As the daughter of a California State Park Ranger, Katie has spend most of her childhood with vast expanses of wilderness as her backyard, from the beaches of the Bay Area to the forests of Lake Tahoe. She developed a deep love for the natural world, and this was nurtured through annual camping trips and visits to our national parks. After attending Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, she spent several years in southern Oregon pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies where her love of the environment flourished, and she saw the opportunities to make a difference in the world. This desire to make a difference is what lead her to pursue a master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership from ASU and to begin looking for companies where she could put her ambitions to use. She has spent the last several years living in Florida and working in multiple roles at Walt Disney World. During this time, she also took on an internship with Junior Wildlife Ranger and worked to create opportunities for children to get out and enjoy their local parks and nature preserves. This is where she discovered her passion for environmental education, and inspiring future generations to love and care for the natural world. Now, as the AmeriCorps Educational Materials Coordinator VISTA at Envirolution, she is excited to continue this work in a community where she was once a curious child herself.