Laurel Scheidt, born and raised in the central San Joaquin Valley, considers the Sierra Nevada her home away from home. She has traveled many of the trails on both sides of the mountain range, from Lake Tahoe to Lake Isabella, and is a member of the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. After living most of her life in Fresno, she now resides in Modesto, California, with her husband, Scott.