Nina Marino has been a member of the Lake County Land Trust for six years. She hails from both Louisiana and Arizona, ultimately moving to California to attend college. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in sociology she received a teaching credential in 1980 and moved to Upper Lake with former husband Alex Hinds, Planning Director of Lake County in the late 1980s. She taught preschool at Hodge Podge Lodge and Kindergarten at Upper Lake Elementary before returning to graduate school for a Masters Degree with a specialization in reading. This was followed by several years working as a reading specialist at Lower Lake Elementary.

Her current position is with the Lake County Office of Education as Director of School Readiness, where she administers several grant funded programs designed to teach parents the skills necessary to be sure that their children will be ready for kindergarten. Her daughter Mikaela Hinds, a senior at Sacramento State, has recently returned from studying abroad at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia.

An avid bicyclist, she participated in the 65 mile Peddle the Puddle ride last year and survived. She is the Vice Chair and Secretary for the Sierra Club (Lake Group) and leads hikes and bicycle rides as part of the clubs popular Outings Program. Quilt making occurs on a regular basis, and her latest source of pride is her slowly evolving rock and perennial flower garden, which provides a respite from a hectic work week.