Shea joined Friends of the Rouge in 2026 as a Green Stormwater Infrastructure Technician. She grew up in the coastal woodlands of Cape Cod and spent the last decade between New England and Texas—the last six years in the remote high desert of Far West Texas—before settling in Ypsilanti, close to the Huron River.
Shea’s professional background is in graphic and user experience design, but her vocation has been in plants, landscapes, and facilitating connections between people and place. She studied community herbalism in Providence, RI and has spent years doing hands-on ecological work, developing a close familiarity with native plants across very different landscapes.
Outside of work, Shea maintains a botanically-focused art practice lately centered around natural dyes, is involved in community care networks in Ypsilanti, tends her native plant garden, and walks endless miles with her dog, Mesa.