Chris was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science with minors in Biology and Spanish from the University of Colorado, Boulder. While in college he worked as a Research Assistant in Costa Rica and Panama studying the beautiful leatherback sea turtles. He has been working in conservation for about 10 years. His mom was a first grade teacher for 35 years and inspired in him that joy of inquiry and natural curiosity. He loves to teach and learn from those around him, so working with outreach and education at OISC is a wonderful job! His favorite native plant is māmaki (Pipturus albidus) because it’s a plant that you can use- the tea from māmaki is delicious and the plant is the main food of the pulelehua butterfly. In his free time Chris loves growing plants, playing music with the UH Balinese gamelan ensemble, cooking, surfing, hiking and generally being outside as much as possible.