Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School
Malibu Staff Biographies

Jay Colombo: Having grown up in the mountains of Western Montana, I tend to feel most at home surrounded by jagged peaks and steep valleys. While working toward my B.S. in Earth Science at Montana State University I also dedicated much of my time and energy to traveling. I've studied in Morocco and South Carolina on exchanges as well as spending a fair amount of time living along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Most recently I spent a few months in Mexico and Guatemala climbing volcanoes and trying to learn Spanish. This is my sixth year at LACOSS. I've worked with children of various backgrounds, ages, and abilities for most of my adult life and look forward to more teaching and learning here in the beautiful Santa Monica mountains. When I'm not at Malibu, I prefer to be flyfishing on a river, catching and releasing trout.

Dustin Nguyen: Although I was born in Vietnam, my family moved to California while I was still very young. Growing up in San Jose, they were always able to find me tromping through the creek that ran through our neighborhood, looking for insects and crustaceans. My natural curiosity of the outdoor world led me to pursue a degree in Ecology, Behavior, & Evolution at UC San Diego, enabling me to study tropical biology in Costa Rica. With the lush rainforest as my classroom, I became inspired to pursue a career in environmental education and developed a strong love of travel and service. This passion drove me to spend a year in the southeastern U.S. volunteering in various service projects from building homes to educating children. I returned to California to teach Integrated Science and World Cultures at a public high school where I implemented a field studies program to take inner-city students on excursions to Death Valley and Point Reyes National Parks. These experiences ultimately led me to a fulfilling career as an outdoor science teacher; this is currently my fourth year with LACOSS. When I'm not leading students on outdoor adventures, I enjoy bodyboarding, cooking, and relaxing with my guitar.

Amy Hinshaw-Zingo: I grew up in beautiful southeastern Michigan and sent time each spring and summer on family camping trips throughout the U.S. My love for the outdoors was nurtured by these trips and led me to a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Earlham College in Indiana and then to a Master's degree in Conservation Biology from Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire. In college and graduate school I was fortunate enough to travel to the Bahamas, Mexico (where I met my husband), Italy, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, and Hawaii. Having lived in the Midwest and New England, I am extremely excited to move into my third year living on the sunny west coast and working for LACOSS! I particularly enjoy working with children and teaching Marine Biology. My hobbies include writing poetry, dance, singing, birdwatching, painting, and traveling.

Pauline Schafer: I am the twelfth of thirteen children, born and raised in Chicago. I left the big city to attend Cornell College in the small town of Mount Vernon, Iowa. There I enjoyed the unique and intense "one course at a time" schedule and earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies. I eventually moved from Iowa's tallgrass prairies and farms to the forested hills of southern Indiana where I became part of the outdoor education team at Camp Rancho Framasa. There I helped develop many of the nature programs and facilitated team-building activities at the ropes course. When my husband suggested moving to California, I jumped at the chance to learn about a whole new ecosystem. This is my third year at LACOSS and I am delighted to be working with my favorite student age group in the Santa Monica Mountains and seeing the ocean every day.

Shannon Burgess: Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel and reside in and out of the U.S. and to attend numerous schools (at least 14), but nature has always been the one constant in my life. I have a B.S. from Southern Connecticut State University in Biology and Environmental Studies, which is where I discovered it was possible to teach outdoors and not just in a classroom. I have since enjoyed teaching outdoor science in a variety of ways including living in tent camps teaching field research techniques in the deciduous forests of Connecticut, perched high in a stilt building in a marine bird sanctuary on the Long Island Sound, and surrounded by parrots, giraffes and antelope in an endangered animal breeding facility in rural Texas. Working with children allows me to see familiar things fresh through their eyes and their questions inspire me to learn more about our environment. I loved my time here last year, and look forward to spending another year at Malibu Outdoor Science School.

Kara Gober: I grew up in the San Diego area and spent much of my time exploring the trails. After receiving my B.A. in Anthropology from Humboldt State University, I have followed my passion for volunteerism, education, the environment, and traveling. I spent two years working with at-risk youth for the San Diego County Juvenile Court and Community Schools.  After that, I got an amazing opportunity to be a teaching assistant for a study abroad program in Grenada. There I was able to work on primate research, ethnographies, and archeology. In 2001 I joined the Peace Corps and headed off to Lesotho, where I worked for 3 years as an Environmental Education and Community Development Advisor. After finishing my service, I spent 5 months traveling through 9 African countries. After a summer with the National Park Service I headed back to my roots in San Diego, and worked for the San Diego County Outdoor Education Program. Most recently I had the opportunity to work with college students at an environmentally-based study abroad program in the Turks and Caicos Islands. I was able to work with the local community to organize service projects and help the students to have a positive experience. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to assist with turtle, shark, spawning aggregation, and fish migration research projects. I joined LACOSS at Malibu last year, and am really excited to be a part of this amazing program.

Nitakuwa Barrett: I graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans with a degree in Communications and a minor in Biology. Following graduation, I traveled to Hawaii and began my career as a naturalist, and truly fell in love with the ocean. Intrigued by the life cycle of the humpback whale, I traveled to Southeast Alaska to follow its' migration. I return to the 49th state every summer, spending time with whales, bears, seals, sea lions, hiking in temperate rainforests, and observing tidewater glaciers. After spending most of my career on the water, I am very excited to be in Malibu. I look forward to leading explorations of the ecosystems here!

Andy Neuman: I grew up in rural Vermont and spent the majority of my childhood exploring the natural world, either on family camping trips ranging from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the tundra in Alaska or just finding out what the backyard had to offer. While attending Colorado College I received my B.S. in Geology, but continued to foster my love for the outdoors in other ways as well. I was an active leader in the rock climbing and mountaineering club, as well as spending as much time as I could doing field research and traveling. When school ended I decided to take some time off for travel and flew to Australia for a few months of surfing. Upon my arrival back into the states I started working as an outdoor educator for a private high school in Maine. One year of frigid cold was enough and I find myself here in Southern California, excited to start my first year with LACOSS.

Back to Malibu Homepage

Wrightwood Staff Bios

Blue Sky Meadow Staff Bios