Quinn was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA. During his youth, he occupied most of his time surfing, fishing, and hiking in the Los Padres National Forest. Annual family backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains solidified his love for the great outdoors, where he learned to fly fish, ski, and climb peaks to collect snow for his parents' cocktails.

In 2019, Quinn continued his education at UC Berkeley where he studied Ecosystem Management and Forestry. During his undergraduate years, he worked as an assistant in the Kent Lightfoot archaeology lab researching pre-colonial plant assemblages in the Santa Cruz mountains. His summers were spent backpacking and studying sustainable forestry practices at UC Berkeley’s research forests. 

After graduating from Berkeley in 2023, Quinn moved to El Portal, CA, where he worked as a wildland firefighter in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Wildland Fire Module specializes in managing backcountry wildfires and using prescribed fire to restore historical fire regimes on the land. During his tenure there, he worked on fires from Southern California to Northern Territory, Canada, and everywhere in between. 

Quinn joined The Ventura Land Trust in 2026 as a member of the field team. He is thrilled to continue his passion of conservation in his native habitat and make an impact through invasive plant management, biological monitoring, and land stewardship.