Wende grew up exploring the woods and lakes of Michigan and gained her life-long passion for nature at a young age. She went on to graduate from the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment with a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Behavior. During college she worked as a backcountry trip leader and volunteer teacher in the local schools. After graduating, Wende spent two summers as a naturalist and ocean kayak guide in Alaska. In the off-season, she continued as an educator teaching high school science classes and managing youth environmental education experiences in Michigan. She also spent four months traveling through Central America and volunteered on a sustainable organic farm in Costa Rica.
More recently, Wende worked at an environmental non-profit outside of Washington D.C. Labeled the "Dirty Girl", Wende coordinated the removal of hundreds of tons of trash from the D.C. metropolitan area and managed a long-term regional watershed trash mitigation effort, the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative. She also helped establish a new environmental group in her community, Friends of Rock Creek's Environment, where she served on the Board of Directors.
A newcomer to the Central Coast, Wende is often out exploring her new home by bike and by foot with her husband James and their boxer Ruben. She also enjoys traveling, reading, backpacking and birding - but her true passion lies in sharing the wonders of the natural world with others. As her favorite poet Gary Snyder put it:
"To climb these coming crests one word to you, to you and your children: stay together, learn the flowers, go light..."