NEW M. A. in Urban SuStainabiLity CONNECT Get on the waiting list for more info on the new M. A. in Urban Sustainability, email admissions. aula@ antioch. edu The M. A. in Urban Sustainability will prepare well- trained, well- informed scholars, community leaders and activists to advocate for sustainable urban policy and social change. Once fully approved, we will welcome our first cohort in October 2010. www. AntiochLA. edu 27

Exuberance for the classroom, her students, her work, the environ-ment, the community, individu-als. it's tough not to find yourself infected with enthusiasm and posi-tive energy when you meet Amy Lethbridge. " I live IN the park. How could this not be the cool-est job in the world?" She's talking about Temescal Gateway Park in the Pacific Palisades. As part of her day job " hat", Deputy Executive Officer of the Mountains Recre-ation and Conservation Authority ( MRCA), Amy lives in an on- prop-erty cottage with her husband. It was difficult deciding where Amy's story would be placed in this magazine. She graduated from our B. A. program in 2005 and went straight on to earn her M. A. in Or-ganizational Management in 2007. She teaches several courses here. She's about to apply to the Antioch University Ph. D. in Leadership and Change. She served as an advisor for our new M. A. in Urban Sustain-ability. We talked with her recently about some of these " hats" and what they mean to her. The Day Job. Amy's main mission working for the MRCA is to make sure parks are accessible to everybody. " We have a bus program. We have lots of programs for school kids. We have overnight camps. We have a program called Transit to Trails, which brings community groups out on weekends." She recently celebrated her 20th anniversary with the organiza-tion and says, " I want to be here 20 more! I get to see the physical manifestation of what we do. I remember dreaming about a place to take the kids overnight." Her work on the MRCA acquisition of Temescal Canyon helped to real-ize this dream, and now she gets to witness that payoff every time kids from three different school districts visit the park she calls home. A few current work projects on Amy's plate include " greening" the L. A. River, building urban parks like the downtown- adjacent Vista Hermosa, and giving the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area its first " real" visitors' center. The AULA Teaching Gig. Amy teaches in the Education Credentialing program, where she began with Discovery Sci-ence, then added Environmental Education and Conflict Resolu-tion courses to her roster. She also teaches two B. A. workshops, Urban Wilderness Conservation and Fire Ecology. " I love the faculty's commit-ment to student success. I didn't understand it as much until I started teaching. The work it takes to make class meaningful for each student and to have each student be successful - it's tough." She admits when she has class at 7: 00 p. m., she aims to be on campus by 5: 30 p. m. " because I AMY LETHBRIDGE Wears Hoafts Lots TOP: Amy on an Anti- Poaching Patrol in Tanzania BELOW: Amy poses with some of her MAE students TOP: Hard at work in Tanzania BELOW: Amy with two Tanzanian students 28