Cindy’s early exploration of Nature was of the woods, ponds and lakes of Minnesota. In 1967 she and her family moved to California and settled in Huntington Beach, next to what is now the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

A fascination with the ocean and all things coastal California soon ensued. As a child, the birthday gift she requested every year was a trip to the tidepools in Laguna Beach. While growing up, most of her free time was spent outdoors and on the beach. She even chose her college, UC Santa Barbara, largely because of its location on the bluffs of Goleta.

Post-graduation Cindy continued a northward migration to San Francisco. This was the opportunity to learn about the Redwood Forests, rivers, wetlands and urban parks of the region. After 10 years in the city, the warmer climes of Southern California called her back home. In 1999 she had the good fortune to see a small ad in the LA Times, putting out a call for volunteer docents at the Ballona Wetlands. The program provides hands-on, site specific nature tours for the students of Los Angeles via a very popular field trip program. Within a few years she expanded her docent duties to Franklin Canyon, under the auspices of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It became clear to Cindy that Environmental Education was the path for her, and in 2011 she joined the staff of the Los Angeles Audubon Society (LAAS).

She is currently LAAS’s Director of Outdoor Education, and manages programs that provide student field trips to both Ballona and Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. The two programs provide a nature education experience for approximately 3,000 students annually. She also hosts a monthly Open Wetlands at Ballona, and is involved in a city project that has created native habitat and a daylighted stream along the “E” Line train tracks in Westwood, called the Westwood Greenway.

In her spare time she can usually be found outdoors, and enjoys a daily dip, year round, in the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Cindy feels extremely fortunate to work in a field that allows her to be out in nature most of the time, and gets great joy in sharing it with others. Although her position with Los Angeles Audubon Society is a job, it never feels like work!