Leslie Adler-Ivanbrook (she/her) | Program Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Leslie has been living in West Marin for 17 years, where she has worked in education, aquaculture research, and coastal zone conservation. Her passion for the environment, especially the ocean, has fueled her love of environmental education, ocean protection, and climate action. She previously co-produced Outdoor Ed in the Watershed with EAC, and was a program manager with Point Reyes National Seashore Association for over a decade, where she launched and developed their Science in the Seashore field trip program, which engages youth in hands-on science. She was previously an education representative on the Cordell Bank Sanctuary Advisory Council, the steering committee of West Marin Climate Action, and sat on the Flood Control Zone 10 Advisory Board for Marin County. Currently, Leslie is a co-chair of the Golden Gate MPA Collaborative. Leslie earned her undergraduate B.A. in Environment, Technology, and Society from Clark University and a graduate M.S. in Marine Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Catie Clune (she/her) | Director of Education, Audubon Canyon Ranch
Catie is a festival guide and joins the festival committee with a lens on schedule development, guide recruitment, and DEI principles. Catie is an experienced naturalist and science educator, who has a passion for building more inclusive outdoor spaces. She has spent many years managing education and outreach programs in West Marin on topics including endangered salmon, redwoods and climate change, and marine conservation. She has taught the UC California Naturalist Certification course and led professional development workshops for science teachers. Catie holds a master's degree in science education from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in community studies, with a focus on environmental justice, from UC Santa Cruz. She is a board member of LandPaths in Sonoma County.

John Dulger Sheikin (he/him) | Owner, Apollo Audio
John joins the festival committee for the second year in a row where he assists with schedule development, administrative tasks, and keynote/festival management. He is the sole proprietor of Apollo Audio, a vintage audio repair and restoration service, and has also taught piano to hundreds of students of all ages for over two decades. He is actively involved in the community and has a broad skill set, with experience in a wide range of technical and artistic pursuits. John currently spends about half his time in West Marin, contributing to the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin where he was named the 2024 Volunteer of the Year. He is an EAC Marine Protected Area Watch volunteer and assists with events and in the office often. He has worked with other local efforts including Zero Waste, Launch for Hire in Inverness, and Western Weekend. John also enjoys spending time on the beautiful grounds of St. Columba's Church, at times tending to their lovely meditation path. John has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from California State University, Sacramento, and an Associate of Arts in Music and an Associate of Science in Mechatronics Technology from Sierra College.

Ashley Eagle-Gibbs (she/her), Esq. | Executive Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Bilingual English/French Speaker
Ashley joined the committee in 2016 and currently oversees the team managing the festival. She is a Marin County native and an environmental attorney who brings with her 18 years of combined experience in environmental policy, organizational management, advocacy, and litigation. While at EAC, she has grown our program capacity and launched and expanded our legal and policy internship program with a focus on climate, coastal, and freshwater issues. Her love for the outdoors and her desire to preserve the environment prompted her to obtain a law degree. Before joining EAC, she worked as an Associate Attorney at a public interest Plaintiff’s side water quality firm, Lawyers for Clean Water, Inc., where she fought for clean water and represented nonprofits like California Coastkeeper Alliance. Some of her additional professional experience includes working as a certified student clinician at Golden Gate’s Environmental Law and Justice Clinic and interning at the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as volunteering at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she worked on the India Initiative, a project designed to increase United States and India’s cooperation on energy efficiency and climate change. A graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law, she has Certificates of Specialization in both Public Interest and Environmental Law with Distinction. She also holds a B.A. in Comparative Sociology from the University of Puget Sound, with minors in French and Environmental Studies. 

