Erik Boyer is an outdoorsman through and through. Among his top picks for outdoor activities are running, hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing…along with all of the things he does at work each day! He also enjoys watching an occasional baseball game, though NOT the Red Sox! As a kid, Erik remembers taking his mom’s advice to “go play outside,” spending hours exploring whatever bits of nature he could find and blazing trails near his suburban Philadelphia home. Family vacations to hike in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and Acadia National Park further fueled his love of the outdoors. When it came time for college, Erik studied biology-- hoping it would provide him the greatest opportunity to learn about and spend time in the natural world. But what happens when you’re a smart and capable biology graduate who enters the workforce in the middle of a recession? You find that the jobs you had hoped for don’t exist, and the sitting-in-a-lab-all-day jobs that are available in the for-profit sector just aren’t quite right. Enter AmeriCorps! Erik signed on for a year with the service organization’s land stewardship program at AmeriCorps Cape Cod, and enjoyed it so much, he stayed for two! From there, it was an easy transition into a career in land conservation. And, although grown-up Erik still loves getting outside and blazing trails like he did as a kid, he says that he most values the opportunity to work with community members to plan and create spaces to meet their various needs, “facilitating connections between people and the land that’s important to them.” His position at Wildlands includes coordinating the Adopt-a-Preserve volunteer program, which he considers a highlight of his job responsibilities, and he’s also earned a reputation as a dedicated mentor and manager for newer staff and volunteers at Wildlands.
As Director of Field Operations, Erik is responsible for public access, maintenance, and monitoring of Wildlands Trust fee properties and conservation restrictions. He joined us from the town of Dennis’ Department of Natural Resources, where he worked as a natural resource officer. Before that, he was a program supervisor and member of the AmeriCorps Cape Cod Program. Erik earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Gordon College.
