Stories from the Field

Now a highly valued and respected Board Emeritus, Linda Brownstein helped NatureBridge weather some of the organization’s most difficult crises through the years. She turned significant vision into reality and created the space for new policy ideation and strategic planning. “It changed how I live my daily life — supporting other environmental causes, recycling, composting, organic farming…some of the most impactful things I've done have really been from NatureBridge.”

Welcome to the fourth and final feature in our Sense of Place series: Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The national park sits just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, enveloped by the majestic Marin Headlands. Its beaches, wetlands and coastal prairies boast a myriad of ecosystems and habitats to explore and opportunities to build meaningful relationships with the natural world.

Students are back on our Yosemite, Olympic and Golden Gate campuses! Hiking boots are hitting the trails, canoes are gliding into the water and our staff and students are having a blast out in our national park classrooms. Read on for a few highlights from our campuses.

Miguel (he/him) joined the NatureBridge team in 2018 and quickly found familiarity in blending his love of food with his love of the outdoors. We recently chatted with Miguel and learned about what it is that makes the food so great. (Hint… it starts with cooking with lots of love.)

Ingrid Apter was a beloved NatureBridge educator who dedicated over 20 years of her life to sharing her love of the outdoors with the kids in our programs. She was an integral part of NatureBridge and her passing in 2021 was a deep loss for our team. Before her passing, Ingrid began to design a mural for our Skins and Skulls lab at Golden Gate. Her vision was to transform the lab so that it reflected the scenery just outside its walls. Ingrid began sketching the mural on canvas in her home during shelter in place and engaged a professional muralist to complete the project when she was unable to. The mural was dedicated in her memory and honors her indelible belief in the power of outdoor education.

Hans Cole is Patagonia’s Head of Environmental Activism, Grants, and Campaigns, leading its strategic environmental partnerships and helping to achieve the for-profit corporation’s most important goal: to save our home planet. It was the three years he spent working as an educator with NatureBridge, honing his teaching skills and expanding his horizons, that opened his eyes to the possibility of having a life devoted to working on environmental issues.