PARK STEWARDSHIP STAFF

Sue Gardner, Director
E-mail Sue | (415) 561-3067 | Staff Bio 

Monica Stafford, Park Stewardship Program Manager
E-mail Monica | (510) 295-7727 | Staff Bio

Jennifer Belloni, Office Operations Manager
E-mail Jennifer | (415) 561-3076

Meghan Steinharter, Oceana Nursery Manager
E-mail Meghan | (415) 517-6373 | Staff Bio

Eddie Araujo, Youth Program Coordinator
E-mail Eddie | (415) 756-9448

Park Stewardship Restoration Team 

Christina Crooker, Restoration Manager
E-mail Christina | (415) 561-3070 | Staff Bio

Christine Rohal, Restoration Intern
E-mail Christine | (415) 561-3071

 

Park Stewardship Marin Team  

Naomi LeBeau, Marin Community Program Manager
E-mail Naomi | (415) 321-9668 | Staff Bio   

Tori Bohlen, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Tori   

Patrick Blanchard, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Patrick 

Park Stewardship San Francisco Team 

Alex Hooker, San Francisco Community Program Manager
E-mail Alex | (415) 730-6379

Eric Klein, Assistant Program Manager
E-mail Eric | (415) 680-6938 | Staff Bio

Vertin Alvarez, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Vertin |  (415) 561-4864

Navit Reid, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Navit | (415) 561-4864 |Staff Bio

Park Stewardship San Mateo Team 

Price Sheppy, San Mateo Program Manager
E-mail Price | (415) 561-3073 |  Staff Bio

Julia Johnson, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Julia | (415) 561-3078 |   Staff Bio

Elise Hinman , Restoration and Community Programs Intern
E-mail Elise | (415) 561-3078 |   Staff Bio

Trails Forever Team 

Galena Seeger, Trails Stewardship Program Manager
E-mail Galena | (415) 561-3068 | Staff Bio

Jamie Quesenberry-Gunson, Trails and Community Programs Intern
Email Jamie |(415) 561-3015 |Staff Bio

Staff Bios 

Sue Gardner, Director 
Sue’s career as a natural resources manager started in 1991 at Point Reyes National Seashore where she worked to restore habitat in the parks wilderness area. In 1993, she became the first staff person for the Park Stewardship Program and has spent many years pioneering ways to involve the community in restoration work, with an emphasis on protecting threatened and endangered species. Sue earned a B.A. in Business Economics and a minor in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Under Sue’s leadership, the Park Stewardship Program is considered to be on the cutting edge of building community and educational partnerships to support natural resource efforts in the park. Sue and her staff regularly share their proven methods at conferences and with visiting park managers from local, state, federal and international conservation agencies.

Monica Stafford, Park Stewardship Program Manager 
Monica's introduction to the field of environmental restoration and community stewardship began in 1995, when fresh out of college, she joined the Presidio Park Stewards Program as a Park Service Intern. With the Presidio Park Stewards, she worked five years as the production manager of the Presidio Native Plant Nursery, as well as on project sites throughout the Presidio. Since that time, Monica has worked on a variety of habitat types: on coastal dune and scrub systems as restoration manager for Feral Dunes in the Presidio, in riparian corridors with the Friends of Sausal Creek in Oakland, and on coastal terrace prairie and salt marsh habitats as a project manager for the Watershed Project. Now with the Park Stewardship program, she is lucky enough to get out to all sorts of diverse and inspring areas in the Golden Gate National Parks, and to work alongside the some of the most motivated and fun people out there. Monica completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Chicgo, and a Master's from U.C. Berkeley in rangeland science where she focused on grassland systems. 

Meghan Steinharter, Oceana Nursery Manager 
Meghan joined the Park Stewardship Program as an education intern in the fall of 2006. She loved working at the Oceana Native Plant Nursery so much that she later accepted a position as the Oceana Nursery Manager. During her years with the Conservancy, Meghan has also monitored the endangered Mission Blue Butterflies at Milagra Ridge and worked as a Public Information Coordinator at Mori Point. Meghan is originally from New England where she graduated from the University of Vermont in 2005 with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. She took time to study ecotourism in Belize her junior year at UVM, intensifying her love of traveling. While attending school she worked in a molecular botany lab where she completed independent research projects on the legume Medicago truncatula. Directly after college, she interned with the Student Conservation Association on an island off the North Carolina coast in Cape Lookout National Seashore where she monitored endangered sea turtle nests. Meghan is very happy be in a position that allows her to couple her knowledge of wildlife biology, botany, and ecology with education and environmental stewardship at the Conservancy.

