Erika Perloff

Erika Perloff sees a naturalist as someone who is curious about the natural world. It is someone who observes and asks questions to better understand the way nature works. Erika has been a naturalist as long as she remembers and recalls how fortunate she was to be taken into nature constantly as a child. After growing up she got a degree in environmental studies and worked various jobs such as an instructor, park ranger, wilderness leader and garden-based educator. Nowadays she is a professional artist in the plein air tradition and works locally portraying environments in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Erika especially enjoys being a naturalist in Santa Cruz county because there is such a large diversity of environments here. Furthermore, there are also many different types of naturalist clubs and many different naturalist activities to do in Santa Cruz, such as a mushroom foray, class on harvesting edible seaweed or a walk at the tide pools. She also enjoys the abundance of nature related non-profits and education programs like Save Our Shores and the Bird School Project.