GRETCHEN GORECKI
Faculty Advisor
Gretchen is the Natural Resource Manager at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of State Parks. She implements resource management activities including invasive species management, native species habitat restoration, prescribed burning, sustainable trail work, policy development, and regulatory compliance. Gretchen was previously an environmental consultant where she focused on natural resource program management, strategic partnerships, encroachment strategies, and geospatial analyses. She completed her M.S. in Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health from the University of Edinburgh. She obtained her B.S. in Environmental Science and Geography and received a GISc Certificate from the University of Mary Washington. She is a certified GIS Professional and is a member of the UMW Eagle Pipe Band. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, stand up paddle boarding, rock climbing, and spending time at her backyard farm.
GRETCHEN GORECKI
Faculty Advisor
Gretchen is the Natural Resource Manager at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of State Parks. She implements resource management activities including invasive species management, native species habitat restoration, prescribed burning, sustainable trail work, policy development, and regulatory compliance. Gretchen was previously an environmental consultant where she focused on natural resource program management, strategic partnerships, encroachment strategies, and geospatial analyses. She completed her M.S. in Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health from the University of Edinburgh. She obtained her B.S. in Environmental Science and Geography and received a GISc Certificate from the University of Mary Washington. She is a certified GIS Professional and is a member of the UMW Eagle Pipe Band. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, stand up paddle boarding, rock climbing, and spending time at her backyard farm.
Doni Nolan has been at Mason since 2010 when she started as an undergraduate student studying biology and volunteering as the president of the GMU Organic Gardening Association (GOGA). She joined University Sustainability in 2013 as the summer intern for the Potomac Heights Organic Vegetable Garden (PHVG) and later as the assistant coordinator for the Permaculture Design Certification Course (PDCC). After working all summer in the garden, she knew that growing food was her passion. In 2014, she was hired part time to start the hydroponic greenhouse program at the President’s Park Greenhouse. The facility is still going strong today, hosting hundreds of volunteers every semester, and growing lettuce, microgreens, and culinary herbs year round, which are served in the dining halls and sold to customers on campus. She became full time staff in 2016 when she combined the greenhouse and gardens into a single program. Doni received her Master’s of Science in plant science and pest management in 2018 and began teaching sustainability courses as adjunct faculty for the School of Integrative Studies. She is now pursuing her PhD in Biosciences with the College of Science, studying beneficial microbes that treat Pythium root rot disease in hydroponic systems. Her passion and joy are contagious as she engages and educates the community about sustainable food production, composting, herbal medicine and so much more.
