Having grown up in rural New York playing in creek bottoms, chasing lightning bugs and fishing with her family, Mary Glaves started life with a strong connection to the outdoors. After an eight-year stint doing social work in New York City following her under gradudate degree (and while completing Master’s Degree work in Animal Behavior and Conservation), Mary felt called to be in a wilder place.

She moved to Alaska in 2016, finding work on the Tongass National Forest and spending time in rural communities. Mary has worked with the U.S. Forest Service in fisheries and wildlife, river ranging, and interpretation. She’s dispatched bush planes all over Southeast Alaska from Yakutat to Ketchikan, and in 2020, she co-founded a small nonprofit, the Yakutat Nature Society, to help grow a migratory birding festival in Yakutat, Alaska.  

Since calling Alaska home, Mary has become an avid hunter of game, big and small, as well as mushrooms, and revels in the outdoor opportunities that Alaska offers – from sea to stream to the alpine.

Mary currently resides in Juneau with her husband, Rueben, and their two dogs, "Rocky" and "Riggs."

Mary joined BHA as a member during a local Juneau event in early 2023 and is thrilled to now play a bigger role in the organization, being the voice for Alaska’s wild public lands, waters and wildlife as the Alaska Chapter Coordinator.  

Contact Mary