Our Team

Nature in the City works with partners and volunteers to care for local nature. Together, we're committed to building a community to advocate, restore, and protect nature in San Francisco.

Staff & Interns

Executive Director, Amber began her Nature in the City adventure as an advisory council member in 2006 and director in 2013. Since then, she helped launch innovative, creative projects and partnerships including: Green Hairstreak Corridor, Green Connections Plan, Crosstown Trails, Tigers on Market Street, BART/MUNI Canopy Living Roofs, Nature in the City's Gardening program, and Reimagining San Francisco.

Amber Hasselbring

Garden Design & Services Director, Ken aims to bring more nature and beauty to San Francisco. He loves designing, building, and maintaining gardens, focusing on local native landscapes. He is a community leader and has experience as a creative director and brand strategist. Ken is a graduate of Georgetown University and Oxford with a degree in business.

Ken Fisher

Garden & Habitat Restoration Programs Technician, Ella was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare and minors in Education and Food Systems. While at Cal, Ella focused on environmental and food justice through her internship at Malcolm X Elementary School, where she taught kids how to garden and grow food for their community.

Ella Bhat

Youth in Action Chair, Kimia is enrolled at Urban School of San Francisco and is passionate about environmental science. Her experience includes spending a semester at The Mountain School in rural Vermont and interning with San Francisco Recreation & Parks and Alemany Farm. She enjoys working at a local farmers' market, taking walks with her dog, and writing for her school's newspaper.

Kimia Amiri

Advisory Council

Laura Castellini

  • Laura is the Sustainability Coordinator at the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She has been involved with Nature in the City since its beginning in 2005. She has a background in aquatic and wetland ecology and is slowly learning her dune plants by participating in the Backyard Natives Nursery Network. Laura also plans our nature walks that explore natural areas around the city.

  • Lawland’s hobbies are various active sports-golf, pickleball, and biking, traveling anywhere and everywhere, photography, preparing and hosting events, social and economic advocacy, politics, and adventures in nature. With over 25 years of experience in executive leadership and strategic planning across various roles, Lawland serves as a mentor-mentee in life and also active on boards. He enjoys gardening and also the abundant natural environments we all get to enjoy. 

Lawland Long

Helen Doyle

  • Tom is a landscape architect who assists landowners and non-profit organizations with conservation planning and transactions. His training includes regional planning, land management, land-use regulation and real estate finance. He assists family landowners, conservation organizations and municipalities with conservation easement and fee acquisition projects, as well as strategic plans for entire regions.

Tom Scharffenberger

  • Emil is a former science teacher at George Washington High School and lifetime educator. His focus and interest on marine biology and population studies helps him to understand the Bay Area on an intimate level, which is pivotal in his role with Nature in the City. He's been leading fun & engaging NTC nature walks for the past couple of years. He also spends his time volunteering at the California Academy of Sciences Rocky Shore Naturalist Program and partners with the National Marine Sanctuary Educational Programs and the Aquarium of the Bay to create and implement relevant curricula surrounding climate change.

    Falling Achovies, Dancing Butterflies: Emil's insights as told to Helen Doyle

Emil Fogarino

  • A leader in regenerative design and urban ecology, Kirstin works with interdisciplinary teams to create regenerative, resilient built environments where people and ecosystems thrive together. 

    After 12 years as an energy and building ecology specialist at Arup, Kirstin started Bio Studio in 2021. She provides innovative, collaborative, climate-positive consulting, all driven by her dedication to living systems and enhancement of well-being and environmental justice through a connection to nature for all. Kirstin joined Nature in the City’s Council in 2015 and acts as design community liaison, helping to raise awareness of the opportunities for biophilic design and integration of ecological function in the built environment.

Kirstin Weeks

Zahra Kelly

  • Zahra is a Zero Waste Manager for Presidio Trust. She loves all aspects of composting and the resulting multi-layer benefits that create healthy soil. As former Advocacy and Project Manager and now Advisory Council member with Nature in the City, Zahra is fully committed to conserving our natural resources and enhancing native habitats. She has a background in environmental management, economics, policy, and public community advocacy. As a member of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Advisory Committee, she works to spark and facilitate in-depth conversations about open space preservation and improving accessibility to the wild lands and watersheds of San Francisco. Zahra lives in SF and loves to share the magic of nature in the City with everyone.

Tiffany Do

  • Tiffany is passionate about connecting people to the more-than-human world. She currently works as a Senior Research Associate for a global advisory firm and has a background in digital experience design, project management, and research. She also spends her time coordinating Work on Climate’s peer-to-peer mentorship program, managing client success at Seed Consulting Group, hosting discussion circles, and drinking tea.

Interested in joining us?

We are seeking new members of our team and strive to reflect San Francisco's culturally and economically diverse communities. Our goal is to sustain a skilled and passionate group of people that serve on our staff, Advisory Council, Youth Council, and as volunteers.