Tully McCombs

Conservation Nursery Coordinator 

MES Program, The Evergreen State College 

Tully McCombs grew up outside of Renton, Washington, and has moved around the Puget Sound region ever since. After earning their undergraduate and Master’s in cognitive science at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, they returned to Washington state and worked remotely for a tree nursery. Living out in the woods, they learned more about ecosystems, both cultivated and not both through their work and through learning to steward the forest ecosystem they were now a part of. 

Through these experiences, Tully began to draw connections between their experiences interacting with the environment and the complex, interdisciplinary nature of their cognitive science degree. Along with their growing passion for restoration, it is these similarities and their interdisciplinary nature which led them to pursue the Master of Environmental Studies at Evergreen State College. Tully is excited to become a small part of this larger-scale restoration effort and to share their love of science with the SPP conservation nursery as they continue this new piece of their journey. 

Outside of work, Tully can be found playing a wide variety of instruments at a wide variety of skill levels, from guitar and mandolin, to drums, to whistles. Their latest find: a set of uilleann pipes, on which Tully is enjoying learning the basics.