Perin's Biography

Perin Hailey McNelis hails from Tucson, AZ where she grew up exploring the ecological beauty of the Sonoran Desert. She graduated from New York University with degrees in Dance and Anthropology, and received a permaculture design certification through Living Routes, a program of UMass at Amherst. After dancing professionally in New York and Los Angeles while studying biological sciences independently and at community colleges, she returned to Arizona in 2015 to further pursue her interests in regionally specific botany, art and ecology in the borderlands. Perin joined the Borderlands Restoration horticulture team in 2015 as an intern and now is the Assistant Manager for the Native Plant Materials program. ​