Head of School Lisa Shambaugh is pleased to announce that Dr. Isabel Ashton, Executive Director of Black Rock Forest, has been selected to address the senior class at The Storm King School’s 158th commencement ceremony in June 2026. The Storm King School maintains a close partnership with Black Rock Forest and is a founding member of the Black Rock Forest Consortium, since 1989. The School’s students and faculty make frequent use of the Forest for outdoor activities, classwork, experiential learning, and community service.

Reflecting on this long-standing relationship, Ms. Shambaugh shared, “Black Rock Forest has been an invaluable partner and neighbor to Storm King for many years. Our students benefit tremendously from the opportunity to explore, study, and learn within this extraordinary natural environment. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Ashton and look forward to the inspiring message she will share with the Class of 2026.”

Dr. Ashton has served as Executive Director of Black Rock Forest since 2022, where she leads the stewardship of nearly 4,000 acres of forest dedicated to research, education, and conservation. Before returning to Black Rock Forest, she spent more than 14 years with the National Park Service, working in several of the country’s most iconic parks, including Badlands National Park, Glacier National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and most recently Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Throughout her career, she has focused on building strong partnerships and interdisciplinary teams to advance conservation, as well as using long-term ecological research and monitoring to inform land management in the face of climate change, wildfire, and invasive species.

Prior to her federal service, Dr. Ashton was a research scientist with the University of California, Irvine, where she studied the effects of climate change on the Rocky Mountains. A lifelong conservation professional, she began her career at Black Rock Forest in 1998, making her return as Executive Director especially meaningful.

Dr. Ashton was born and raised in New York City and earned a B.A. in Environmental Biology from Columbia University, where she was a student-athlete and captain of the women’s rowing team. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. She lives in Cornwall, New York, with her husband and two teenage sons.

The Storm King School community welomes Dr. Ashton for the School’s 158th Commencement, which will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM on the Stephen P. Duggan Bell Tower lawn.