Kirsten grew up on the Russian River outside of Cloverdale, CA. She graduated in 2011 from Cal Poly Humboldt with a B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection. She then went on to be a member of the Watershed Steward?s Project where she worked with Department of Fish and Wildlife doing salmon spawner and habitat typing surveys in Southern Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. Her love of rivers and streams was quickly rediscovered and brought her back to Humboldt to pursue a Master?s in Watershed Management. Her thesis work explores the relationship between forest thinning and increased water yield. She hopes this work may eventually help guide management decisions for restoring dense stands to a more productive state while increasing low flows to maintain ecologically healthy streams.