Nicole Heslip (she/her) | Development Associate, SF Playhouse
Nicole joins the festival committee for the second year in a row where she manages our wine, beer, and other gifts-in-kind donations. Nicole brings extensive experience in business development, project management, and client stewardship. As a Bay Area native with a deep connection to California's landscapes, Nicole made a purposeful transition from the wine industry to the nonprofit sector, aligning her career with her longtime passion for community impact and philanthropy. Now a Development Associate at SF Playhouse, Nicole is thrilled to support the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC) mission and contribute to preserving coastal Marin, one of her favorite places on earth. Her role on the festival committee allows her to blend her love for nature with her professional skills, helping to create a meaningful and memorable experience for the community. Nicole has a BA in Biology from Sonoma State University. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors through hiking, practicing yoga, attending live music events, traveling, mushroom hunting, and spending time along the stunning coastlines of west Marin.

Claire Hutkins Seda (she/her) | Director of Communications, Migrant Clinicians Network
Claire is a former EAC Board Director and rejoins the festival committee with a lens on diversity, equity, and inclusion, copyediting, and keynote development and management. She is a communications professional, naturalist, writer, and editor, with two decades of experience in the climate, environment, and social justice spaces. She writes on environmental degradation, the climate crisis, and their effects on historically and socially marginalized people. For over a decade, she has worked at Migrant Clinicians Network, a nonprofit focused on health justice for migrants and asylum seekers, and is currently their Director of Communications, overseeing a five-person communications team, and directing all aspects of their communications including clinical publications, press relations, communication and marketing strategy, advocacy, and more. As a naturalist, Claire has trained docents in nature education and cultivated land connections for a wide public audience at multiple nonprofits, including Audubon Canyon Ranch, a Northern California environmental conservation and education organization. A native Californian, she spends her free time walking the coastal trails of the San Francisco Bay Area with her family or gardening in the fog.

Nancy Jensvold (she/her) | Retired Research Manager at Kaiser Permanente
Nancy joins the festival committee for the second year in a row where she assists with schedule development, administrative tasks, and keynote/festival management. She started volunteering with the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin in 2017 and was named the 2023 Volunteer of the Year. Nancy retired from her role as a Senior Research Project Manager at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research after 21 years. Before that, she worked for the Environmental Health Investigations Branch of the California Department of Health Services and the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program. She has co-authored journal articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation, the American Journal of Cardiology, Pediatrics, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Teratology, and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, among others. Nancy holds a BA in Health Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A native Marinite, Nancy enjoys learning to cook Norwegian cuisine, dancing, and cleaning Muir Beach (amassing an impressive collection of beach shovels in the process!).

Dr. Gerald “Jerry” H. Meral, Ph.D. | Board Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Jerry is a co-founder of the EAC’s Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival, a current festival guide, and joined the committee in an advisory role leading schedule development, guide recruitment, and keynote development since 2010. He is the Director of the California Water Program at the Natural Heritage Institute (NHI), an international conservation organization focused on restoring and preserving aquatic ecosystems. He directs NHI programs regarding the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, California groundwater, and other related water programs. He previously worked for Governor Edmond G. Brown, Jr., serving as California Natural Resources Agency Deputy Secretary for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) for three years from 2011 to 2013. Dr. Meral was executive director of the Planning and Conservation League from 1983 to 2003. He served as deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources from 1975 to 1983 under Governor Brown. Dr. Meral holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Inverness with his wife Barbara.

Patty Neubacher (she/her) | Retired - National Park Service, Deputy Regional Director and Board Director and Treasurer, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Patty joined the committee in a board advisory role and has assisted with the keynote development since 2022. A native Californian, Patty has lived in West Marin since 1986. Patty retired from the National Park Service after 33 years. Most recently she served as Deputy Regional Director for the Pacific West Region, a region that includes the states of California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Hawaii as well as the territories of Guam, Saipan, and American Samoa. In addition to supervising park superintendents, she had programmatic responsibilities for Budget, Finance, Contracting, Information Technology, Facilities Management, and Human Resources. She is the recipient of the Department of Interior Meritorious Service Award and the Distinguished Service Award. Before working for the National Park Service, Patty worked as a grant administrator for Planned Parenthood of Northern California, Human Resources Director for a computer company, and Program Manager for an educational consulting firm. Patty sits on the Board of Directors for the Public Lands Conservancy and the Fund for People in Parks. She holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the University of California, Davis.

