Cinna Smallwood

Cinna is from Romeoville, IL and moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Education with a minor in Captive Wildlife. Growing up in the suburbs, he was not necessarily surrounded by wilderness, but his love for wildlife was fostered with frequent visits to nature centers, zoos, and other captive wildlife facilities. He has always had a strong connection with animals and the environment, but his particular love for birds was solidified during his internship at REGI in the summer of 2022. In this time, he learned just how rewarding wildlife education truly was!

Following his graduation, Cinna returned to the REGI team in 2023 as a Wildlife Educator to continue working with our Avian Ambassadors to provide educational programming. Cinna is also a freelance graphic designer and illustrator who helps to fill a creative niche at REGI - he has designed flyers, stickers, coloring pages, and even illustrations for t-shirts for education or fundraising. His favorite part of his work is that he gets to help nurture connections between humans and the environment we share with all other living things, just as many other wildlife educators did for him when he was young!