Ardell has been volunteering with O.U.R. Ecovillage since September of 2019, helping with garden and farming work, as well as with grant writing. The first of July she and her 14-year-old daughter became on-land residents. Ardell is self-employed, coaching graduate students in completing their dissertations in education, social sciences, and leadership programs, including methodology critique and editing.
While she plans to continue that work part time, she also wants to teach and use different skills within the community. She is a court-rostered mediator with an MA in psychology. She also maintains several websites regarding self-employment strategies, general life-coping skills, a platform for game-based discussion of politics. She writes on topics of social and economic sustainability.