Alison Quoyeser (she/her) | Director, Amigos Alados
Bilingual English/Spanish Speaker
Alison joined the committee in 2018 to lead the festival’s free youth program, the Sunday Family Fun Day, geared for families with budding birders ages 3-15. As a retired teacher, Alison is experienced in creating hands-on curricula, project-based learning opportunities, and musical/theatrical performances to teach about the environment. As a co-founder of Amigos Alados, she works with schools to engage students along the Pacific Flyway (Canada, US, Mexico) about birds and their habitats, and more through a pen-pal program that encourages and instills cultural appreciation of the land and languages across borders so youth can learn about migratory birds they share. Since 2017 she has served as a faculty member of STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed), which is the educational arm of Point Blue Conservation Science. Alison received a B.A. from Smith College, a Master of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an elementary teaching credential from the University of California at Berkeley.

Colleen Richardson (she/her) | Private Chef/Cooking Instructor
Colleen joins the festival committee with expertise in the culinary world and will be working with us on our catering menu and partners. With 20 years of experience as an adventure guide in over 20 states, Colleen’s passion for food and cooking began while studying in Rome, Italy during her senior year of college. She lived in an apartment above a piazza called Campo de’ Fiori and every morning an outdoor market full of fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese and flowers would sing to her eyes and taste buds. After returning home and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Washington, Colleen was determined to pursue a career in food. She attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and received an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts. She spent a few years working in the East Coast food scene, including a growing season on a biodynamic farm in upstate New York, called Hawthorne Valley. She has worked with several food purveyors through Marin and Sonoma counties. Through understanding how a vegetable begins as a seed and grows into a food that can be eaten, Colleen wants to teach others where their food comes from and how to gain the most nutrition from cooking.

Dallas Smith (he/him) | Owner/Guide, Point Reyes Adventure Co.
Dallas is a festival guide and joins the festival committee with a lens on schedule development and guide recruitment. With 20 years of experience as an adventure guide in over 20 states, Dallas is a seasoned pro when it comes to leading groups of all sizes through the great outdoors, particularly here in the beautiful Point Reyes area. Growing up, his family owned a multi-use campground, so he has been helping others discover the joys of the outdoors his entire life. His love for adventure and fun knows no bounds, as he still embarks on expeditions that take him far and wide, even when not working. In addition to his work in the outdoor industry, Dallas is a dedicated environmentalist and community volunteer. Serving on the board of the Tomales Bay Foundation since 2016, he plays a crucial role in monitoring water quality, distributing grants for scientific research, and organizing educational events. He also lends his time and expertise to numerous other local organizations, making a positive impact on the community whenever he can. When he's not leading expeditions or volunteering, you can find Dallas honing his skills as a kayak repair technician, capturing stunning moments through his photography, or co-hosting the West Marin Naturalist Hour, on KWMR 90.5FM. Click on his company name for his full list of certifications.

Jessica Taylor (she/her) | Development Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Jessica is the primary hawkeye of festival management. She has nearly two decades of development experience and brings a deep sense of connection to the park, people, and places that make up our West Marin community as a full-time resident. She is on the EAC Advisory Committee, heads our Development and Bird Festival Committees, and represents EAC at the West Marin Collaborative, a community group that meets to illuminate community needs, coordinate local service providers, empower organizations to work together, enhance services that participants can provide their clients, under the shared vision of reducing health disparities and increasing well-being. Jessica’s professional career has included working at Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association. Her first love of the outdoors came as a young child in Illinois where she spent whole days playing outside, collecting fireflies, riding bikes, and tilling the soil in her grandmother’s backyard. Later, family camping trips fueled her desire to find a career in the outdoors. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with a minor in Public Relations from Sonoma State University, an Associate of Science in Forestry with a minor in Interpretation, and an Associate of Art from Reedley College. 

