The staff of Sierra Nevada Alliance

Staff emails: replace AT with @.
 

Joan Clayburgh (joanATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 307), Executive Director

Joan Clayburgh is the Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Alliance, joining the organization in December of 2001. The Sierra Nevada Alliance has been protecting and restoring Sierra land, water, wildlife and communities since 1993. The organization has over 80 member groups that work on conservation issues throughout the 400 mile long region. Primary programs address climate change, water quality and growth and development. Joan has over 20 years experience in non-profit management. Prior to the Sierra Nevada she was the Sierra Club national press secretary, a founder and campaign director for the coalition Californians for Pesticide Reform, executive director of Pesticide Watch, and campaign director for CALPIRG. She has provided technical assistance, training, and consultation to grassroots organizations throughout her career. Her specialty is leveraging coalition resources to achieve reforms at the local, state and national level. Joan graduated from Tahoe Truckee High School in 1981 and has a BA in communication from the University of California, San Diego. She is an outdoor enthusiast enjoying skiing, hiking, and camping with her husband and two dogs.

Mary Bennington (maryATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 308), Associate Director

Mary has lived in and near the Tahoe area for about 27 years. She brings to the Alliance over 20 years of experience managing non-profit organizations and governmental programs. She comes to the Alliance from the Washoe Tribe after working there for 5 ½ years, first as their Environmental Program Coordinator and then as the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program Compliance Officer. Prior to the Tribe, she served as the Carson River Project Manager for The Nature Conservancy. She has extensive experience managing multifaceted programs, federal, state and private grants, developing policies and procedures, budgets and general program operations. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Carson Valley Trails Association as a 501(c) 3 and served on their board for over seven years. She was elected twice to the Douglas County School Board and served on the board of the League of Women Voters for over 5 years. Mary’s passion has been access to public lands, conservation of key parcels for habitat preservation and land use planning in Douglas County, Nevada. She worked closely with the County to establish the Douglas County Trails Plan, was the volunteer coordinator on the Open Space Campaign and preserved access to public lands when developments threatened to cut off access. She has a B.S. Degree in Home Economics from U.C. Davis – and has been heard to be referred to as Martha (without the ankle bracelet). Mary loves to hike, bicycle, telemark ski with her husband and has a huge garden that she enjoys with her chickens.

Kathy Haberman (kathyATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 301), Office Manager

Kathy graduated from California State University, Hayward in 1991 with a B.S. in Business Administration. She joined the Alliance staff in 1997 after 6 years with the Mt. Diablo Region YMCA. Kathy manages all administrative services and the new member program.

Megan Suarez-Brand (meganATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 302), Watersheds Program Director

Megan has a master's of Social Science in Environment and Community from Humboldt State University. She has a strong background in watershed issues. Her graduate work created a curriculum for a watershed based environmental education program for educators in Humboldt County. She did a watershed assessment of the Upper Truckee and has taught watershed issues. Before coming to the Alliance in 2004 she was a Naturalist and Information Specialist for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit at Taylor Creek. Megan loves all things outdoors including skiing, hiking, mountain-biking and taking her old dog swimming.

Julie Leimbach (julieATsierranevadaalliance.org)

Julie Leimbach, Program Associate, works on community group support, conservation policy and water issues across the Sierra. Julie serves as a Sierra Nevada Alliance liaison with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy as well as sits on the Steering Committee of the California Urban Water Conservation Council. In addition, she is the Coordinator of the Foothills Water Network, coordinating conservation and recreation groups to strengthen their efforts to restore aquatic health in the Yuba, Bear, and American watersheds through planning processes such as hydropower relicensings. Before joining the Alliance and Foothills Water Network, Julie worked at the Natural Heritage Institute (NHI) Sierra and Africa Rivers Program. At NHI, Julie helped manage a transboundary consensus-building project on the Okavango River in Southern Africa. She lives and works from her "green" straw bale home she built with her husband in Coloma on the South Fork American River. She has a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University, Medford, MA.

