Elena Frink

She / Her

Elena was born in Newark, CA and mostly raised in Rocklin, CA in a nature-loving family. Her earliest memory is enjoying a pile of dirt with her dad, admiring shiny iron pyrite. You can still find her admiring dirt to this day. As a big fan of all living things, you might also find her tidepooling and squealing over nudibranchs (rainbowy sea slugs), foraging for mushrooms, watching sunsets and moon rises, and enjoying the magic of every season from winter newts to spring wildflowers to summer meteor showers to fall salmon runs.

While studying Geography at UC Berkeley 2010-2014, Elena reflected on and identified an offering to her community: supporting people in connecting to the places that they inhabit. She realized that her time outdoors as a child gave her special powers that nobody “taught” her, like being able to ground by looking at the sky, feeling held and seen by surrounding life, and a self-trust in her body and environment from experimenting and exploring. It is this direct earth-based learning that she hopes to model and foster in everyone she works with.

As an outdoor educator for the last dozen years, her passion has centered on allowing young learners to do the learning that earth has to teach them. She’s chosen to work in the east bay knowing that cities are important habitats with plenty of outdoor learning opportunities. She has worked at teaching farms, nature centers, history museums, outdoor education programs, nature schools, and is excited to be a part of the Berkeley Forest School team.