ROB RUIZ

WILDLIFE EDUCATOR

Rob Ruiz was born in Oakland, California, and grew up in nearby Concord. He was interested in wildlife from an early age, and spent many hours at his grandfather’s ranch in the foothills of Mt. Diablo fishing for largemouth bass and catching blue belly lizards, deer mice, and bullfrogs. He graduated from Humboldt State in 1977 with degrees in Natural Resources and Zoology.  Following stints with Eureka Parks, and the US Forest Service in Gold Beach, Oregon, Rob started his career with Marin County Parks in 1982 as a park ranger. He was supervising ranger at McNears Beach Park in San Rafael for ten years and was Chief Ranger of Parks and Open Space from 2000-2018.

Since his retirement in April 2018, Rob has kept himself busy spending time with Aletha, his wife of 37 years; touring California and abroad playing bass guitar (he owns 29 basses!) with his bands The Beer Scouts and The Sorentinos; and babysitting his two grandchildren. In addition to giving presentations and spreading the word about coexistence as a Wildlife Educator with Project Coyote, Rob also volunteers for The Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area and for the Marin Municipal Water District (as a frog docent). On any given day, you may find Rob at the local Barnes and Noble bookstore or the Petaluma Library looking for new books on wildlife and rock and roll. He and his wife currently live in Petaluma, California.