SYRCL Welcomes Two New AmeriCorps to the Team for 2024 – 2025

SYRCL is excited to formally welcome our newest AmeriCorps to the team.

 AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds to serve their country, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, and improve lives and communities. Every year, they enroll more than 200,000 individuals to serve organizations making a difference in communities across America.

Fiona Litton — River Monitoring Coordinator

Fiona is originally from Berkeley, where she grew up hiking in the nearby hills. She credits her love of nature to her family, who greatly value spending time outdoors and connecting with the local ecosystem.

She recently graduated from UC Santa Barbara, where she worked in a marine biology lab and with a local nonprofit that taught children about trees. After graduating, she spent the summer doing restoration work in the salt marshes around the Bay Area.

She is very excited to become an active member of the Nevada City community and to learn as much as she possibly can about the Yuba River Watershed while working with SYRCL. In her free time, she enjoys freediving, running, and is learning to play the banjo.

Riley Endries — Restoration Coordinator

Riley attributes much of her dedication to environmental stewardship to the diverse places she has lived. She grew up spending time playing and paddling in the woods and lakes of Wisconsin, moved to the Netherlands and learned about sustainability and broadened her perspective, then attended high school in the foothills of Colorado, where she became a raft guide.

During college, at Washington University in St Louis, Riley studied Environmental Biology and Earth Sciences and studied ecology and conservation abroad in Ecuador, researching cloud forest spiders. In the summers, she migrated west, learning from wetlands across MT, ID, CO, and WY. There, she surveyed herpetofauna for the USGS and NPS and led a crew for BLM Riparian & Wetland monitoring in Idaho.

Seeking an active role in restoration, she found her way to SYRCL’s Restoration Coordinator role. She is excited to work with the community to create positive change to restore and protect these ecosystems that she has learned to love.

Outside of work Riley enjoys exploring by backpacking, foraging, mountain biking, skiing, and running whitewater. She also enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, cooking, and playing guitar!