Melissa Kenworthy, who uses she/they pronouns, is a proud steward of California lands. Her background consists of caregiving, ecological restoration, and farming. Her interest in the natural world was inspired through engagement in community science and learning about endemic plant communities of California. After completing the Natural Resource Management program and the Wildfire Resilience Program offered by Santa Rosa Junior College, Melissa has experienced how fire can be a healing agent to the ecological communities of California. She approaches fire as a tool to facilitate community resilience and is inspired by how the land shapes stories and how stories shape community. Melissa spends her free time hiking, reading, and learning about the natural world around her.