Cindy Hardin

Director of Outdoor Education

Nature Nexus Institute

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Cindy Hardin began her work showing students the wonders of the Great Outdoors in 1999 as a Volunteer Naturalist at the Ballona Wetlands. Over the years she has guided field trips at Ballona, Franklin Canyon and the Baldwin Hills Parklands. Her work as the Director of Outdoor Education for Nature Nexus Institute includes managing a group of over 30 hard working volunteers that help to provide outdoor field trips to over 3,000 students annually. She has created a curriculum for these trips that support State Science Standards appropriate to each group’s grade level, and encourages all to “look up, down and all around”, fostering student-led discovery and hands-on learning. Prior to each field trip, Cindy visits each and every school that participates in her programs. On campus bird watching is often a component of these visits, and the students are always eager to show her green spaces on their campus, no matter how small in size. Training teachers to key off this student enthusiasm in order to enhance science studies has been a particularly rewarding part of her professional duties. And if a campus is fortunate enough to have large, intentionally developed outdoor learning spaces, the benefits often manifest in improved test scores for the students. Cindy is grateful that the importance of getting students outside to amplify their education experience is being recognized and supported on a greater level. In her spare time she tries to spend as much time as possible outside, and swims in the ocean almost every day, all year round. Her favorite mode of transportation is her beloved bicycle.

Emily Cobar

Community Program Director

Nature Nexus Institute

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Emily is the Community Program Director at Nature Nexus Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on access to nature through education and habitat restoration. Emily leads many environmental education programs for varying audiences from inner-city elementary school students to high school students to community college students.  She is co-founder and co-instructor at the West Los Angeles College Conservation Studies Certificate Program. She enjoys teaching about the natural history of Los Angeles, including topics such as water conservation, plant communities, urban wildlife, geology, and more.