Niko Hartline
Safe Routes Coordinator
Burlingame School District
An avid bicyclist, Niko recently graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied Environmental Sciences and Economics. As a CCBA Fellow, Niko is working on Safe Routes to School, which encourages students to safely walk or bike to school instead of using motorized transportation.

Niko has been working to implement 10-day bike classes with Taylor Middle School in the Millbrae School District, as a permanent part of their PE program. He also recently lead a bicycle skills training, teaching over 100 children how to ride safely and confidently on the roads around their schools.

Niko has taken a bicycling-focused approach at the two school districts he oversees in the Safe Routes to School program. “I hope to raise low bicycling participation rates and encourage bicycling as a lifelong mode of transportation among the students. Together we can contribute to long-term reductions in carbon emissions and increase physical fitness,” says Niko.

Kristen Williams
Restoration Technician
Acterra Stewardship
Kristen graduated from UCLA with a degree in Geography/Environmental Studies and has since been working in the horticulture field. She is currently a restoration technician at Acterra Stewardship, a non-profit that restores and enhances local ecosystems through the help of volunteers. 

Kristen's efforts are focused around two restoration sites, Permanente Creek in Mountain View, and The Bay Trail in East Palo Alto. Along with organizing community volunteers to remove noxious invasive species and replacing them with native vegetation, local students visit these sites to learn about the importance of cleaning up our watersheds and the components of a healthy ecosystem. "My goal is to create sustainable watersheds while educating those that live in them through hands on involvement," says Kristen. Kristen looks forward to continuing work in the field once the Climate Corps fellowship is over as she has finally found the balance of people, plants, and sustainability she has been looking for.