Claire and I go way back to kindergarten at Mission Avenue Elementary School. We went to separate high schools and then off to college and adulthood. The universe only recently brought us back together, through yoga of course. So thankful to know this shining human and to get to reconnect with her.

What is a recent book or article that you’ve read that has challenged your thinking, inspired you, or changed you?

I just finished Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s about how to achieve an experience of joy in your daily life. It’s all about setting goals and having rules to how you’re going to do any activity and how all these different elements of framework will then produce enjoyment. It can be challenging to make the everyday enjoyable, especially the repetitiveness of work.

I also recently reread A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. It’s pretty challenging and pretty raw. I’ve read it several times. I feel like it’s a good book to read about relationships and how to really take care of yourself before you can take care of others.

Who is an influencer in your life?

My biggest influence comes from my family and my parents. They’re always challenging me and supporting me in the best, most balanced way that they can, and unconditionally loving me, which is something that I think I’m still trying to learn.

I feel really influenced by our community too. It’s so fun that I can have my scientific community and my work community and they’re challenging and inspiring me in ways. Then I come home from work and go to yoga and have that community. I look around and see that everyone there is so different, but they’re all there for the same reason and they’re all going to smile at you and greet you. And you’re all working together.

What does feminism mean to you?

I see it as strength. It sometimes has the connotation of being a whiney thing, or women having to prove themselves. But I think of it as a special strength that only we have. I think that biologically, we’re the badasses having babies and doing all of this incredible stuff with our bodies. But then also emotionally we’re compassionate and loving beings. Women tend to be that motherly figure, and you don’t have to be a mom to have those tendencies. We’re going to be like that with our friends and partners and those around them. Feminism is a special strength that we all share. And some people choose to voice it and show it more than others. I think some people may never have had the opportunity or the platform to be that strong feminist, and we’re lucky in California and America to stand up and shout out “Girl Power!”

There’s this shift from relying on men is huge. I think that women, especially in our generation, are realizing that independence is becoming one of the most attractive things about a woman.

Do you have a favorite quote or mantra that you try to live your life by?

One that is my favorite and so simple is from Henry David Thoreau. He says, “All good things are wild and free.” And it applies to me in so many ways. In my work world I try to literally keep things wild and free. I see it with my own eyes and touch it with my hands and think, man, we’ve got to keep this the way it is. Conservation of what we have is so important. And for me in my life I can’t sit still and be in one place. I’ve got to explore and enjoy the world.

What are you most passionate about?

I’m very passionate about the outdoors. I’m passionate about the relationships between environment and humans. It’s so cool to share that passion with others outside of my work. Like when I take volunteers of our program out and show them a wild trout, they have this instant aha moment of like, “this is what it’s all about.” I think it’s about enjoying the innate gifts we’ve been given. It’s beyond anything else.

How are you an agent for change and education for nature and conservation?

My ultimate dream is to be involved in decision making when it comes to environmental law and policy and the role that California will have in the future of our planet.

Right now in my position I do a lot of outreach. I’ll go in to high schools and lecture; I’ll take students into the field. I love working with our organization’s volunteers.

Finish this sentence: I am _______________.

I am enthusiastic.

Claire has your back.

xxo