Meet LandPaths - Sharing Our Love Of Nature Every Step Of The Way

LandPaths Staff and Board

Staff | Board of Directors

LandPaths Staff

Craig Anderson, Executive Director - 707.544.7284, email here
Craig has been the Executive Director of LandPaths since 1997 and lives by the credo "can do." He is on the Steering Committee of the Bay Area Open Space Council, the speakers panel of the Center for Whole Communities in VT, and teaches workshops nationally focused on public engagement with conserved lands. He worked previously for the Nature Conservancy, the Yosemite Institute and as a guide and college instructor throughout the western US, Caribbean and in New Zealand. Craig is a dad, longboard surfer, holds an M.S. in ecology from Cal and plays music with the Healdsburg-based band Cahoots.

 

Lee Hackeling, Assistant Director - 707.544.7284, email here
Lee has been the Asst. Director of LandPaths since 1999, focusing her work on project development, grant writing and strategic planning. Her passion is the interface of people with nature, and is instrumental in LandPaths work in the more urban areas of the County. While living in NY, she worked as a joint employee of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service's Rivers & Trails Conservation Assistance Program as lead Community Conservation Planner for the NY-NJ metropolitan area. Prior to this, she worked for NYC's Department of Environmental Protection doing community outreach and watershed planning, the Metropolitan Water District of So. Calif. & the Army Corps of Engineers.

Rebecca Abbruzzese, Volunteer Coordinator & Program Assistant, 707.544.7284 x16, email here
Rebecca has been working with LandPaths since 2005. She currently oversees LandPaths' volunteer program including 5 Volunteer Patrols on properties owned by the District and CA State Parks. She also coordinates the Friends of the Grove chapter, a dedicated group of volunteers committed to stewarding and caring for LandPaths' Grove of Old Trees Preserve. Rebecca regularly leads outings and stewardship projects.

 

 

Autumn Summers, Occasional Outings Leader - 707.544.7284 x17
Autumn Summers started at LandPaths in October 2005 as part of LandPaths' In Our Own Backyard education team. As a Field Programs Assistant, she has led dozens of outings and permit program orientations. She brings 15 years of outdoor education and leadership experience which includes teaching for the California School of Herbal Studies, Sonoma State University and the Santa Rosa Junior College.

 

Jonathan Glass, Field Programs Director -707.544.7284 x12, email here
With 14 years experience managing and facilitating outdoor activities, Jonathan directs over 100 outings each year to open spaces throughout Sonoma County and the larger region. He manages LandPaths' public access and stewardship activities at the 3,373-acre Willow Creek People Powered Park. Jonathan has presented workshops at the National Land Trust Alliance conference and has consulted on numerous trail/access studies.  Jonathan has also led LandPaths' efforts in online outreach and communication, creating an "online portal" into our local outdoor community.  He enjoys sharing the outdoors with his wife Amie and 4 year old daughter Eden.

 

Bree Benton Arthur, Education Director, 707.544.7284 x13, email here
Bree joined LandPaths as Education Director of the award winning In Our Own Backyard education program in 2006. Previously she worked as a Summer Youth Crew Leader and Supervisor in Oregon and spent Oregon summers tracking lamprey in the Willamette River. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Bard College and an M.S. in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Environmental Ed. from Oregon State University. She loves water and can most often be found rowing on the Petaluma River, rafting on various California rivers, or soaking in hot springs with her husband and dogs.

Magdalena Ridley, Roseland Outreach Coordinator - 707.544.7284 x11, email here
Magdalena began her work with LandPaths in 2007 as the Community Outreach specialist for the Bayer Farm project, a unique public access model at a future city park site in Roseland, a largely-Latino area of Sonoma County. Building on the success of that project, she began work as a bilingual Field Programs Assistant to help develop a Spanish-outreach program to mirror existing outing programs. She has led several Spanish-language outings.

 

Linda Weathers, Administrative Assistant - 707.544.7284 x19, email here
Linda has been working with LandPaths since 2007.  She oversees our outings reservation desk and helps to keep our database nice and tidy.

 

 

 

Jonathan Bravo, Bayer Farm Garden Coodinator - 707.544.7284, email here
Jonathan Bravo has been dedicated to the field of education and involved in community action for many years.  He worked as a math teacher for 17 years in Mexico. Here in Santa Rosa, he has taught GED classes at the JC, worked in construction and served as a Spanish-speaking counselor with the Salvation Army. Currently, he works at Bayer Farm, where he can express part of his life philosophy, "what you seed you will harvest." In his free time, he directs the community group, Hispanic Christian Center. He is the father of three girls, and is married to Angeles Bravo. 

