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
In Memory of Ty Cobb: A Visionary Leader of Resilience and Impact
Ty Cobb, former CEO of Yosemite National Institutes (now NatureBridge), passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2024 in Reno at the age of 84. Known for his visionary leadership, resilience, and ability to inspire collaboration, Ty guided YNI through some of its most difficult moments while building a foundation for its future growth and success.
WildLink November 2024: Woodlake High School
This November, Woodlake High School students and chaperones arrived in Yosemite for their first year as a WildLink school, and we are so excited to have them on the team! That means that the brave students who signed up for this expedition had virtually no idea what to expect before signing up for the trip, because none of their peers had experienced it before them! The week, although quite frigid, was full of lovely views, learning about Wilderness, spending lots of time by the river, and enjoying the beauty of Yosemite Valley and Wilderness. Their educators Sarah and Amelia were excited to help this group feel a sense of belonging in this place. They were also lucky enough to be joined by Ranger Lissie on their first day in the Wilderness!
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.