Bringing Passion to the Field
At ACRT, love for the great outdoors is part of who we are. Our team members are in the field day in and day out, assessing vegetation along rights-of-way, roadways, neighborhoods, substations, and numerous other areas. Wherever our work takes us, our passion for the environment follows.
ACRT Assistant Operations Manager Judy Redden is no exception. Redden spent the first 20 years of her career in various IT roles ranging from software developer to project manager. However, she returned to school in 2010 to study ecology and botany. She earned her bachelor’s degree in ecology and environmental biology from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2012 and her master’s degree in botany and plant biology from Austin Peay State University in 2014.
As a research assistant at APSU, she conducted flora studies for recreational areas, wildlife refuges, and state parks throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. She also worked with a University of Tennessee Ph.D. candidate on the effects of fire on oak savannas. She conducted wetland surveys and delineations in Wyoming for the U.S. Forest Service and participated in an ecological study in the Grand Tetons for the National Park Service.
Redden joined ACRT as a consulting utility forester in 2019 and has quickly advanced to assistant operations manager. While in the field, she saw all types of plant communities — from degraded habitats to intact communities. This gave her a better understanding of what could be accomplished with appropriate stewardship as well as how ROWs could perform important ecological services despite the restrictions placed on them.
“ROWs are an opportunity to restore native grasslands and prairie communities and make these spaces ecologically important for pollinators and other conservative species,” Redden said. “As an employee-owner for ACRT, I not only get the opportunity to contribute but also benefit from that work as we continue to make a difference for our customers.”
Learn more about ACRT and our people at acrt.com.
