This story is part of a series highlighting the contributions women have made to the Forest Service. If you’d like to nominate someone to be featured in a HerStory piece, please contact Berlinda Baca.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gwen has over 40 years experience in federal and state forestry as well as in civil rights. She has a background in soil science, holding both a bachelor’s and master’s: the former with an emphasis on Plant and Soil Science from Tuskegee University and the latter with an emphasis on Environmental Analysis and Management from Troy State University. Gwen’s Forest Service career began in 1977 with a stint as a student intern recreation aide maintaining campgrounds on the Deschutes National Forest. Her first permanent post with the Forest Service was as the sole female forestry technician on the Tuskegee National Forest in her home state of Alabama. Gwen made the tough decision to leave the Forest Service for a while when she decided that providing stability for her family was more important than leaving the tiny Tuskegee for a higher-ranking job elsewhere in the system. But after spending time as a botanist for the state, she returned to the Department of Agriculture, first in the Tuskegee National Forest supervisor’s office as a biologist and, later, as a district conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Since 2012, Gwen has served in a series of Forest Service Civil Rights Office positions. Gwen has achieved an often-difficult feat in federal service—advancing her career while serving her family’s needs and remaining in the same geographical area for decades. She credits Iva Sanders, one of the first Black female Forest Service personnel in Alabama, with inspiring her to “never give up, and to stand for what I believe.” But Gwen also ties part of her success to a changing culture within the Forest Service, from a not particularly family-friendly organization to one that is not only more welcoming to families but more diverse as well.