Meet Laura!

Our Newest Member of the Team

Welcome Communications Coordinator

We are happy to announce our newest member of the Wild & Scenic team: Communications Coordinator Laura Petersen.

Laura started working with us as a seasonal employee back in November in preparation for the 17th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival, our flagship festival held here in Nevada City and Grass Valley, California. It was a good match and with so many ideas for collaboration in the year ahead, we asked her to stay for a longer term commitment!

During her time with us, Laura has helped us share the many stories of Wild & Scenic. It’s all about the people– filmmakers, activists, film lovers and On Tour hosts and the beautiful natural places they are working hard to protect and advocate for around the globe.

Laura has a passion for storytelling. As a Northern California journalist, she has spent the last two decades chronicling the people and landscapes of remote corners of The West–from her time living off the grid on the edge of Six Rivers National Forest to her adventures in the Yuba River Watershed and Sierra Nevada. Regular themes of her writing examine the complexity of human relationships with nature. She has written extensively about water rights and fisheries, climate change, development, land conservation, agriculture, outdoor recreation, native plants and animals, and indigenous cultures.

Besides writing, Laura has a long history of volunteerism and community advocacy in our hometown. She has been a strong supporter of many regional environmental groups, including SYRCL, and has collaborated with a number of local farms and ranches to secure a healthy, chemical-free, local food supply. Before joining us, Laura worked five years for a local land trust, protecting open space and trails.

When she’s not working with the Wild & Scenic team, Laura likes to spend time in nature with friends and family. Last summer she completed the 191-mile Tahoe Rim Trail and now leads guided naturalist hikes and backpacking trips. She continues to put storytelling front and center on her life path, advocating for the protection of public lands and wilderness areas. She is stoked to be working at Wild & Scenic where she can support everything she cares deeply about: the arts, outdoors, social justice and environmental causes.