Maia Perry

STRAW Restoration Technician

As a STRAW Restoration Technician in the South Bay, I work with students to increase the ecological health of working land and wildland in their communities by planting native plants. My fellow technicians and I continue to maintain those sites long after the initial planting. I help facilitate outdoor experiences by engaging students in the wonder and hope that comes from paying attention and caring for the land in our communities. My favorite parts of this role are the moments when I see someone light up at something they have never noticed before. The moment when a student sniffs an elderberry flower that smells like balloons or points out the bright pink roots of a willow and we both go “Woah! Why??”

I have been drawn to the outdoors and working with plants ever since my own “Woah! Why??” experiences learning the native plants around my elementary school. My early memories of spending time outside in my hometown of San Rafael and surrounding open spaces have deeply influenced my work and studies.

As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, I continued to fall in love with plants through landscaping and nursery work. I love sharing the joy I find in the intricate details of the world around me, and I see art and illustration as important tools to observe and understand it. After graduating with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, I illustrated, wrote, and published an introductory book about lichen diversity.

Since graduation, I have enjoyed learning more about the ecology and natural history of new parts of California through seasonal roles. I spent seasons in the Southern Sierras and Mendocino working on a variety of adaptive management projects. Before joining Point Blue, I brought my experience and enthusiasm to UCSC’s Natural History Field Quarter as a course assistant. I cherished opportunities to learn from and inspire a new generation of naturalists by teaching lessons and organizing logistics while traveling across California.

While working in the field, I can be found at sites near Morgan Hill, Gillroy, and Hollister. Out of the field, I spend most of my time in Santa Cruz or Marin birding, botanizing, surfing, drawing, or finding any other reason to spend time outside!

---