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MAGGIE MARKS
Director

Maggie is a 4th generation San Franciscan who grew up 10 blocks from the garden. She is a butcher’s daughter with 20 years of experience working with non-profit organizations. After working for social justice movements and experience consulting social sector organizations, Maggie found her way to gardening through a love of food. She spent time working on a small organic farm in Mendocino County, and then worked selling produce at farmer's markets. Maggie was the GFE Program Director for 4 years before becoming Executive Director in 2016. A graduate of the Get Up! program (2012), Maggie is an example that you too can learn to garden. Come find her at Garden for the Environment most Saturdays. Maggie's favorite plant at GFE is Grevillea 'Ivanhoe'.

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TRINA LOPEZ
Program Manager - Adult Workshops

After starting a backyard beehive in 2013 that prompted a life shift away from university library work to gardening and sustainability pursuits, Trina completed GFE’s Get Up! program and earned her Permaculture Design Certification in 2014, graduated from San Francisco Bee-Cause's two-year beekeeping apprenticeship program in 2015, and received her UC Master Gardener certification in April 2016. Trina completed her MFA in Cinema Production degree at San Francisco State University in 2004. In addition to managing our adult workshop program, Trina is GFE's Get Up! course facilitator and mentor. Her favorite plant in the garden is the native Phacelia tanacetifolia (Lacy Phacelia) because of its all-around fuzziness and distinctive curly clusters of light purple flowers, and because they attract equally fuzzy and fascinating native bumblebees when in bloom.

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CHRIS KRUPA
Program Manager - Youth and Volunteers

Chris has been working with children since moving to San Francisco in 2001, when many of the City's school and community gardens inspired him to make the change to outdoor education and gardening as a career. Graduating from GFE’s Get Up! program in 2015 sealed the deal on this decision! After managing after-school programs for years, Chris has worked in the SF Botanical Garden's Children’s Garden, was on Alvarado Elementary’s first Green Team Committee, led the after-school Garden Club at Clarendon Elementary and cared for Sunset Elementary’s school garden during COVID-19. In the summer of 2019 Chris also led a group of teens in SFUSD’s pre-educator pipeline program, where for the first time youth offered Garden Education as part of the summer school curriculum. Chris now manages our field trip and volunteer programs, encouraging kids and adults to explore and love the garden. Chris' favorite plant in the garden is French lavender (Lavendula dentata) because of the way it cascades into the pathway and gives passersby a blast of freshness when brushed past. 

HANA PARK
Education Assistant

Hana met GFE for the first time in 2014 when she was visiting and exploring every green place in San Francisco. She fell in love with GFE’s urban farming, gardening and composting system while she was volunteering. After 5 years of experience working as a language instructor in Seoul, Korea, a busy city surrounded by a gray concrete skyscrapers, Hana ran her own teaching business. For 3 years she adopted gardening and outdoor class settings into second language learning for young learners’ cognitive and emotional development. After getting her Masters degree in Second Language Education at Sookmyung University, Hana moved to SF and graduated from our Get Up! program in 2017. She now supports our field trip, volunteer and team building programs. Hana is also a ceramist who loves making flower arrangements and wreaths. Her favorite plant at GFE is Jasminum polyanthum (pink jasmine) for its gorgeous scent. She also loves radishes to make homemade pickles, and zucchinis to cook Korean pancakes.

ADAM LONG
Special Projects Consultant

Adam Long is an environmental educator based in Los Angeles whose work focuses on gardening, climate resilience, and sustainable transportation. After receiving a degree in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College, Adam managed the on-campus Organic Farm, caring for the 1.1 acre garden and orchard and developing learning opportunities for the community. Adam moved to San Francisco where he consulted for a wide variety of gardening and environmental education organizations. He soon became GFE’s Education Manager until moving to Los Angeles in 2018. Once in LA, Adam worked at the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA and volunteered at environmental education nonprofits around the city. When he doesn’t have his hands in the dirt, Adam enjoys using public transit to hike and camp in the mountains and going on bike rides around Los Angeles. Adam continues to work with GFE as a consultant for special projects including grant writing, tech support and strategic planning. His favorite plant in the garden is carrots, as they feel like a surprise each time you pull one up.

HILARY GORDON
Lead Volunteer + Garden Mentor

Hilary knows the common (and Latin!) name of nearly every plant in the garden. A life-long gardener, trained at the City College Horticulture program, Hilary worked as a professional landscape gardener in San Francisco for 30 years. Hilary consults on our the water-wise, perennial, and native plant demonstration beds and works with volunteers to keep the garden blooming year round. Formerly our head instructor, Hilary now trains staff and instructors in gardening with a changing climate and develops curriculum for our classes. Her favorite plant in the garden is Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage).