to be a driving force behind this.

Career Lessons from Alexios’s Journey

  • Put yourself in the thick of it. The absolute best way to discover if a career path is right for you is through immersive experience. Seek out majors and clubs that get you out of the lecture hall and directly into field environments.
  • Rebuilding a program builds an elite resume. Taking the initiative to revive a defunct campus club or fix a broken system proves to employers that you possess high-level project management, recruitment, and organizational resilience.
  • Use campus culture to find your community. Moving far away from home for college is a massive transition. Joining cultural organizations, like the Pacific Islanders Club, can provide the vital community support and comfort needed to sustain your focus on academic and career success.

Take Action on Your Career Journey

By Keely Morrison
Keely Morrison Marketing and Communications Manager
Send Email