Lauren Grimaldi
Naturalist Intern
 

A love for the knowledge that Mama Nature secures for us is what brought Lauren to Foothill Horizons this year. She is constantly baffled by its beauty and integrity and has found a passion in sharing this with the youth. As a growing educator, Lauren is concerned with facilitating the learning of children to not only become good citizens, but stewards of the environment.
This good student gone teacher story started in the hometown of Arlington, Virginia where Lauren kept herself busy with soccer, swimming, and percussion. At eighteen she left the nest and embarked on her adventures of the West. Three years later Lauren found herself with a degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She went on to work with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz and then skipped across the great Pacific to be a volunteer classroom teacher in American Samoa. Alas, she has now found herself so comfortably and happily as a naturalist at Foothill Horizons. If an infusion of passions were ever to be found in one place, Lauren has come into something good.
 

Ben Hoffman
Naturalist Intern
 

The sounds of whitewater and the swirly currents of the river of life have led Ben Hoffman to become a naturalist intern for the Foothill Horizons Outdoor School. He was born a young lad in Massachusetts and attended the River School.  There was feeling he got when he looked to the west and his spirit was crying for leaving.  He then traveled west to attend Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major with 2 minors in Fisheries and Rangeland Ecology.  He enjoys kayaking, rafting, running, biking, and canyoneering.  He is very excited to meet all of the students who arrive at Outdoor School.  It is such a wonderful opportunity to become one with nature.  It’s an amazing journey and I hope to see ya here.  
 

Adrienne Marshall
Naturalist Intern
 

Adrienne hails from Cupertino, California, where her enthusiasm for the outdoors was kindled by a childhood filled with camping, rafting, and sailing trips. Her own experiences as a student in outdoor education programs inspired her to further explore the natural world through extended backpacking and boating trips, as well as long-distance running and biking. While obtaining her B.A. in Biology at Scripps College in Claremont, California, she worked to spread her passion for experiential environmental learning by working for her school’s wilderness orientations for first-year students and by leading backcountry trips for the school’s outdoor club. She has also been leading wilderness expedition trips for teenagers for several summers. Adrienne is thrilled to be working at Foothill Horizons as the perfect way to inspire in her students a love for the outdoors and lifelong learning. When she’s not teaching, Adrienne spends her time running, slacklining, playing the guitar, and eating beans and frozen bananas.       
 

Ryan Kelly
Naturalist Intern


Ryan Kelly is proud to be a member of this impressive team of educators. As a Naturalist Ryan hopes to share his love for both the outdoors and science. Prior to joining the staff at Foothill Horizons Ryan worked at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco as a Field Trip Explainer.

Here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Ryan hopes to inspire students to become lifelong learners in the outdoor classroom.

As an adventurer and climber Ryan has explored the granite cliffs of Yosemite, the hidden lakes of the Sierra Nevada, the canyons of the American Southwest, and the green forests of New Zealand. Throughout these journeys Ryan's understanding of the scientific processes behind the beauty of the natural world has made all the difference.