interview by Jess McCuan . photo by Anthony Bellemare

Name: Alesha Reardon

Age: 28

Tell me about your dog. His name is Utah. He’s a pound puppy.

You went to the pound to get him? Yes. At the time, my boyfriend, now husband, didn’t want a dog. I said, well, I’m getting a puppy, and I’ll take full responsibility. It’ll be my dog. But then we both went to the pound and fell in love. He was a fluffy little loaf of bread. He was so cute.

And what do you do? I’m a program manager at Southwings. We’re an environmental group, and we fly over different sites and regions.

What’s the most surprising thing you’ve seen from the plane? The mountaintop removal coal mining sites, mainly in Kentucky and West Virginia. The destruction is so widespread and massive. It’s really eye-opening to see it from the air. It’s something you just can’t understand unless you see it from above.