Kay Ogden (kayATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 304), Development Director

The Sierra Nevada Alliance welcomes to staff Kay Ogden to fill our new position as Development Director. Kay Ogden started work on January 5th and will be based in our South Lake Tahoe office. Kay has been involved in many areas of development, fundraising, event management and outreach. She comes with strong interpersonal and communication skills. She has extensive experience managing projects, planning activities, and building alliances. And as important, she has a passion for the Sierra Nevada, a love of people, and adoration of the outdoors. She also has an attachment to 750-mile long bicycle races and the mental and athletic challenges these races provide. Most recently Kay was the Community Development Coordinator for IntraCare Hospitals in Houston Texas. Prior to this position in 1996 to 1999 she was the Marketing Director and Special Events Coordinator for the Mono Lake Committee based out of Lee Vining California. From 1983 to 1996 she was the owner of a multi-dimensional consultation and design company specializing in marketing. She is very much looking forward living in the Sierra again and working for the Alliance.

Do Lee (doATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 303), SNAP Program Director

Do grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been a resident of South Lake Tahoe for over two years. Do was the Open World Program Coordinator with Pacific Environment and ISAR managing their environmental exchange programs for 90 Russians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians, including organizing an orientation program and coordinating an eight-city exchange program in the U.S. focused on various environmental themes. Do oriented local hosts to program requirements, handled program logistics, and was responsible for programmatic and financial reporting. He also was an Environmental Education Volunteer in Kazakhstan in the Peace Corps working to increase the capacity of local environmental organizations and implementing various environmental activities, such as an environmental summer camp for regional children. He also was the Program Officer with ISAR: Resources for Environmental Activists managing and reporting on environmental programs and their budgets, grant-writing, developing programs, managing the program work of staff, interns and volunteers, and organizing workshops, trainings, and exchanges. Do also has experience conducting environmental analysis and research. He is also a skilled and published still photographer and speaks Russian and Korean. Do has a Master of Public Administration, Earth Systems Science, Policy, and Management, Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a BA in Molecular Cell Biology (Biochemistry), University of California at Berkeley, 1997.

Sarah Green (sarahATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 314), Watersheds Program Associate

Sarah joins the Alliance with 10 years of experience working in the Tahoe - Truckee area. She was the Coordinator for the Community Collaborative of Tahoe Truckee maintaining a network of collaborative partners, organizing capacity building trainings, and managing grants. She was also the Executive Director of KidZone Museum operating the facility, classes and programs and managing a staff of four. And way back in 1997 to 2001 she was the Watershed Education Project Director for the Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships, managing an AmeriCorps grant for watershed education, developing and implementing watershed education projects and creating a network of community support for teachers. She also has eleven years combined volunteer coordination experience with the Truckee River Aquatic Monitors and Truckee River Day. She earned her BS in Environmental Biology and Management from UC Davis. In addition, Sarah is a leader of Jibbom Street Toastmasters, hike leader, and volunteer actress. Sarah will assist the Watershed Program in implementing our program over the next two years focused on watershed monitoring trainings, conservation landscaping to protect Sierra waters, and land and water policy outreach.

Morgan Fessler (morganATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 312), Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership Regional Coordinator & Program Associate

Morgan joined the Alliance in November to affect positive changes in the Sierra that she loves so dearly. Morgan is a native of Northern California and comes to the Alliance with a conservation and restoration background working with organizations such as the Student Conservation Association, New Hampshire State Parks, and the National Park Service. Morgan splits her time between the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) Program and the Community Group Support Program focusing on coordinating Alliance efforts with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Morgan holds a B.A. in Sociology and Global Peace and Security from UC Santa Barbara. During her free time, she can be found taking advantage of the snowy playground out her backdoor or lacing up her boots for her next backpacking adventure.