Ellen Thomas (she/her) | Semi-Retired, Volunteer Naturalist
Ellen joins the festival committee with a lens on assisting with schedule development, administrative tasks, and keynote/festival management. She has been involved with Audubon Canyon Ranch as a member and volunteer Nature Guide at Martin Griffin Preserve in Stinson Beach since 2012, and a Wildflower Tour Guide at their Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen as of 2024. Starting in the winter of 2024, Ellen is a Winter Wildlife Docent with Point Reyes National Seashore. She retired in 2022 from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an Executive Administrator to the Director of the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division. Prior to that, she was the Executive Assistant (EA) to the General Manager of Disney’s ImageMovers Digital film studio and EA to the VP of Business Finance and Operations at Industrial Light + Magic and Lucasfilm. Ellen has been a dedicated volunteer over many years with the Mill Valley Film Festival and CA Film Institute as well as the Center for Domestic Peace, home of Marin Abused Women’s Services.

Seamus Tomkins (he/him) | Communications and Development Coordinator, Dance Palace Community & Cultural Center
Bilingual English/Spanish Speaker
Seamus joins the festival committee with a lens on schedule development and guide recruitment. Seamus is the Development & Communications Coordinator at the Dance Palace Community & Cultural Center. Seamus often plays locally in his one-man band, Press on Randy, and can be found sharing his knowledge as a co-host on the West Marin Naturalist Hour on KWMR 90.5FM. Seamus is also an avid runner and thespian.

Liz Wilhelm (she/her) | Owner/Guide, Point Reyes Adventure Co.
Liz is a festival guide and joins the festival committee with a lens on schedule development and guide recruitment. With a solid foundation in adventure from her Eco-Tourism and Adventure Travel Degree, Liz has been an integral part of the guiding community in Point Reyes for over 15 years. Her journey began as an intern in Point Reyes, and since then, her passion for adventure has only deepened, leading her to explore far-flung destinations even during her downtime. Beyond her expertise in outdoor pursuits, Liz brings a wealth of experience. With over two decades as a certified massage therapist and yoga instructor, she embodies holistic wellness alongside her environmental advocacy and community engagement. When she's not leading expeditions or lending a hand to local causes, Liz can be found sharing her knowledge as a co-host on the West Marin Naturalist Hour on KWMR 90.5FM, immersing herself in the beauty of the local landscape, or mingling with the community like the social butterfly she is. Click on her company name for her full list of certifications.

Celine Underwood (she/her) | Operations Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
Celine joins the festival committee with a lens on financial management and operations. Celine has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, leading a successful and iconic local company focused on a triple bottom line of people, prosperity, and profit. Celine brings superior managerial and organizational skills and diverse business & finance experience. Celine has an innate ability to creatively problem solve, and to build positive relationships within the community and in the workplace. Having grown up in the more remote regions of agricultural West Marin within state and national park boundaries, Celine has developed a unique relationship with the physical landscape and the varied ways we inhabit and ‘use” our land. She has a passion for examining our relationship with the natural world, how we interface with it, and our responsibility to reconnect with the dynamic of mutual benefit by thoughtfully stewarding our shared resources. Celine is inspired to be an active part of West Marin’s non-profit community. She has served on the Coastal Health Alliance board, been a West Marin Standing Together member, and a contributing member of an exploratory group with Supervisor Rodoni to consider a special interest district for Point Reyes Station. She is a current board member of Gallery Route One.  

David Wimpfheimer (he/him) | Board Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC)
David is a co-founder of the EAC’s Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival, a current festival guide, and joined the committee in an advisory role leading schedule development, guide recruitment, and keynote development since 2010. David is a biologist and naturalist, who has a passion for the birds and the natural history of the West. He has been leading trips and expeditions for almost forty years, including classes for the Point Reyes Field Institute, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and the California Academy of Sciences, as well as tours in Mexico, Alaska, Scotland, and other regions for groups including the Smithsonian Institution, Wild Wings, and Road Scholar. 

Patty Wimpfheimer |
Patty joined the committee in 2018 in an advisory role and has helped with keynote development and volunteer management.