BOXERWOOD RISING:

Meet Sophie Dryden, conservation biologist

Throughout our 25th year, we’ll be sharing stories of young people whose Boxerwood experiences shaped their passions and vocations. Have a young friend to recommend? Contact Catherine Epstein, creator of this series: catherine@boxerwood.org

Click here to read the entire series.

The moment Sophie Dryden knew she needed to major in biology, she was bleeding from the head. A 2019 PMHS graduate, this Boxerwood alum was part of a group of fellow SVU students studying stress hormones in cave salamanders at Natural Bridge State Park. The team was gathering field data to gauge the health of the local population. As Sophie remembers, “It was one of the first times where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m doing real science right now!’” After volunteering to crawl into a small cave, she stood up quickly, striking her head. She didn’t even realize she was injured until her SVU professor shined a flashlight in her direction and said, “Sophie, you’re bleeding.”

But what Sophie remembers more than the injury was her disappointment at leaving early. “I was so unconcerned about this head wound,” Sophie recalled in a recent interview. “I was just like ‘Dang, I wish I could have stayed and finished.” Reflecting on the experience a few days after the accident, she realized this might be a sign that she’d found her field. “I had never been so bummed to get out of an assignment...I went back the next day with a bike helmet on.”

While the head wound may have clinched Sophie’s love of biology, early experiences with Boxerwood set the stage. Growing up in Buena Vista, she remembers Boxerwood field programs as essential to shaping her passion for science. For example, she vividly remembers an interactive lesson with Boxerwood’s 6-foot customized watershed board, part of our standard 4th grade curriculum. Sophie recalls watching Boxerwood educators add pollutants to the board’s terrain, then noticing the impact on streams and rivers during simulated rain: “I remember watching the water run all the way to the Chesapeake Bay, and I was like, ‘From here to Virginia Beach?’” 

Boxerwood also provided the opportunity for Sophie to explore her own backyard in new ways. “I’ve always loved the river,” she explained. “That was the biggest thing that we would do as a family growing up.” But her perspective deepened during our stream ecology programs at Glen Maury Park. “I remember learning about macroinvertebrates and catching them in the river. I loved that. We were just in the water, with these rain boots up to our knees, catching these little creatures that I had no idea even existed, even though I’d spent so much time in the water. And [I learned that] the river couldn’t exist without them, and I thought that that was so cool.”

Reflecting on the impact of these Boxerwood experiences, Sophie emphasized the power of teaching in places where children actually live. “It was super important to me to learn about the land specifically in Rockbridge County,” she explained. “One thing that’s so beautiful about Virginia is that the land is such a defining part of our culture, of who we are. And learning that that could be in danger in any way, I think that really lit a fire in me.” That fire was kindled, too, by Boxerwood’s curriculum, which deliberately includes actions to help the land, leading children to identify themselves as stewards of the earth. Sophie sees Boxerwood’s local emphasis as “trying to drive a connection with land. Once you have that, then you can start talking about stewardship and your responsibility.”

Sophie also recalled the power of Boxerwood’s woodland garden itself – and specifically the value of fun and play. “I always enjoyed the dirt kitchen,” she said, laughing. “It’s just so fun for kids, and it’s a different kind of play that really is grounding. Then they can really love the land, and then they can learn about how it’s their responsibility to take care of it.” 

This sense of responsibility ultimately shaped the arc of Sophie’s college career, which concluded in 2024 with a B.S. in Conservation Biology from BYU-Hawaii. “I always thought I would be a biology major,” she said.  “But when I was looking at the different emphases that were offered, there was one that was ‘Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation.’ I was like, ‘That’s what I would love to do.’ I was just thinking about watching the educators at Boxerwood, and thinking, ‘That’s their job.Those are jobs. People do that.’”

Today, Sophie is one of those earth stewards herself, volunteering in Hawaiian conservation projects as she builds her experience and working side jobs to pay the bills. Presently she is helping wildlife biologists monitor seabird populations at the James Campbell Wildlife Refuge, providing the birds a safe place to nest away from invasive predators. She also volunteers with the Oahu Army Natural Resources Program, where she’s working in seedlabs and greenhouse facilities to grow endangered native plants. Sophie loves this conservation work, yet also acknowledges its current challenges. She wants to “help communities rally together, because that’s really where real change happens – the grassroots approach.” She also noted that “it’s hard to feel like the work you’re doing is not being validated as being important or worthwhile. That’s kind of a lot of the feedback that we’re getting in the world right now, and that’s tough.” 

However, as a Boxerwoodian through and through, Sophie is not deterred. Just as she returned to that cave project in a bike helmet, so she persists in her conservation work – and soon will be returning to the land that first inspired her.  “Even though I love it here [in Hawaii] so much,” she said, “I just feel this deep connection to the land in Virginia.” Sophie plans to relocate to Rockbridge later this spring, volunteering with our summer camps and our Buena Vista teen internship program prior to a late summer wedding.

“We’re delighted to welcome Sophie back,” said Boxerwood Program Director Elise Sheffield, “and we were so moved when she contacted us. With this being our 25th year, we’ve really been thinking about what BEA is sending into the world – and voila – Sophie!  We’re so honored Sophie chose to volunteer with us this summer. It’s really beautiful, also, the way this young scientist is in turn is extending a hand to the next rising generation of earth stewards – thank you, Sophie!” 

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