Leslie Mace, Office Manager - 707.544.7284 x10, email here
Leslie joined LandPaths in 2010 as Office Manager, where she is responsible for a myriad of office operations including payroll preparation, accounting, benefits administration, and managing donations. Bringing with her more than 15 years' administrative and management experience, Leslie's background includes stints working for environmental non-profit organizations as well as private environmental consulting firms. Leslie earned a BA in Geography at Sonoma State University and spends much of her free time hiking, kayaking, caring for her many animals, and traveling to hotspots of biodiversity.

Heather Knoll, Programs Assistant- 707.544.7284 x17, email here
Heather joined LandPaths in 2010.  She currently helps facilitate LandPath’s public outings, the Taylor Mountain and Willow Creek permit programs, and the IOOBY education program.  Heather’s background includes research in the field of population biology, experience in land stewardship, environmental education, and Organic farming.

 

Jesse Froehlich - AmeriCorps Member, Conservation Corps North Bay
Jesse is spending an AmeriCorps service year with Conservation Corps North Bay, and has been placed with LandPaths through June of 2011 to expand the educational use of Bayer Farm. Jesse holds bachelors degrees in Linguistics and Spanish, and a master's degree in Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design. Between educational pursuits, Jesse spent two years working as Program Director for an outdoor-oriented summer camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and two years as a bilingual public outreach consultant in southern California.

 

Meg Hamill, Summer Camp Director and Field Programs Assistant, 707.544.7284 x15, email here

Meg began working at LandPaths in 2006 as an instructor with the LandPaths' In Our Own Backyard program. She currently works as the Summer Camp Director for LandPaths' Owl Camp--a nature-based day camp that piloted its first year with grand success in 2010.  Meg also works as a bilingual Field Programs Assistant, leading public outings around the county, as well as permit orientations at Taylor Mountain and the Willow Creek Addition to Sonoma Coast State Park. Prior to working at LandPaths, Meg was employed as an outdoor instructor with Save the Bay and The Student Conservation Association.

 

Justin Taylor, Assistant Education Director, - 707.544.7284, email here

Justin recently joined LandPaths as the Assistant Education Director. He works with the IOOBY and Spanish outreach programs. As an environmental educator, Justin has worked on the island of Oahu, North Carolina and Tennessee. He holds a master's degree in Natural Resource and Environmental Management and has several years experience as a Spanish interpreter. He currently resides in the wonderful town of Sebastopol and enjoys hiking, yoga and making music.

 

Jean F. Marquardt, Development Director, - 707.544.7284 x24, email here 

 

 

LandPaths Board of Directors:

David William Hansen, Director

David Hansen is the former General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. Under his watch the SCAPOSD, from its genesis in 1990, has become one of the most successful open space districts in the country. David now works as a consultant for the Marin Open Space District. He lives with his family in Windsor.

 

 

Bruce Kinnison, Director

Bruce, a longtime mountain person with many ties to the Sierra Nevada, is a retired Sonoma County Chief Deputy Public Defender. He has been an active LandPaths volunteer, especially at Willow Creek where he has an intimate knowledge of the trails and many of the culverts. He lives with his wife Connie in Santa Rosa.

 

 

Steve Meacham, Director

Steve is a former marketing consultant who is now dedicating his business skills to LandPaths in a variety of projects. He and his wife Christine have frequented LandPaths outings and workdays for the last several years.

 

 

 

Gordon Stewart, Director

Gordon Stewart is a software engineer who has dedicated much of his time in recent years to philanthropic pursuits through his and his wife's Acorn Fund, administered through SCCF. Gordon is a tireless volunteer at LandPaths outings, bicycling events for various organizations and at practically every known northern California acoustic music festival.

 

 

Joan Vilms - Board Chair

Joan Vilms, a resident of Santa Rosa, CA, has been a land use planner, consultant, and open space broker for 30 years. Working for land trusts, public agencies, attorneys and families, she negotiates agreements that permanently protect natural and managed resource lands. She is regarded as a national authority on conservation easements and other land-saving transactions.

 

 

Steven Woodside, Director (bio and photo coming soon)