I became a summit steward in the summer of 2022 in the High Peaks region in New York State. As a summit steward, there are a plethora of job responsibilities that are associated with this unique area. With the alpine zone being one of the most endangered ecosystems in all of New York State, it is the summit stewards who help educate hikers and protect the fragile plants in this zone. Usually, my day included educating hikers on the significance of these rare plants, their slow growth rates, their adaptation to severe climate, and the negative impact that humans have made on these alpine plants by stepping on them. These plants are not just grasses, sedges, or rushes (like Bigelow's Sedge), but also flowers, such as Diapensia, Lapland Rosebay, Alpine bilberry, and many others.

Besides maintaining a rapport with the hiking community on these alpine summits, I also completed a fair amount of trail work on both the summits and the trails.