A seven member Steering Committee of experts on the plan's topical areas will guide the planning process to ensure the integrity of its scientific approaches and community input process, and advise on plan documents to enhance their effectiveness in informing and inspiring conservation.
Karen Christensen, Executive Director, Resources Conservation District of Santa Cruz County
Betsy Herbert, Watershed Analyst, San Lorenzo Valley Water District
John Ricker, Water Resources Division Manager, Santa Cruz County
Jim Rider, Landowner and Land Trust Board Member, Ryder Orchards
Joe Schultz, Director, Santa Cruz County Parks and Recreation Department
Steve Staub, Forester, Staub Forestry
Chris Wilmers, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, UCSC
Karen Christensen is Executive Director of the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County and has worked with the RCDSCC in administrating watershed restoration programs since 1995. She previously worked as an analyst for the County Board of Supervisors, 5th District, and for the Tahoe Conservancy. Karen currently serves as a Steering Committee Member for the Northern Santa Cruz County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. She served in the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka providing small business development and agricultural extension services. Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from the University of California, Davis.
Betsy Herbert is employed as an Environmental Analyst at the San Lorenzo Valley Water District, where she is responsible for stewardship and long-range planning for the District-owned watershed lands of 2,000+ acres. Her research interests include forest management for water quality protection, forest ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, and habitat restoration. She has served on the Board of Directors of Sempervirens Fund since 2001, and currently chairs the Sempervirens Fund Science Advisory Panel. She chaired the City of Santa Cruz Watershed Management Advisory Task Force from 1999-2001, and has served on the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment since 2007. She recently joined the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council. Betsy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Beloit College, Beloit, WI; a Masters of Art, Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, AZ and a Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
John Ricker is the Water Resources Division Director for Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Services and a director with the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District. Ricker has worked for Santa Cruz County in watershed planning, water quality protection, and water resources management since 1974. He serves on various state and regional advisory groups dealing with beach water quality, groundwater management, stormwater management, onsite sewage disposal systems, and watershed protection. John holds a Bachelor’s Degree in environmental studies and biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is a certified professional in erosion and sediment control.
Joe Schultz is the Director of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services for the County of Santa Cruz, California and has over 38 years of park and recreation experience. Schultz was previously the Deputy Director of Parks for the County of Santa Clara. Schultz has served as the Executive Director for the Naperville Park District in Naperville, Illinois; the General Manager for Elk Grove Community Services District in Elk Grove, CA; the Community Services Director for the City of Rancho Cucamonga in California; the Director of Parks and Recreation for Deerfield, Illinois; the NRPA Great Lakes Regional Director; and the Director of Parks and Recreation for the Westmont Park District. Schultz has served as President of the California Park and Recreation Society District IV and the California Association of Regional Park and Open Space Administrators (CARPOSA). Joe currently serves as a lecturer at San Jose State University teaching undergraduate courses. Joe received his Bachelor of Science degree in Community Recreation from Southern Illinois University, his Masters of Arts in Public Administration from Sangamon State University, and his doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from North Central University.
STEVE STAUB, Principal, Staub Forestry and Environmental Consulting
Steve Staub has worked in the Santa Cruz Mountains as a REgistered Professional Forester (RFP) licensed by the State of California since 1979. With a broad background in forest management and environmental analysis, Steve has prepared timber harvest and forest managment plans and supervised projects for a variety of governmental, private, corporate, and non-profit clients. Steve is a certified forest manager under the Forest Stewardship Council's green certification program, Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Soquel Demonstration State Forest and a member of the State Demonstration Forest Advisory Group for the state as a whole. Steve is a member and past Chairman of the California Forest Soils Counci, the PitchCanker Task Force, and the California Licensed Foresters Association. He is a longtime member of the California Native Plant Society and the Open Space Advisory Committee of the Del Monte Forest and is fascinated by long-term cycles and the interplay of human and environmental ecology. Steve has a B.A. in English from Stanford and a B.S. in Forestry from UC Bereley.
Chris Wilmer is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A wildlife ecologist, Chris runs the Predator Ecology and Conservation Lab at UCSC, which focuses on conducting cutting edge science to inform the management and conservation of large predators and the landscapes in which they exist. Current projects in Chris' lab includes studies of 1) climate change impacts on wolves and elk in Yellowstone National Park, 2) the influence of salmon returns on wolves, grizzly and black bears in the temperate rain forest of British Columbian Coast, and 3) the influence of habitat fragmentation on mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. At UCSC, Chris teaches conservation biology.
