Rob MacDonald has been a part of the Wildlands community for over 20 years. He loves being in the woods, and frequently hikes both in Southeastern Massachusetts and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He also enjoys traveling to the wide-open natural spaces of eastern Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes, connecting with the land of his grandparents. Rob began his volunteer involvement in the conservation world in 1998, when he organized a corporate workday for his colleagues. Through that first trail cleanup at Willow Brook Preserve, he established a relationship with Wildlands’ stewardship team that has paved the way to his current role, which he describes as “helping out with whatever’s needed.” He’s a member of Wildlands’ Stewardship Committee, an Adopt-a-Preserve volunteer, assists with the creation of new trails, participates in some CR monitoring, and took on a leadership role in converting our maps for real-time use on the Avenza app. He most enjoys opportunities to make concrete contributions that improve the visitor experience at Wildlands’ properties, like assisting with the Indian Head River Trail expansion project in the towns of Hanson, Pembroke, and Hanover. In addition, he is a hike leader and talented photographer who frequently contributes photos of preserves and events. Rob values both Wildlands’ commitment to environmental justice and the organization’s strategic, incremental approach to land protection– taking small patchwork pieces of property and weaving them into significant areas of preserved open space over time.
Rob studied biology at Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia. Upon graduating, a shortage of jobs related to his degree landed him in a technical field instead, where he’s spent the last 40 years building a career at what is now Bank of America. He feels fortunate to benefit from his employer’s wonderful community service program that first introduced him to the Wildlands community, and which continues to allow him to dedicate 8 hours of service per month. Spending this time at Wildlands Trust, Rob appreciates that he has been able to get back to the kind of work that he once envisioned as an occupation, while at the same time enjoying an entirely different career.
