By: Layne Cassidy
Originally published in Summer 2021 Side Oates Notes Newsletter
Layne is a native Texan, born in Dallas, and raised there until moving to Stephenville at the age of 14. She lives on her family’s farm, 8 miles south of Stephenville. The benefits of the outdoors, the importance of agriculture, and sharing the love of the land with others have always been part of her values.
After graduating from Stephenville High School in 2007, Layne attended Texas A&M University where she completed a degree in communication. She then moved to Austin where she began a career in technology and entrepreneurship. In 2015 she graduated with an MBA with a focus in Digital Media Management from St. Edward’s University in Austin. Since then, she has worked at several technology startups as a project and operations manager. Currently, she is working in operations for a travel technology company, where she leads and manages a software team.
Layne attributes her love of nature to her family’s agricultural roots and her passion for spending time outside. Her family has always been a farming family and through that, she saw the appreciation and responsibility that land ownership entails. The Winters Boucher Bosque River Farm has been in her family since 1872. They received the Family Land Heritage Award for more than 100 years of continuous agricultural production by the same family; 7 generations have lived and worked on the farm. Growing up, Layne and her family spent their family vacations camping at the lake and learning about the farm from her grandparents.
After going to Big Bend and experiencing her first national park in 2015, she developed an even greater appreciation for the natural world. Since then, she has visited countless state parks across Texas and beyond, and has visited 26 national parks. From road trips to Oregon and Idaho, to spending weekends in the East Texas forests, to backpacking Caprock Canyons, she enjoys hiking, camping, backpacking, and spending time with family and friends in nature. She’s looking forward to a backpacking trip through Yosemite, and she recently completed building a camper in the back of her truck. She hopes to visit every Texas state park and national park one day. Her two dogs, Sandy and Sammy, are also avid campers and hikers, and enjoy the sights and smells of the farm, as well as adventuring across the country with her.
She became interested in the Texas Master Naturalist program because she was looking for a way to give back to her community and learn more about land stewardship. She believes service to your community is important, and the Texas Master Naturalist program aligns with her passions. She joined the Prairie Oaks Chapter because learning about this ecosystem allows her to educate her family and friends and provide service to her community. Her greatest takeaway from the Master Naturalist experience so far is all of the knowledge she has gained from initial training.
She has found learning about native plants and rangeland most enjoyable so far! She says it has been such a fun and fulfilling experience to learn with and meet others who have the same passion for nature and natural resources. She is so excited to meet more of the members in person and work together on volunteer projects.
Layne is the producer of the Side Oates Notes, the Prairie Oaks Chapter newsletter. If you would like to
include a submission in a future newsletter, please email her at emilylaynecassidy@gmail.com.