Lara is an environmental educator and biologist who is passionate about engaging youth with nature in ways which nurture community, literacy, identity, and a fierce sense of place. She has an extensive background in formal and informal environmental education, with over twenty years of experience teaching and designing environmental and sustainability programming in the Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay regions. She also served as a backcountry guide for at-promise youth and was the founding director of K-12 Green Schools and STEM programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania. She is the South Sound FieldSTEM Coordinator for the Pacific Education Institute in Olympia, Washington where she empowers educators to teach real-world science connected to the environment of the Pacific Northwest. Lara holds a BS in biology and an MS in molecular ecology.
Outside of her work with the Pacific Education Institute, Lara is an avid backpacker, skier, gardener, rockhound, folk artist, mountain lake swimmer, and chicken herder. She lives with her husband and four dogs on a small farm on the Olympic Peninsula.