Advisors

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Bob Johnston is Professor Emeritus, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis. He earned a BA in Art History/Architecture from Dartmouth, a Master of Planning from USC, and a Master of Science from the University of Nevada at Reno. Bob served on the Truckee Planning Commission from 2004 to 2010. Bob taught environmental impact assessment and land use planning courses for 34 years. He has critiqued regional transportation plans all over the U.S. Bob was a member of citizens groups in Davis that got two major initiatives passed to stop a road widening and to expand the downtown park.

 Jeff Miller has worked on salmon protection and restoration in the Bay Area and California since 1997. He is a senior conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity and the director of the Alameda Creek Alliance.

Gail Seymour is an environmental scientist who has worked since 1975 on natural resource conservation. She worked for the California Energy Commission in the 1990s in Research and Development of alternative fuel vehicles for energy security and greenhouse gas emission reduction; the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board developing water quality objectives for salmon and steelhead; and most recently, for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as Senior Environmental Supervisor for Watershed Restoration and the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area. She retired from State government service in 2018. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies/Ecology. Gail serves on the Board of the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizen’s League (SCJACL) as the civil rights representative, advocating for all people who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. Through her work she is connected to POC, LGBTQIA, Jewish, Muslim, and Immigrant communities.

In 2010, Gail received a Resolution commending her watershed restoration work from CA Assemblyman Jared Huffman. She received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Salmonid Restoration Federation and the 2017 Ted Wellman Water Award from the Marin Conservation League.

  Dr. Jerry Meral has served as Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources, as Western Water Resources Director of the Environmental Defense Fund, and for 20 years as Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League. His work has been widely recognized and honored. He received the National River Conservation Award as well as honorary awards from Common Cause, the Sierra Club, the California State Legislature, and many others.

In 2011, he was named the California Natural Resources Agency deputy secretary for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and charged with restoring the Bay-Delta ecosystem and creating water supply reliability for California. Meral left that position in late 2013.

One of the best-known speakers on water and other environmental issues in California, he has spoken to the Association of California Water Agencies, the Sierra Club, universities, business meetings, and many other venues. He engages his audience, relates his subject to them, and uses humor to make his points.

Recognized by the United Nations as a ‘Vegan Revolutionary’ in its ‘The Future of Women’ global initiative, Miyoko Schinner, Founder & CEO of Miyoko’s Creamery, is an epicurean activist who is leading the creation of the animal-free, plant dairy food system. Through an innovative proprietary process that merges culinary arts and food science, Schinner has cracked the code in making fermented cheese and cultured butter from plants that rival animal dairy counterparts on compassion taste & nutrition at a world-changing scale. Miyoko’s Creamery products can be found at over 19,000 stores in the US, and are distributed in Canada, South Africa, Australia and Singapore. The pioneer of the plant-based cheese revolution, Schinner is a passionate culinarian, former restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author. Miyoko has dedicated her life to inspiring compassion through the joy of food and the positivity plants and is the co-founder of Rancho Compasión, a farmed animal sanctuary in California that provides a home to over 120 rescued farm animals.

  Preston Brown (C-SALT Secretary) is the Director of Watershed Conservation with Turtle Island Restoration Network’s Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN) in Marin County, CA. His work is focused on developing and implementing watershed restoration and salmonid biological monitoring programs, managing an internship program, and supporting advocacy campaigns. He also sits on the Lagunitas Creek Technical Advisory Committee and the Marin Beaver Reintroduction Steering Committee.

Preston holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from Colorado State University. Before joining SPAWN, Preston worked as an ecologist with the Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District where his work focused on vegetation ecology and habitat mapping. Preston lives in Sonoma County with his wife, cat, and many houseplants.

Working at the local, state, federal and international levels for governmental and non-profit organizations, Rachel has led numerous efforts leading to the creation of conservation policy and programs, public and private funding, and tax incentives for the protection of our climate, parks and open space, and water resources.

With extensive expertise in Government Relations, public funding, and advocacy she worked on behalf of the Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, and the Planning and Conservation League, and was appointed to the California Water Commission.

From her work in the equatorial rainforest to the marbled halls of our capitol, Rachel has created a positive impact for all living things within diverse communities. Rachel holds a M.S. in Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism.

