I was born and raised in the Crescenta Valley with Angeles National Forest (ANF) as my back yard. As a child my family would go for weekend drives up Angeles Crest Highway to admire the views or play in the snow. In high school I ventured into ANF for hiking, fishing, and spending time with friends. But it wasn’t until later that I learned to appreciate my natural surroundings.

Several years after college, I was miserable about working in an office with no windows, and knew that I had to find a way to work outside. I enrolled in the Wildland Resources and Forestry program at Citrus College and took classes in plant identification, forest ecology, and fire management. Those classes changed how I observed the world around me – I revisited my old ANF spots and for the first time I noticed the incredible variation in trees and plants, the diversity of wildlife and insects they support, and the resilience that allows them to withstand fire and extreme drought.

I decided then that there was no place I’d rather be than at home in Los Angeles; nothing I want to do more than protect LA’s urban and wildland trees; and no better way to do it than as a consulting arborist.

Now I work each day with one goal:

Helping my fellow Angelenos appreciate, connect to, and steward their trees.

“California’s oaks breed possessiveness of place. To be the most sedentary does not imply a lack of boldness or of vigor. To be the most sedentary is to have the strongest roots.” – Jack Gedney, The Birds in the Oaks: Secret Voices of the Western Woods

Qualifications
ASCA Registered Consulting Arborist #770
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist #WE-12464B
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified
AS in Wildland Resources and Forestry, Citrus College
BA in Political Science, UC Irvine

Current Extracurriculars
Western Chapter ISA – Vice President, Board of Directors – Serving 2022-2029
Theodore Payne Foundation – Guest Speaker – Understanding Oaks, Living with SoCal Trees, and Reading the Body Language of Trees

Detailed statement of qualifications, extracurriculars, and other activities available upon request.