Emma is the nighttime coordinator at Sierra Outdoor School. Emma grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley. She earned her B.S. in Geology in 2014, where she had opportunities to study glaciers on the Juneau Icefield, paleo landslides in the southwest, and microplastic pollution in northeastern waterways. Feeling inspired to share her passion with the next generation of scientists, Emma packed up her car and drove to California to become a naturalist intern at Sierra Outdoor School in 2015. Here she had the privilege to work alongside incredible educators, soaking up their knowledge and developing her own teaching style. Emma has since worked for other outdoor schools in NY and CA before finding her way back to SOS where she is excited to work with the next wave of outdoor educators: the Naturalist Interns! In her free time Emma can be found hiking, camping, xc skiing, getting crafty, playing the fiddle, or finding secret swimming holes.

Sonna is the Office Manager and was the SOS Food Service Director for seven years. During the summer months she can be found back in the SOS kitchen enjoying the heck out of herself cooking and working with our summer groups.  She says that she truly feels that SOS is the "best place on earth," and she loves coming to work every day.  She says her co-workers are wonderful and they have a lot of fun with the ever-changing groups of children and adults they see each week. Sonna has lived in Tuolumne County most of her life, attending Curtis Creek Elementary and graduating from Sonora High. She loves spending time with her family and friends, cooking, and gardening.  She lives in the Phoenix Lake Area of Sonora with her husband, son, niece, her dog Rocky and three adopted cats.