Rachel Benbrook, Operations Manager

Raised on a hippie working farm with deep Midwest roots, Rachel’s passion for environmental stewardship has steered her lifestyle and her life’s work. Logging thousands of hours walking trails and traversing bays, Rachel’s ardent connection with the rhythms of her current Puget Sound environs inspired pursuits in the interest of habitat restoration and stewardship ethics. From advancing conservation efforts for Washington’s Salish Sea as a restoration ecologist, to leading Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association’s EPA funded effort to implement Puget Sound’s regional citizen action training school, Rachel brings 15+ years of experimental design, data analysis, grant writing, science communications and non-profit management to HHRA. 

Rachel’s environmental advocacy path has now brought her back to those farming roots of her youth when she began working to study and promote healthy food and farming systems in 2016.   As a mother of two who believes in the importance of healthy food for humans and the environment, and in honor of deep family roots in the Midwest, Rachel is motivated to ensure reproductive and developmental health amidst herbicide-driven farming communities. Serving as (insert title for HHRA) Rachel is excited to apply her diverse skill set as our Jane-of-all-trades to ensure HHRA science will have an impact beyond laboratories and libraries.