About the Santa Cruz Mts
Director Biographies

Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council
Director Biographies
MATT FREEMAN
Vice President, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz
Master of Community and Regional Planning, University of Oregon, Eugene

Matt works with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County as the Director of Conservation. In this position, Matt oversees a variety of land acquisition, regional conservation planning, and stewardship projects. Matt’s prior professional experience included twelve years with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, where he was responsible for planning, design, and construction of park facilities and restoration projects for the District’s 57,000 acres. Matt’s areas of specialization include watershed restoration, landscape-scale conservation planning, GIS applications, and CEQA documentation. He occasionally works with other land trusts and similar organizations to develop regional conservation plans and site stewardship plans. Matt is active with the Society for Conservation GIS, the Association of Environmental Professionals, and he serves as an Advisory Board member of NextSpace. Matt lives in Ben Lomond with his family and can often be found on nearby trails or in his kayak on Monterey Bay.
WILL RUSSELL
Member, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Arts, Biology, UC Santa Cruz
Master of Science, Environmental Studies, San Jose SU

Doctor of Philosophy, Environmental Science Policy and Management, UC Berkeley

Will Russell is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at San Jose State University where he teaches Sustainable Forest Management and Natural Resource Analysis. His research is focused on disturbance, conservation, and restoration of forest ecosystems, with an emphasis on coast redwood forests. He has also done extensive work on ecological disturbance in the Sierra Nevada mixed conifer and sub-alpine forests. He supports graduate student research including the effects of timber harvest of redwood forests, fire ecology, and environmental education. Dr. Russell also spent two years with the USDA Forest Service, four years with the USGS Biological Resources Division, and one years with the California State Parks.
STEVE SINGER
Secretary, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Science, Biology, UC Irvine
Master of Science, Ecology, Rutgers University
Certified Professional in Stormwater Quality, CPESC Inc.
Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control, CPESC Inc.
Certified Wildlife Biologist, TWS

Steve is the owner of Steven Singer Environmental and Ecological Services, a local environmental consulting business that specializes in erosion control, soil management, water quality planning, old-growth redwood ecosystems, and inland habitat management for the Marbled Murrelet. His pioneering research on the nesting ecology of the Marbled Murrelet has been partially recounted in the book, Rare Bird, by Maria Ruth. He continues to monitor murrelet numbers in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is a member of the Marbled Murrelet Technical Committee of the Pacific Seabird Group. His wildland soil conservation work has included road removal, trail design, repair of logged-over lands, channel stabilization, and gully control. He was the first to formulate successful treatment methods for the abundant gullies found on sodic subsoils in coastal San Mateo County. Steve is a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, the Wildlife Society, the Cooper Ornithological Society and the California Native Plant Society. He is a Research Associate for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, an Adjunct Professor at Cabrillo Community College, and serves on the Science Advisory Panel of the Sempervirens Fund.
JERRY SMITH
Member, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Science, Conservation, San Jose State U
Master of Arts, Natural Science, San Jose State University
Doctor of Philosophy, Aquatic Ecology, UC Davis

Jerry Smith is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at San Jose State University, where he teaches Aquatic Ecology, Fisheries Management, Conservation Biology and Vertebrate Evolution and Natural History. Since 1972 he has conducted research on the distribution and ecology of freshwater fishes in the central coast of California. Since 1984 most of his fish studies have been concerned with stream and estuarine ecology of steelhead, coho salmon and tidewater goby. He served on the federal recovery team for the threatened Delta Smelt (San Francisco Bay Delta - native fishes) and the state restoration team for the endangered coho salmon. He is presently serving on the federal recovery team for the threatened coastal Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead. Since 1995 he and his students have conducted detailed studies of California red-legged frogs and western pond turtles at Waddell Creek in Santa Cruz County. Dr. Smith has been the major advisor for 12 master's degree theses on stream and estuarine invertebrate ecology, steelhead, red-legged frog and western pond turtle ecology, and steelhead and tidewater goby genetics. He currently also has students conducting research on stream woody debris dynamics and spotted owl ecology and genetics
GEORGIA STIGALL
Treasurer, Board of Directors

Director, Native Habitats

Georgia is the founding director of Native Habitats, a privately funded science-based conservation organization focusing on restoration and preservation of biodiversity. She is also the co-owner and resident of a private 40-acre nature preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains that she is managing for increased habitat values. Georgia has several years of field experience, particularly non-native plant removal, including leading volunteer habitat restoration groups as a volunteer for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. She was raised in the SCM bioregion and is a life-long nature activist. Her professional background includes over 30 years of management and business administration experience; with a particular emphasis on communication, streamlining processes and conflict resolution. She is vitally interested in helping to educate people regarding native species and biodiversity issues, using constructive and accessible methods. She was the 2003/2004 president of CNPS Santa Clara Valley chapter. Other affiliations and memberships include California Invasive Plants Council, Sequoia Audubon Society, Yosemite Association and Mono Lake Committee.
PORTIA HALBERT
Member, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Science, Environmental Resources, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Portia Halbert is an Environmental Scientist with the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks. For ten years she has been part of a resource management team who works to manage parkland and restore habitat in the 70,000 acres of Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. Her experience is based on a wide variety of things she has had the opportunity to do such as restoration using heavy equipment for earthmoving, planting and maintaining large areas with native plants, refining the work on invasive exotic plants and incorporating early detection and rapid response, and working with sensitive species such as the California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake. As a last and personal favorite, she is also a member the statewide burn crew, helping to reintroduce fire to the landscape; through this work she has discovered that everyone is a closeted pyromaniac. In her consulting business she conducts inland surveys for the marbled murrelet, and eradicates non-native plant species. She is a member of the California Invasive Plant Council
BETSY HERBERT
Member, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Art, Beloit College, Beloit, WI
Master of Art, Northern Arizona University
Doctor of Philosophy, UC Santa Cruz

Betsy Herbert is 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. Betsy’s 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 now chairs the Sempervirens Fund Science Advisory Panel. Betsy 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
DIANE RENSHAW
President, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Art, Brown University, Providence, RI
Master of Forest Science, Yale University, New Haven
Certified Senior Ecologist, ESA

Since 1981 Diane's primary professional involvement has been with her private ecological consulting practice, providing a variety of services that include delineation and evaluation of jurisdictional wetlands, constraints analyses, restoration, mitigation, monitoring, and management plans, rare plant surveys, special status species assessment, vegetation mapping, and aerial photo interpretation. Her specialties include vernal pools, familiarity with CEQA and other state and federal statutes and policies regarding wetlands regulations and plant and animal species of concern, 22 years of experience with San Joaquin kit fox surveys, and technical writing and editing. Diane was acting editor of FREMONTIA, the Journal of the California Native Plant Society, from October 1999 - December 2000, and guest edited several prior issues. She is a co-author of the revised Philip Munz's Desert Wildflowers book published by U.C. Press. In addition to her own consulting practice, Diane is a docent at Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and a board member of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Alumni Association. Diane is a certified as a senior ecologist by the Ecological Society of America, and is a member of the California Native Grass Association, California Native Plant Society, Society for Ecological Restoration, Society for Conservation Biology, and the Xerces Society.
CINDY ROESSLER
Member, Board of Directors

Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Studies, New College of Florida

Cindy is a biologist and environmental planner who specializes in ecological restoration. She has twenty-five years experience in managing natural resources for governmental agencies and consulting firms. She works in the Santa Cruz Mountains managing 60,000 acres of wildlands for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District including ecological restoration, wildlife protection and vegetation management projects. She lives on a ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains where she spends much of her time controlling weeds and watching wildlife.