A western Washington native, Tina went to North Carolina to attend Duke University and stayed six more years as an Air Force Intelligence Officer. She then moved to Abilene, TX, with her husband and son. In 2000, she brought her family, including another son, home to Olympia. Tina spent the next twenty years volunteering in many capacities in the Olympia School District, with the Thurston County Master Gardeners, with the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and other organizations. Along the way, she spent six years as a preschool teacher and as an educational consultant. When her two sons were fully launched as fabulous adults, she returned to the classroom to pursue new horizons in the Evergreen State College Master of Environmental Studies Program. The pandemic validated Tina’s belief that farmers are essential and deserving of all the support they can get.

Her connection with Thurston Conservation District began in 2022 as the Soil Health Intern and continues as a Veterans Conservation Corps Education & Outreach Intern. In her limited spare time, Tina continues to volunteer as a Master Gardener, Washington Center usher, Duke Admissions interviewer, to read, travel with her husband and play with her Golden Retriever, Mazey.