Nancy DePas Reinertsen

 Nancy DePas Reinertsen has always had a passion for gardening. It has been a part of her personal, academic, and professional life. She earned various educational degrees in Horticulture and Linguistics from SUNY Farmingdale, Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center. While she began a career as an interior landscaper, she later dedicated 25 years as an English teacher to immigrants at Newcomers HS and LaGuardia CC. Upon retiring, she was drawn back to her first love and became a Master Gardener.

Nancy was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, into a family of passionate gardeners who instilled in her a love of gardening, baking, and cooking. Today, she tends to her garden in the North Fork. Here, she's learned a lot by transforming useless lawn into native plant oases, planting berries for birds and her family, creating deer-resistant gardens, and growing trees, vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Nancy and her husband, Ralph, joined Slow Food East End to meet like-minded people interested in preserving the local environment. She is active in various local programs supporting environmental stewardship and ecological justice. Despite her busy schedule, Nancy still finds time to enjoy the local beaches, swim in Peconic Bay, drink local wine, and host fabulous dinner parties.

Nancy joined the ReWild board in January 2024, co-chairing the North Fork Chapter with Ralph.