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When Gina Foley grew up on the Long Island town of Bay Shore, New York, hiking and outdoor exploration were not part of her everyday life. She likely didn't envision herself one day living in the green surrounds of Berkshire County, and even less likely pictured herself teaching biology.

But today, decades later, she lives in Pittsfield with her husband Steve, two rescue dogs and a "house full of rescue plants." Their children have flown the nest, Emma an actor and Peter a graduate student in molecular biology. Gina, the department chair for Environmental and Life Sciences at ºìÐÓÖ±²¥ All Rights Reserved, is the first to admit she landed here via a circuitous route often peppered with luck.

When I graduated from high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I wasn't really comfortable in my own skin at that time. I decided to stay home and do two years at Farmingdale Community College. That's where I realized that biology was the area I loved so much.

Gina earned her associate degree and transferred to the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, a State University of New York (SUNY) school located on the campus of Syracuse University. There, she completed a bachelor's degree in environmental and forest biology. Once again, she wasn't sure what path to pursue.

"After I graduated, I returned a book to a faculty member at Syracuse University. I had taken this class called 'How to Teach College Biology' with a professor named Dr. Marvin Druger. I said, 'Dr. Druger, I've graduated, but I don't really have a job. I'm going back to Long Island.' I handed him the book, and he said, 'You're going to be a great biology teacher someday.'"

Gina was surprised. She had been the only female in Dr. Druger's class and the only undergraduate — all the others were Syracuse PhD students studying biology — and had simply enrolled in the class at the recommendation of her advisor. "I told him maybe someday," Gina says, adding with a laugh that at that point in her life, her main interest was counting birds in the woods every day.

"He said, 'Hold on.' And literally, at that second, he said, 'I have a slot open, and I would like you to teach my Intro to Biology class as a TA.' It still gives me the chills thirty years later!"

Dr. Druger helped Gina get a full ride for the graduate degree program at Syracuse University, where she taught for two and a half years. "I got my degree, and the rest is history. I owe everything to him," she says.

Gina has never forgotten Dr. Druger's profound effect on her, and she strives to convey the same level of care for her students. Most days, her office is a revolving door for students who want a collegial place to study or just a person to talk to.

Recently, she asked to speak to one of her students who was struggling and learned he had been living in his car. "My mom hat went on," says Gina. She immediately consulted with Celia Norcross, Dean of Students, and within a few weeks, the student had housing.

"This student is thriving at ºìÐÓÖ±²¥ and just presented at our scholars' conference. It makes me so proud," Gina says. "I have students who have gone through the most challenging life experiences I could ever imagine, but they can talk to us and get the resources they need. That is what we do here at the College."

At ºìÐÓÖ±²¥, the Environmental and Life Sciences Department has two components: Environmental Science and Natural and Physical Sciences. In addition to serving as department chair, Gina is the program advisor for the Natural and Physical Sciences program.

"When we're talking about life science, we mean the nature of the way in which structures function, whereas environmental science often refers to the interaction between those