Speakers

Asa was born and raised in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Surrounded by nature, he learned the importance of connection and sense of place early on in his life. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Asa followed his passion for connecting people with nature into a career in environmental education. Following an internship at San Mateo Outdoor Education, he began work at Exploring New Horizons, an outdoor education nonprofit based in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There, he spent almost a decade bringing students into the forest and connecting them with nature, first as a Naturalist and then as Program Director. Upon moving to the Pacific Northwest, he spent a brief stint as Program Manager at Wild Whatcom, a Bellingham-based nonprofit, before becoming Executive Director at Friends of the Forest. He continues to believe in the power of connecting people to the natural world, to the benefit of both the forest and the people.