Prescribed Fire Apprentice Maxi Green, who uses the pronoun they, was born and partially raised in the Bay Area, where a role as a wilderness survival instructor first connected them to the local land. Maxi earned a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from UC Santa Cruz and is a licensed scientific SCUBA diver. Their introduction to prescribed burning came through assisting with a burn at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary in Nebraska after completing a field course and earning their red card (a card issued by fire agencies to allow them to participate in wildland and prescribed fire operations). With one season of wildland firefighting experience, Maxi is passionate about bringing good fire to the landscape and witnessing its ecological impacts. Deeply inspired by California's extraordinary biodiversity, they believe fire is an essential element in sustaining the state’s natural ecosystems.