San Francisco / Oakland cohort
Vanessa (she/her/hers) grew up in the Mission. Her mother taught her to speak Spanish to plants. She is a bird nerd, writer, and lover of all flora and fauna. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz where she studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. A city kid at heart, she enjoys connecting other city kids to nature and learning from youth. She currently works with the Youth Stewardship Program through the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department as an environmental educator. When she isn’t leading youth through their local park, you can find her birdwatching, reading, or listening to jazz in the city.