Welcome, Cindy Orlando!
Please help us extend a warm NatureBridge welcome to Cynthia Orlando (Cindy), who is our new National Park Service (NPS) Liaison! Cindy currently serves as the Field Special Assistant (FSA) for Interior Region 12 (Pacific Islands) and as the Principal Deputy Regional Director of National Park Service Interior Regions 8, 9, 10 and 12, where she has served as the Deputy Regional Director since April 2020.
As Principal Deputy Regional Director, Cindy provides leadership for the more than 60 national park sites within California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and portions of Arizona and Montana, as well as Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, including Yosemite National Park, Golden Gate National Park, and Olympic National Park, where three NatureBridge campuses are located. These parks host 65 million visitors a year, with over 3,500 employees. Cindy has over 30 years of park management experience within the NPS and received the Meritorious Service Award from former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton in recognition of her outstanding leadership and administration of the concession management program of the NPS. Welcome, Cindy!
All of our successes rest on the laurels of our relationships-with our youth, our resources, and each other.Cindy Orlando, Principal Deputy Regional Director Interior Regions 8, 9, 10 and 12 National Park Service
Stories
Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
An Incredible 10th Anniversary of Evening on the Lake
On October 25, the Amazon Meeting Center in downtown Seattle buzzed with celebratory energy as over 300 NatureBridge guests and supporters gathered for the 10th anniversary of "Evening on the Lake," our signature Pacific Northwest fundraising event for our Olympic campus.
"Science became fun" at NatureBridge for Alum Laura Lomeli Russert
Laura Lomeli Russert is a NatureBridge alum who grew up in Groveland, CA and now calls Washington, D.C. home. Laura’s journey with NatureBridge began when she attended the Golden Gate campus as a young student with her class from Tenaya Elementary. Laura credits NatureBridge with shaping not only her love for nature but also her passion for education and science. "Science became fun,” she recalls. “You weren’t learning from a textbook anymore, and it became so much more real." Her hands-on, scientific experiences at NatureBridge laid the foundation for her eventual pursuit of a Ph.D. in psychology. “I feel like I owe a lot to NatureBridge."