Alumni Spotlight: Cassie Hughes
These are your people!” Former NatureBridge staff member Cassie Hughes often thinks about this exclamation from her then-girlfriend (now spouse), which was elicited by her first visit to campus to see Cassie at work at Prince William Forest Park. Looking back now, Cassie agrees that her partner’s words succinctly summarized her NatureBridge experience; for Cassie, the best part of working at NatureBridge was “the people, for sure. An enthusiastic, passionate, fun group of people” who were incredibly supportive of Cassie and her family during several major life events and challenges.
It’s this supportive, team-based environment—one in which “your colleagues can help you be better”—that stands out for Cassie when she recalls her time with NatureBridge. She began her six year tenure at NatureBridge as an intern in 2012 and then moved into the role of Program Manager at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. Later, she served as Director of Outreach for that campus before switching gears and moving out to NatureBridge’s national office in San Francisco to work as Grants Manager for the organization as a whole.
I remember being in that dining hall [at Prince William] and just laughing with them, and that was so infectious. The kids were laughing, the teachers were having a good time. I don’t know when I’ve been paid and had that good of a time.Cassie Hughes, National Park Service Interpretive Ranger
“When I first started with NatureBridge,” Cassie recalls, “I had wanted to work for the park service.” Serendipitously, Cassie first learned about NatureBridge and its new East Coast campus from a contact at the National Park Service (NPS). Today, Cassie is an Interpretive Ranger with NPS, working at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, CA. The site—known for being the previous workplace of Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest park ranger in NPS history—was established in 2012. (Betty retired in 2022 at the age of 100!)
Cassie characterizes her role at the park as “a fun combination of [my] teaching background and definitely employing bits of NatureBridge’s approach to people.” As the program lead for “Rosie’s Service Corps” (previously called “Rosie’s Girls”), Cassie researches and plans her own summer program for a group of girls from underserved communities in the area. The Corps participants learn about various trades, women’s history and World War II history as it applies to their city and local area. They also receive an introduction to NPS and mentoring and role modeling from female leaders (including Cassie). At its heart, “it’s an empowerment program,” Cassie says.
I think about how one of the fifth grade kids from D.C. who came out once said to one of the educators, “Why are you so happy?”… The kids don’t just walk away learning something about ecology…they say, “I want to be like that adult.”Cassie Hughes, National Park Service Interpretive Ranger
This year, the Corps will take their summer’s culminating trip to NatureBridge’s Golden Gate campus, where Cassie will serve as both their NPS leader and their field guide! It’s a full-circle moment for Cassie, who as NatureBridge’s national Grant Manager used to work to secure funding for Rosie’s Service Corps participants to attend a final trip at NatureBridge Yosemite. “To still be connected to NatureBridge is the cherry on top,” Cassie remarks.
Thank you, Cassie, for serving as an educator, leader and role model for students as they explore their national parks and discover more about their environment, their future and themselves.
Photo courtesy of Cassie Hughes
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."