Rising Alum: MaryGrace Bedwell

 

By Tamara Linse

 

MaryGrace Bedwell lights up a room. She makes everyone feel welcome. She has the ability to identify community needs and mobilize volunteers to create meaningful solutions in an impressive career in public service while simultaneously transforming her community through grassroots initiatives. 

Bedwell earned three degrees from UW — dual bachelor’s degrees in geology and geophysics and Spanish in 2017 and an MPA in environment and natural resources in 2020. She currently serves as public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Region. Previously, she was a public affairs specialist for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland. Earlier in her career, she supported statewide journalism at Wyoming Public Radio, helping to raise approximately $750,000 annually, and while in grad school, she worked for the City of Laramie as a natural resources intern. 

Bedwell is remarkably creative in addressing local needs. In 2025, she founded the Laramie Cookbook Project, an illustrated community cookbook, and she established Laramie Creative Reuse, which collects and distributes art and craft supplies throughout the community. She regularly hosts monthly community dinners that bring people together around food and connection. All this is done sustainably. While working for the City of Laramie, she secured a $150,000 Blue Sky Grant to fund a solar facility for community recreation spaces, advancing renewable energy adoption and reducing municipal emissions. 

Originally from Summerdale, Ala., Bedwell has built her career and life in Wyoming while embodying the spirit of service and dedication that the Rising Alumni Award celebrates. Through her federal service, local impact, mentorship and creative leadership, she represents the best of what UW graduates contribute to their communities and the nation. 

“Community is at the center of every single thing that I do,” Bedwell says. “You see a need, and you fill the need. You just genuinely want to help.”