  Sharon has worked with both natural resource governmental and non-governmental organization since 1981. During this time she worked as the legislative director for the California Coastal Conservancy and the Planning and Conservation League. She co-founded the Mountain Lion Foundation in 1986, co-founded the Wild Felid Research and Management Association in 2007, and served the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project as co-director in 2009–2011 and project advisor in 2012.

Some of her passions include working with ecologists, organizations, and agencies to bridge good science with conservation and implement innovative solutions to large carnivore issues. With that goal in mind, Sharon founded and directs WildFutures where she continues to provide consultation to a wide array of regional, state, national, and international wildlife organizations. In addition to her wildlife work, Sharon provides capacity building programs to 79 environmental organizations and their leaders. She has a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from the University of California, Davis.

  Todd Steiner is the founder and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN), a 30-year old environmental organization that works to protect endangered marine species around the world and endangered salmon in California. He holds a M.S. in Ecology and a B.S. in Nature Conservation and Interpretation.

Todd currently serves on several non-profit Boards including the Center for Biological Diversity, MigraMar, as a member of IUCN (World Conservation Union) Marine Turtle Specialist Group, and Lagunitas Creek Technical Advisory Committee, and NOAA-DFW Priority Action Coho Team Technical Working Group. Todd has received numerous awards including a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition by US Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, “Focus on Turtle Island Award” from the Marin American Indian Association, Marin Sierra Club Marin Group “Steward of the Land Award” Social Justice Center of Marin’s “Outstanding Community Organizing Award, and the “Peter Behr Memorial Steward of the Land Award” from Environmental Action Committee of West Marin.

Jude Stalker is a wildlife biologist focusing on wetland, estuarine and coastal environments. This work has led her through an interesting career involving research, restoration, monitoring and community outreach and education throughout the Bay Area.  She holds a BS in Biology: Concentration in Marine Science from San Francisco State University.

She has vast experience in surveying for and monitoring various native plant and wildlife species as well as in the restoration of native habitats.

Jude has served as a board director of the Marin Audubon Society for almost twenty years, serving on the Property Management Committee and as a Special Projects Coordinator. Her work there has included many years of coordinating and leading property restoration and stewardship projects, as well as coordinating and conducting public outreach through presentations, field programs and tabling events.

In addition to her service at Marin Audubon, she has volunteered her time through the years at Audubon Canyon Ranch, the Marine Mammal Center, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, Richardson Bay Audubon Center, the National Park Service at Alcatraz and on several committees and work groups related to natural resource management and restoration.

She enjoys exploring the beautiful open spaces of Marin and the Greater Bay Area as well as rowing, paddling and swimming on and in the Bay.

Sarah Killingsworth is a Northern California-based conservation photographer and filmmaker who has always loved wildlife and exploring wild places.  Passionate about stories of coexistence, Sarah is inherently curious about the ways wildlife adapts to ever-encroaching human development as well as strategies to protect species before they become endangered.  Sarah is a frequent public speaker about wildlife, photography, and ethics and her work has been published in both local and national media, in print and online. Sarah is also a family law attorney and mediator. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Anthropology, and received her J.D. from Stanford Law School with distinction.   A life-long volunteer and active community member, she has volunteered in the WildCare (Bay Area) bird room, was a member of the Steering Committee of Mothers of Marin Against the Spray, and served on the board of the Family and Children’s Law Center for over a decade.   A certified California Naturalist, Sarah is a member of the Board of the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin and the NANPA Ethics Committee and is also the Program Coordinator for the Keeping it Wild Youth Education and Outreach Program with Project Coyote. Sarah uses the power of photography and films to raise awareness about environmental issues. View her work at www.sarahkillingsworth.com.

Ken Bouley is Senior Director of software development at the analytics company, Fair, Isaac Corporation (FICO), where he has worked since 1996, as a developer, product manager, and software architect. He holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in computer information systems from Bryant University, in Rhode Island. He moved to San Francisco in 1992 and bought a home in Inverness in 2010. Ken travels, builds furniture, and indulges his love for nature through hiking and wildlife photography. He and his wife, Kelli, split their time between Inverness and Telluride, Colorado.