Meet Kim Fasching, Outdoor Education Docent
Wildlands outdoor education docents are volunteers who share their knowledge and enthusiasm for Earth’s beauty and biodiversity with visitors of all ages, including students who visit the preserves on field trips through our Outdoor Discovery Program. Through this program, docents help nurture curiosity by engaging students with hands-on learning and science exploration in the real world. Docents play an integral role in Wildlands mission to provide free public programs, making outdoor education and joyful nature experiences accessible to all.
Kim Fasching at Whitewater Preserve
Kim Fasching made her first visit to Whitewater Preserve nearly a decade ago, and knew that she wanted to volunteer after she retired as a school teacher. Fast forward ten years later, and Kim is coming up on three years of volunteering as an education docent at Whitewater Preserve.
“Volunteering at Whitewater Preserve checks all the boxes for me — the outdoors, trees, water, kids, hiking, peace, beauty of nature, animals in the wild, and educating people about nature,” Kim says.
Kim grew up in Pennsylvania with a natural inclination to the outdoors, camping often as a child with her family. She was active in Girl Scouts and continues to be a lifetime member. While working towards her first degree in geosciences from Penn State, Kim carried out field work in Wyoming and fell in love with the vast, wide open landscape. She spent some years living in Wyoming as a geology consultant before going back to school to pursue a degree in education. Kim’s career as an educator took her to Riverside County where she now calls home.
A retired middle school teacher of 30 years, Kim never tires of witnessing kids connect the dots and discovering something new for themselves.
“It's still so much fun to watch them see things for the first time. When they can connect what they're learning in school with the real thing out in nature, they just ‘get it’, and the joy is palpable. On weekends, I often do a macroinvertebrates program with bugs from the ponds. I love that it's quite often the girls that are more excited by them — I’m always looking for ways to encourage girls in STEM!” Kim says.
A certified California Naturalist, Kim has a reverence for nature and says that she feels more grounded and overall happier when she is spending plenty of time outdoors. She often takes a drive up to Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead whenever she feels she needs to ‘get back to nature’. Kim not only volunteers for Wildlands, but also volunteers with the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps, whose mission is to protect and monitor wild trout streams and rivers in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests.
When she’s not volunteering, Kim loves to read and travel, with Australia being on the top of her must-visit list. “I want to see Uluru so badly and listen to native didgeridoo music,” she says. Kim also enjoys gardening and making sure all of her cats' demands are met in a timely fashion.
We asked Kim if she has any advice for others wanting to get involved with conservation work and give back to their community, see Kim’s advice below.
“If you find yourself at a park or preserve that interests you, ask questions! Sign up. Get on the mailing list. It's a matter of taking that first step. I also recommend taking the California Naturalist or Climate Steward class. You'll find out about places to volunteer and ways to give back. You can even start in your own neighborhood by increasing native plants and decreasing lawns. And be sure to check out your local conservation district — shout out to my local district, the Riverside Corona Resources Conservation District!”
Interested in volunteer opportunities or working as an outdoor education docent for The Wildlands Conservancy? Please visit our Volunteer page to learn more.