The Lassen National Forest welcomes its new public affairs officer, Joyce El Kouarti, who started in the position the first week of May.
“She brings strong experience in forest stewardship and communications to the Lassen,” said Forest Supervisor Dave Hays of El Kouarti. “I’m confident she’ll be a great addition to our team and an asset to the community.”
Replacing former Public Affairs Officer Heidi Perry-McCourt, who retired at the end of last year, El Kouarti brings with her more than 15 years of public affairs and communications experience.
After earning a B.A. in English from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, El Kouarti accepted a job at Boston University’s Office of Public Relations. She later worked as the communications director for the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce in New Hampshire while simultaneously serving in a volunteer capacity on Dover’s Conservation Commission and Open Lands Committee.
El Kouarti left the Chamber to accept a position as the executive director of Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, a nonprofit land conservation organization. Eight years later she was recruited by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the oldest and largest nonprofit land conservation organization in the state, to be its communications director.
Most recently El Kouarti served as a community economic development volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps in Cameroon. She was a resident of New Hampshire prior to her arrival on the Forest.
El Kouarti said she is looking forward to opportunities to work with Forest employees and surrounding communities.
“As we’re coming into fire season, sharing information about the Forest’s fire prevention programs will be a top priority,” said El Kouarti. “I’d also like to explore how we can better use social media – tools like Facebook and Twitter – to communicate with the public.”
