People

Fossil Rim invests in the future by providing formalized training to foster talented young people into the professions of wildlife conservation and education, veterinary medicine and the care of husbandry and wildlife. Many of our dedicated, intelligent and hardworking Fossil Rim interns go on to work in zoological, wildlife and conservation fields. Providing quality hands-on conservation training is one of the efforts of which Fossil Rim is most proud.

Hello! I am April Engelmeier, a current fellow of the California Climate Action Corps representing the County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation. I am a passionate environmentalist who loves anything outdoors - running, climbing, camping, etc. I am originally from San Luis Obispo, California, and moved to San Diego for this opportunity to pursue climate action across San Diego's parks! I studied Environmental Science and Management in college, and am excited to learn more about environmental education specifically. 

For three years I facilitated two of the four WI Registry Nature-Based Early Childhood Education Credential courses at UW-Whitewater. Prior to COVID, I created the Wonder Bugs Preschool Program (child and adult program) and implemented the Nature Preschool at Aldo Leopold Nature Center.

Tina Harte Ballinger is a Project Support Specialist for the NASA Langley Science Directorate's Education Team. She is also the founder and Project Manager for the NASA GLOBE Goes to Camp Project providing informal outdoor environmental education opportunities to communities across the United States. She has over 30 years of experience in STEAM based instruction and curriculum development with a M.S. in Secondary Science Education from the Univeristy of Tennessee at Martin with an emphasis in Geoscience.  

Environmental scientist, educator, course designer, trainer and mentor.

I have been teaching environmental science for about 7 years now. I have a love for our environmental and I want to try to pass that on to students.