I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where the love of forestry was instilled in me at a very young age. I earned a B.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2011, with an emphasis in Forest and Environmental Practices. I worked for the U.S. Forest Service for two seasons doing timber sale layout on the Tongass National Forest in south east Alaska. I then moved to the beautiful North Coast to work for Green Diamond Resource Company as an inventory technician and then later as a forestry technician. Much of my work experience is in timber harvest layout and inventory, so one of my primary goals is to be a Registered Professional Forester after I earn my M.S. in Forestry. My research interests are in the field of forestry outreach and communication. Working with the Bureau of Land Management and the Redwood Parks Association, my project seeks to find ways to connect the town of Fortuna to the Headwaters Forest Reserve through outreach activities. Through interviews and surveys, my data will help the RPA engage residents across the redwood region with their local federal lands. I am very interested in how people are connected to their local forests, and what purpose forests serve for communities.