Resume

Work and Community Experience
2020-Present: Transformed Yosemite Close-Up LLC from a Yosemite tour business to an Environmental Planning and Consulting business, specializing in site assessments and wildfire prevention, intentional burning, and cultural revival,

2010-2020: Established, owned, and operated Yosemite Close Up Tours, a Mariposa-based tour company offering high-quality tours into Yosemite National Park, now closed due to Covid-19.

2008-2010: Board Member, Heartwalk Foundation. Traveled twice to Perú to plan & implement projects to improve the diets & hygiene of, and to establish schools for, the native Q’ero people who live in remote hamlets up to 15,000’ elevation in the Andes Mountains.

2006-2008 Entrepreneuring to establish eco-tourism businesses both in Hawaii and California.

2004-2006 Hawaii Community College, Forest TEAM Program – Full-time faculty member
Taught Forest Business Management; Agroforestry, Forest Ecosystem Management, Natural History of Hawaii, Silviculture, etc. Managed the two-year degree, Forest TEAM (Tropical Forest Ecosystem and Agroforestry Management) Program.

2002-2004 American Red Cross – Trainer
Trained in Disaster Services Teaching and Supervision; taught Red Cross classes; designed and implemented a model Damage Assessment Simulation for the Island of Hawaii.

1989 –2006 Aikane Nursey -Owner
Built and successfully operated a plant nursery specializing in dryland native Hawaiian species. Managed employees, financial operations, marketing, sales, and other associated small business tasks.

1992-2009 Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) – President
Implemented a strategic planning process for programs and projects that empower communities to develop their human and natural resources, utilizing sustainability principles.

1995-1998 Hawaii State Division of Forestry and Wildlife – Facilitator
Guided the Kohala Forest Management Group whose goals included planning and resolving, by consensus, the management issues for the Pu’u O Umi Natural Area Reserve and its watershed on Kohala Mountain, Island of Hawaii. Created and distributed group memories to participants.

1995-2001 Na Makani Energy Initiative – Coordinator
Managed the community-based energy planning effort to promote North Kohala’s vision of a sustainable energy future. Wrote and managed grants. Conducted several economic analyses.

1991-1994 Kohala Foundation Inc – President
Managed all processes for this land trust. Guided the strategic planning process. Organized board meetings, agendas, and media coverage. Principle organizer and speaker at the Kohala Foundation-sponsored Hawaii Land Trust Conference.

1990-1993 Chalon International Inc – Chair of the Citizen’s Participation Subcommittee on Agriculture.
Organized public meetings and followed up on the resulting information and concerns about agricultural topics related to lands in North Kohala.

1986-1989 Kohala Coast Irrigation (A landscape contracting business) – Landscaper
Installed and maintained landscape plantings and the irrigation systems that supported them.

1983-1986 Kahua Ranch Windfarm – Maintenance Foreman
Performed & managed windfarm installation and maintenance. Responsible for 198 wind-electric machines. Managed 25 employees.

1975-1982 UC Extension, Santa Cruz – Instructor
Designed and taught many field studies programs in the Sierra Nevada, Colorado Plateau, and Hawaiian Islands. The physical, biological, and cultural aspects of each region were included.

Formal Education:
M.A. in Geography, UCLA, 1974 Specialty: Animals and plants.
A.B. in Geography, UCLA, 1968

Additional Training:
2006 Risk Management Conference, Killington, VT. Principles of risk management; program oversight, prevention, incident responses, legal issues, etc.

1992 Hawaii Land Trust Conference, O’ahu. Principle Organizer. Speaker: “Conservation Land Trusts – A tool for maintaining productive agricultural, forest, and open-space lands.”

1991 West Coast Land Trust Conference, Vancouver, B.C. – An Intensive training about utilizing Conservation Land Trusts to retain open space and productive agricultural and forest lands.

1989-1991 Permaculture Institute of Australia – Basic and Advanced Permaculture Design Courses.
Intensive trainings covering design methodologies for creating sustainable homes and gardens, agricultural and forestry businesses, and innovative ways to finance and organize these entities.

1968-2021 Many courses, conferences, and workshops on various educational, forestry, wildfire prevention and resilience, habitat restoration, agricultural, business development, sustainable community planning, renewable energy, and resource efficiency topics.

Public Speaking:
Over fifty years of freelance experience teaching, doing talks and slide-shows on community planning, ecological, horticultural, mountaineering, and white-water river topics.

Foreign Language Competencies:
Spanish and German; fair command of both.

Travel Abroad:
Baja California; Viet Nam; Cambodia; Perú; Costa Rica; Bali, Indonesia; Western Samoa; French Polynesia; Fiji Islands; New Zealand; Cook Islands; Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia); Afghanistan; Pakistan; Canada; Europe.

Other Interests:
Sustainable village design; solar and energy-efficient architecture & landscape design, renewable energy systems; creative writing; astronomy; skin-diving, photography, ocean kayaking, sailing; rock-climbing, white-water river trips, and more…

References: Available upon request.