Marion Gee (marionATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 311), Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership - Water & Climate Change Assistant

Marion Gee hails from the tame suburbs of Orange County, home to Mickey Mouse, tan surfers and the unfortunate show, the "OC". Although a SoCal resident for most of her life, she traversed much of the Sierra from an early age, hiking, fly-fishing and skiing with her family. In 2004, she graduated with a BA in history from the University of California, her senior thesis a study of the landscape changes created by the Japanese internees at Manzanar, on the Eastern Sierra. She went on to study environmental history and policy at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. After spending a hectic summer writing her Master's thesis on an obscure Scottish landscape photographer, Marion experienced what can only be deemed a quarter life crisis. While her travels throughout the Sierra as well as her time at university revealed her passion for the environment and honed her skills as a historian, Marion felt her education with regard to the "real" world and the people who inhabit it, was far from complete. So, after a year of working and saving money, she packed her bags and boarded 3 different flights to finally arrive in Santiago, Chile where she volunteered in a children's shelter for the non-profit organization, VEGlobal. The girls Marion befriended at Residencia EntreTodas oversaw her personal education in Spanish, Chilean culture, and life in general. Seven months of volunteering and traveling in Chile convinced Marion that it was still not yet time to return to the life of an academic historian. So this year, Marion joins the Sierra Nevada Alliance team as the Sierra Water and Climate Change Program Assistant, working to raise awareness of climate change and inspire action in the Sierra. She hopes that in this small way she will give back to the mountains that have been the site of countless hours of study, recreation and familial contentment.

Patricia Hickson (patriciaATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 313), Land Use Associate

Patricia Hickson is a Program Associate of the Sustainable Sierra Land Use Campaign. Patricia grew up in Colfax, California – a small town in the foothills of Placer County. Growing up Patricia bore witness to the rapid population growth and subsequent sprawling development of Placer County’s western slope. She recognized the rapid development of her home county was not only land and resource intensive, but antithetical to the idea of community. She has been passionate about changing land use development patterns every since. Patricia believes good planning is the foundation to a more sustainable society and she is excited to be working at the Alliance aspiring towards this vision. Prior to joining the Alliance Patricia worked as a project assistant for an Environmental Consulting firm in the Tahoe Basin and as a reporter for the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. Patricia has also held positions with a variety of environmental non-profits including: Sierra Forest Legacy, Tahoe Area Sierra Club, and Earthworks. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Philosophy from UC Santa Cruz.

Dan Keenan (danATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension320), Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership Watersheds Program Assistant

Dan grew up in Syracuse, NY and graduated from St. Michael’s College in Burlington, VT in 2003 with a B.A. in Anthropology/Sociology and a minor in Spanish. In 2004, he came to call Lake Tahoe home. While in Tahoe, Dan has been a First Mate aboard the 1949 classic wooden boat, the Tahoe. Aboard the Tahoe, Dan gave interpretive human and natural history tours of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada, fostering a passion for spreading public awareness of environmental issues in the Sierra. Dan also toured Thailand and Laos on motorcycle in 2005/2006, which got him interested in the concept of sustainable development. He has experience working with a range of non-profits including the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, and Habitat for Humanity. Now Dan works with the Sierra Nevada Alliance Watershed Program to help assess, restore, and protect watershed health, while building the capacity of other watershed groups in the Sierra. In his free time he likes to mountain bike, ski, walk his big dog, write music, and plan his next trip.

Genevieve Marsh (genevieveATsierranevadaalliance.org - extension 315), Watersheds Program Associate

Genevieve grew up in Durham, North Carolina but has oscillated from east to west since going off to college to earn her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and English from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has recently relocated to her new watershed on the Truckee River, just before it reaches Tahoe. Prior the move, she spent the last three years in the wilds of Montana, writing, enjoying the mountains, and earning her Master’s in Environmental Studies and Writing. She has worked with a diverse group of nonprofits—from sustainable agriculture programs to land trusts. She even spent a year as a birder and environmental educator with the Audubon Society of Portland. She enjoys long walks especially if they include backpacks and tents and an adventure, talking to her cat, a good long stare at the ceiling to sort her thoughts, Liar’s Dice, and, like her grandfather, the feel of the sun warming her back.