HalieAnn Rex
The Corps Network is posthumously recognizing HalieAnn Rex, formerly of Appalachian Mountain Club and Southwest Conservation Corps, as a 2025 Corpsmember of the Year. HalieAnn served as a tireless, inspiring Crew Leader at both organizations, leaving a lasting impact on the land and on the people with whom she worked.
HalieAnn’s memory will be honored at The Corps Network’s National Conference – #CorpsCon25.The conference will be held March 11 – 13, 2025, in Arlington, VA. Click here to learn more about #CorpsCon25. Click here to learn more about #CorpCon25 awards. Click here to learn more about the 2025 Corpsmember of the Year nominees.
“HalieAnn Rex was a force of nature.”
In just 26 years, HalieAnn Rex experienced and contributed more in life than many people who live well into old age.
HalieAnn grew up in a small Tennessee town in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in 2021. After graduating, she continued her work with Parkridge Valley Hospital as a Mental Health Technician. There she worked with children as an educator, mentor, and clinician.
Her adventurous spirit and passion for working with youth and young adults led her to the Corps world. In 2022, she became an AmeriCorps member with Southwest Conservation Corps. She would eventually serve as a Crew Leader for both a youth crew and an adult fire mitigation crew out of the Corps’ Los Valles office in Salida, CO.
After her experience with Southwest Conservation Corps, HalieAnn became certified as an English as a second language instructor and took a short-term position in Sicily, where she taught English to students of all ages. She stayed in Italy after her position ended, spending time working on a farm on a Sicilian mountainside, but the Corps world called her back. She joined the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in the spring of 2024 as a Professional Trail Crew Leader for the Southern New England region.
HalieAnn loved public lands and was talented in many outdoor professional skills. She proved to be an experienced sawyer during AMC’s chainsaw training, and excelled at their Trails Skills College, where she received training in rockwork and general trail maintenance.
She started the 2024 field season with AMC by successfully leading her crew in the construction of an All Persons Trail at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Nature Sanctuary in Barnstable, MA. This 1,900-foot-long compacted gravel surface trail is now open to the public and offers numerous accessibility features, including a post and rope guide, multiple sensory stops and tactile displays, multi-use seating areas, viewing platforms, and a bridge over an active wildlife pond. HalieAnn and her crew were enthusiastic about learning how to construct an All Persons Trail and their dedication paid off.
Into the summer, HalieAnn led her crew to successfully build a timber box staircase on a section of the New England Trail/Robert Frost Trail. She was an exceptionally productive and inspiring Crew Leader. Many of her Corpsmembers were originally hired for a short trail season, but had such a positive experience under HalieAnn’s leadership that they all opted to extend their service into the fall.
At the end of her service, HalieAnn made it clear she intended to return to AMC in 2025 to continue her leadership journey. In the meantime, she returned to Johnson City, TN, where she was pursuing a master’s degree through the Family and Community Sciences Graduate Program at East Tennessee State University. She had also been hired as an Outdoor Graduate Assistant. Tragically, on October 12, 2024, HalieAnn was struck by a vehicle while riding her bike. She passed away five days later. In keeping with HalieAnn’s generous spirit, her organs were donated, helping save the lives of five patients.
The Corps Network is deeply saddened by HalieAnn’s passing. We extend our heart-felt condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues. HalieAnn’s life was far too short. It was also a life well-lived. We are inspired by her leadership, willingness to learn, willingness to try new things, and her contributions to our public lands. We honor her memory with the Corpsmember of the Year Award. This award recognizes young adults who are role models and demonstrate an earnest commitment to service and civic engagement. HalieAnn exemplified all the qualities of a Corpsmember of the Year.
“HalieAnn Rex was patient, kind, reliable, responsible, adventurous, playful, professional, creative, and so, so, so much more,” said Caitlin McCarthy, AMC Trail Programs Manager for Southern New England. “Her spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of those she worked with, on trails in the switchbacks she carved, steps she built, and in the essence of our program. We are a tight-knit community that values professional and personal development, both of which HalieAnn was a shining example of. HalieAnn remains an influential Crew Leader and an example of just how transformative the Conservation Corps experience can be. Her crew members and program staff remember her for the memories we all made with her on and off the trail. We remember and honor her leadership, laughter, and her commitment to nurturing the environment and the lives of those around her.”