Terri Thomas is a natural resources manager, ecologist, and planner with 36 years of national park experience in management, science, monitoring, operations, policy, and regulation in the full breadth of natural resource disciplines. Her has worked in Crater Lake, Yosemite, and Everglades national parks and from 1984 to 2016 she held the positions of Chief of Natural Resources Management and Science at Golden Gate National Recreation Area followed by the Director of Conservation, Science and Research at the Presidio Trust. She has received both the National Park Service Director’s award for the best natural resources manager and the Regional Director’s award for the best natural resources manager. She has 26 publications, 31 achievement awards and has given 32 formal presentations to professional or public audiences.

Terri has a BS in Forestry from U.C Berkeley and an MS in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington. She has served on the boards of Fire Safe Marin, the Sausalito Community Boating Center, the Floating Homes Association, the elected board of the Fallen Leaf Lake Community Services District, and most recently served as the Director of Natural Resources and Climate Resiliency for Conservation Corps North Bay.

Sharon Farrell is the Vice President for Stewardship and Conservation, Gate Parks Conservancy. She has worked for more than 25 years as an ecologist, park and project manager. She has a background in vegetation management, restoration ecology, and natural resources planning. She currently manages watershed-scale open space projects, with a focus on wetland and coastal habitat restoration. Sharon also facilitates two multi-agency collaboratives – the – the Redwood Creek Watershed Collaborative and the Mt Tamalpais Lands Collaborative (One Tam). Both involve partnerships between local, state and federal agencies and a non-profit organization. Sharon also partners with the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust in managing the GGNRA’s native plantnurseries and citizen-based monitoring programs. Prior to working with the Parks Conservancy, Sharon was the Executive Director of the Watershed Project, where she assisted in building partnership and fund development capacity for “Friend” groups. Sharon has also worked as an ecologist with the National Park Service, a resource planner with the Presidio Trust and an environmental consultant. Sharon holds a MS in Park Management with emphasis on EcologicalRestoration and Community Stewardship, and a BS in Chemistry.

Mischon Martin is Chief of Natural Resources and Science for Marin County Parks. She has worked professionally in Natural Resources and Science for over 20 years, and served as the Chief of Natural Resources and Science since 2013. Mischon oversees the organization’s stewardship program and supports the planning and implementation of a variety of landscape-level restoration and vegetation management projects throughout Marin County parks and open space preserves. Her work focuses on improving habitat for endangered species, as well as reducing fire fuels and managing the spread of invasive species. Mischon previously worked in vegetation mapping and management at Point Reyes National Seashore and Yosemite National Park. Mischon holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Shaun Horne is the Watershed Resources Manager for the Marin Municipal Water District. He has worked in the field of watershed management and flood control operations for the past 12 years. He is passionate about applying restorative land management practices to enhance ecosystem processes within working landscapes. His professional background is in environmental planning and compliance, biological monitoring, river restoration design and construction, vegetation management and flood control operations. Shaun manages the Districts 21,680 acres of watershed lands, oversees the District’s Watershed Maintenance, Natural Resources and Fisheries Programs. Prior to working with the District, Shaun worked with the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District where he developed a county-wide Stream Maintenance Program, implemented the Napa River Restoration Project, and worked on cross jurisdiction flood control operations. Early in his career he worked as a Stream Maintenance Biologist with the Sonoma County Water Agency and in the private sector as an arborist and tree climber. Shaun has a Masters of International Waters Resources Management with an emphasis in Water Conflict Management, and a Bachelors of Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice.

Cyndy Shafer is a Senior Environmental Scientist with California State Parks. She manages the Natural Resource Program for the Bay Area District of State Parks, which includes 16 State Parks covering approximately 30,000 acres in the Bay Area, including the State Parks in Marin County. Cyndy has been with State Parks for 20 years, during which time she has worked from Humboldt to San Diego on a range of resource management projects and park planning efforts. She has been working in the Bay Area District since 2005. Cyndy is a Bay Area native and grew up in the East Bay. Shegraduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Ecology and Evolution.

Ben Becker is the Chief Scientist and Marine Ecologist at Point Reyes National Seashore where he also manages the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center at Point Reyes, which facilitates external researchers working in the park and dissemination of new findings to park managers and the public. This includes partnering with UC Berkeley to establish the University of California Point Reyes Field Station in 2018. His programs also include high school science education and internships for Bay Area youth in partnership with the Point Reyes National Seashore Association. He performs research and monitoring on marine food webs, seabirds, pinnipeds, estuaries, and several threatened and endangered species in the park. Ben has been at Point Reyes National Seashore since 2001 and received his degrees from UCLA (BA), Yale (MS), and Berkeley (Ph.D.).

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