Lessley Bender

Lessley Bender graduated from the University of Maryland in 2012 with a B.S. in environmental science and policy, with a focus on conservation biology. Both as an undergraduate at UMD and a research assistant at the Carnegie Institute for Science, they studied plant genes responsible for resilience to climate change. After graduation, they moved to the Marin Headlands to intern with the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy and fell in love with the Bay Area. They have spent more than seven years in education, working as an outdoor educator, high school tutor, camp director, and outdoor preschool teacher. When not teaching, Lessley loves painting, knitting, bicycling about town, and playing music. They live in Berkeley with their spouse and their cat, Kitty. Lessley joined the BPC community in 2023.