The Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary has been a part of our community since 1957. Today, we are ground-zero for waterbird conservation throughout San Francisco Bay and our 900-acre open water sanctuary is closed from October 1st to March 31st each year to support wintering waterbirds. Our landscapes are visited by researchers focused on protecting and restoring the eelgrass ecosystem. Finally, our 10-acre site adjacent to the Richardson Bay is home to a plethora of engagement opportunities including a fully inclusive summer camp, conservation leadership program for under resourced teens and young adults as well as numerous volunteer opportunities. Spend time with Center Director, Casey Arndt, as she discusses the great impacts this small center of three staff has on waterbird conservation and youth engagement.

Casey Arndt is the Director of the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary. Casey’s responsibilities include managing community-led restoration projects throughout the Bay Area, center and sanctuary operations, property and facility improvements, and managing our events, outeach, engagement, and volunteer programming. She also focuses on Richardson Bay’s Audubon Youth Leaders program, working with teens from alternative programs and the juvenile justice system on conservation leadership. Casey manages a staff of summer employees and seasonal biologists, interns and youth to deliver Audubon Adventure Summer Camp.

Before coming to Audubon, Casey spent 10 years working with youth in formal and informal environmental education settings, taught in special education classrooms, and was a volunteer firefighter for the Seward Volunteer Fire Department in Alaska. Prior to her professional work, she received her B.A. in poetry and creative writing at a small liberal arts college and is originally from an Athabascan village of 300 people in rural Alaska. Casey grew up mushing a sled dog team, driving snowmachines, and immersing herself in the Alaskan wilderness. When she’s not working, Casey loves birdwatching, being in nature, and writing.