A few years ago, I left the film industry and accidentally reorganized my entire life around plants. What started as a three-month farming trip through Australia and New Zealand turned into an obsession with compost, soil, ecological restoration, California native plants, and the strange joy of talking about seeds for too long. Besides falling in love with compost toilets, I returned to Los Angeles with a much clearer understanding of how deeply people and nature are connected.

I now work as a horticulturalist at Creature’s Plants & Coffee, volunteer with LA Compost and the Theodore Payne Foundation, and offer freelance plant care services for local east LA coffee shops. I am currently studying landscape design through Cornell University and plan to begin the California Native Plant Landscaper Certificate Program through Theodore Payne in August.

I’m especially interested in California native plants, seed stewardship, environmental education, and helping people rebuild relationships with the ecosystems around them. Outside of work, I grow vegetables, care for plants at local East LA businesses, host community events, and occasionally still make films.

At this point, I have accepted that I will probably never shut up about plants again.