My name is Nora Kaufmann and I hail from the booming metropolis of Salem, Oregon. Growing up in Pacific Northwest there was no shortage of outdoor recreation, and I spent my early days dissecting owl pellets, climbing trees, collecting bugs, and running away from crazed geese. In 2005 I moved to the Southeast where I served one year with Americorps NCCC in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. After a sweltering year in Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi, I decided to return to the West Coast where I went to college at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. I graduated in 2010 with a degree in Environmental Science and International Relations and a minor in Japanese.
More recently I have been working with the Student
Conservation Association leading crews of high school students in National
Parks and Forests across the country. During the summer of 2011 I led a crew in
Rocky Mountain National Park, and then participated in trail crews in the Grand
Canyon, Santa Fe National Forest and Saguaro National Park, near Tuscon, AZ.
Having ridden the trail season to the bitter end, I decided it was time for a
hiatus, and what better place to take such a break than New Zealand! So I
jetted to the land of flightless birds and meat pies and spent a few months
exploring before I returned for another action packed field season with the
SCA. This time I was sent to the lovely Black Hills of South Dakota, more
specifically Wind Cave National Park which no one has ever heard of but is
worth the 45 minute detour from Mount Rushmore. After South Dakota I finished
out the season in Big Sur, CA with a stunning view of the ocean and a wildly
entertaining group of highschoolers, which brings me to my present day location
here in fabulous Las Vegas, NV. While I miss the rain and occasionally a day
below 100 degrees, I am excited to learn more about the desert and explore this
corner of the country.
