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Greenbelt Outings Leaders
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Ken Lavin
Ken Lavin is Outings and Volunteer Coordinator for Greenbelt Alliance. He has led interpretive outings for school children and adults in Marin County and the East Bay for several years. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Ken is such a familiar presence on Mount Diablo, “it seems as if even the snakes recognize him.” He is a featured naturalist on Audio Mount Diablo, a free web-based nature and history tour offered by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Ken may also be heard on the Sierra Club’s web feature, Nature Notes! |
Judy Adler
A longtime East Bay environmental leader, Judy is a strong proponent of Greenbelt Alliance’s conservation goals. Over the years, she has led Greenbelt Alliance outings demonstrating organic gardening techniques, plant-pollinator relationships, and methods to foster locally grown, sustainable produce.
In addition, Judy talks to thousands of schoolchildren each year about the outdoors through two organizations she founded, Diablo Nature Adventures and Mountain Mamas Nursery. |
Sandra and Bruce Beyaert
Sandra and Bruce are experienced hike leaders who enjoy sharing their knowledge of Bay Area trails and the natural world. They are supporters of preserving and protecting open space both for habitat and human enjoyment. Bruce is a director for the San Francisco Bay Trail Project, chairs the Trails for Richmond Action Committee, and is a member of the Advisory Committee to East Bay Regional Park District’s Board of Directors. He served nine years on the Board of Directors of Save the Bay. |
Sarah Cramer
Sarah Cramer is an educational specialist at the Oakland Zoo. She graduated with a biology degree from Carlton College in Minnesota, and has worked for the National Park Service and the Discovery Museum in Sausalito. A skilled interpreter and teacher, Sarah is active in wildlife conservation issues and recently helped lead an expedition to Uganda to study gorillas.
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Gael Erickson
Gael has been leading Greenbelt Alliance outings for 15 years and she has never been on one that was not an uplifting experience. Most of the hikes she leads are in San Mateo and Santa Clara County. She loves planning hikes because that requires investigating the landscape, writing a description, and selecting trails. She also leads walks for the San Mateo County Historical Society. |
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Alexandra Fraser
Alexandra Fraser is a wetlands and plant community ecologist with more than 15 years of experience leading nature outings for the public. Since 2006 she has been leading Greenbelt Outings that focus on the wildflowers, plant communities, and natural history of our glorious Bay Area open spaces. For her day job, Alexandra leads the Ecology Group at URS Corporation's Oakland office, where she manages the environmental permitting of energy and transportation infrastructure projects.
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Bob Johnson
Bob has been a supporter of Greenbelt Alliance for many years, and serves as a Board member, Urban Outings leader, and Greenbelt Outings leader.
Originally from the Midwest, Bob lived in Japan for 12 years and saw extensive sprawl development there. When he moved to the Bay Area over 20 years ago, he wanted to make sure those same mistakes were avoided. His work at Urban Advantage reflects his vision for a better region. Bob provides unflagging leadership -- and the Greenbelt Outings he leads are some of our most popular hikes.
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Cristin Kenyon
Cristin Kenyon is a Bay Area native who grew up hiking in the open space around her home in Sunnyvale. As an undergraduate, she studied Environmental Systems at UCSD. In San Diego, she worked as a volunteer for the nonprofit Aquatic Adventures, leading nature hikes and science activities for low-income schools, and then spent two years teaching seventh grade science in the Bronx through Teach for America. Now she’s happy to be back in the Bay Area where she is busy teaching cooking classes, volunteering in science classrooms, and learning Spanish. Soon she will start graduate school in urban and environmental planning.
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The Ong Family
Outings are a family affair for Norman, Eileen, and Gaelyn Ong, who lead birding programs for Greenbelt Alliance since 2001.
Norman, a financial analyst, and his wife Eileen, an architect, live in San Francisco. Their daughter, Gaelyn, is now a student at Cornell and a concert cellist. The Ongs are knowledgeable birders and patient teachers. Their hikes attract beginners through advanced birdwatchers.
They are able to track changes in bird populations and spotlight the importance of preserving the natural areas Greenbelt Alliance works to protect. |
Jonathan Marshall
Jonathan Marshall went on his first Greenbelt Outing more than 10 years ago. A longtime member, he decided to become a Greenbelt Outings leader because he liked that the outings were small, informative, and provided an easy way to explore the Bay Area's open space. "My favorite part of being a leader is witnessing the enthusiasm of people who enjoy some part of the Bay Area's beautiful open space for the first time."
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Cathy Petrick
Cathy Petrick is an identical triplet. She grew up in a leafy New York suburb where she and her sisters spent most of their time outside, climbing trees, crossing streams, and dominating neighborhood games with a voting block. Cathy worked for the National Park Service, but now wears the uniform of a stay-at-home mom and dog-walker, which she finds very comfortable. |
Dave Schmidt
For the past 17 years, David Schmidt has shared his vast knowledge of Bay Area natural areas and environmental history with Greenbelt Alliance outing participants.
Though born and raised in the Bay Area, David learned about Greenbelt Alliance while working in Washington, D.C. researching local ballot proposition campaigns around the nation. After moving back to the Bay Area in 1993, David became a Greenbelt Alliance member and began volunteering as an outings leader.
David now works for the Environmental Protection Agency as a writer and editor for the Pacific Southwest Region. He is writing a book on the eco-history of the Bay Area. David also leads private tours of parks and nature areas through California Nature Tours. |
Bob Solotar
Bob Solotar is a Bay Area native. His interest in environmental issues grew as a result of the changes in the Bay Area he saw growing up. He has served on the governing bodies of local environmental organizations, and presently works as a planning and permitting consultant.
Bob has been leading hikes for the Sierra Club and Greenbelt Alliance for over 20 years. He enjoys introducing people to the variety of the Bay Area, from oak grasslands to first growth redwoods to urban landscapes. He is also an advocate for sustainable communities and local agriculture. |
Karen Synowiec
A professional geologist at Chevron Energy Technology, Karen has taught outdoor education programs for children on Mount Diablo for several years in addition to leading interpretive outings for adults. Drawing on her background in geology and hydrology, Karen always entertains hikers with a healthy dose of information about our local watersheds and geological features, and why these precious resources should be protected from suburban sprawl. |
Nancy Topp
Nancy Topp, a CPA by profession, comes to Greenbelt Alliance with a long history of volunteerism in open space causes, including serving on the board of directors of the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
Nancy enjoys sharing her appreciation of the natural areas and farms Greenbelt Alliance is striving to protect from sprawl development. From scorpions to snakes, from tarantulas to mountain lions, you never know what you might see on a hike with Nancy Topp! |
Nancy Valente
Nancy Valente is a faunal analyst with a master’s degree in archeology. She is a recognized expert in the identification of animal skeletal remains and is often asked to identify bones unearthed at sensitive sites during construction projects. To aid her in identification, Nancy maintains her own vast collection of animal skulls and bones for comparison purposes, earning her the affectionate nickname “Roadkill Nancy.” Nancy has been the subject of feature stories in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Marin Independent Journal.
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