Christina Crooker, Restoration Manager 
Christina began her career working on conservation issues at her home state of Hawaii. There, she researched endangered birds, monitored federally listed plants and tree snails, monitored the impact of invasive plant and animal species on native plant communities, micro-propagated rare plants, and controlled invasive species. Her conservation ethic was shaped early on during her time as a biologist for the U.S. Army in Hawaii where she managed 88 rare and endangered species on four military reservations on Oahu. From 1997 to 2003 she served as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where she conducted formal consultations for endangered species. She also served for two years as deputy chair for the Oahu Invasive Species Committee. Since her move to California in 2003, she has focused her work in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. As a project manager at Fort Baker, she was responsible for running all aspects of the natural resource program including overseeing restoration and volunteer programs, designing and implementing research and monitoring programs, fundraising, and providing expertise and support on compliance issues. In her current position with the Park Stewardship Program, Christina plans and oversees restoration projects at four sites hosting the federally listed Mission blue butterfly, San Bruno elfin, San Francisco garter snake, and the California red-legged frog.  

Naomi LeBeau, Marin Community Program Manager
With her first field job as a seasonal biological technician working in the heat of the southeast U.S., Naomi fell in love with working outdoors and learning about the natural world. After graduating with a degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida, she made her way to San Francisco where she worked as a Propagation Intern for the Presidio Native Plant Nursery. Working with nursery volunteers from all backgrounds and ages to do good work outdoors and make a difference – what a galvanizing experience! Since her internship, she has worked with many wonderful organizations including Tree Frog Treks as an after school hands-on science teacher; Friends of the Urban Forest as a Planting Manager organizing community tree planting events; and the National Parks Service as a seasonal Biological Technician working on Fire Effects research in Point Reyes National Seashore. Naomi joined the Park Stewardship team in fall 2011 as the Marin Community Program Manager and can be found stewarding the various habitats around Muir Beach and Dias Ridge trail. 

Price Sheppy, San Mateo Program Manager 
Price Sheppy graduated from the University of Oregon in 2004 with an environmental science degree. He then started working at Aprovecho Sustainable Living Research and Education Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon as the Internship Coordinator. He started his restoration career in 2006 in Eugene, Oregon working on the Delta Ponds Wetland Restoration Project. During that time he volunteered with the Eugene Native Plant Nursery and at the Nature Conservancy’s Willow Creek Reserve. He then spent a summer monitoring the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly in Philomath, Oregon with Washington State University. Price took a job with the Parks Conservancy in 2007 working at Mori Point as a Biomonitor on the frog pond construction project. He continued to work with the Parks Conservancy at many park sites as a Public Information Coordinator, Biological Technician, and Biomonitor until he joined the Park Stewardship program in 2009.

Galena Seeger, Trails Stewardship Program Manager 
Splitting her childhood between the northern California mountains and the family farm in the central valley, Galena spent most of her time outside experiencing the natural world first hand. Science was the obvious fit for her degree at UC Santa Cruz and has been a common thread throughout her professional life. Her diverse work experience includes Biological Technician for the USFS, Field Science Educator and Contract Coordinators for the Yosemite and Headlands Institute, Grant Coordinator for the Salmon River Restoration Council, and Special Projects Associate for The Yosemite Conservancy. Galena joined the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in 2009 as the Trails Stewardship Program Manager where she manages and coordinates with the Park Service trail crews to lead volunteers and in trail construction and maintenance. Galena enjoys forging new relationships with volunteers and agency employees and loves that her job takes her to deep forests, city vistas, and ocean breezes.

Eric Klein, San Francisco Assistant Program Manager 
Having grown up in the woods and on the lakes of western Michigan, it’s no surprise that Eric has found himself running volunteer programs in the most natural and remote corners of San Francisco (Lands End, Presidio, Fort Funston). After receiving his bachelor’s degree in classical music performance from the University of Michigan in 2004 (and since supplemented with years of volunteering in the park, interning at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, running his own California native gardening business, and taking countless classes in all aspects of the natural world), you can find him at Lands End, often performing experiments to assess the health effects of accordion music on newly-planted California coastal scrub ecosystems. He has been working with the San Francisco Stewardship team since 2010 and thoroughly loves working with his passionate coworkers, our dedicated volunteers, and our delightful little native plants.

Julia Johnson, Restoration and Community Programs Intern 
Julia graduated with a double major in Art and Biology from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. While in college, Julia spent time studying the temperate rainforests in New Zealand and prairie remnants in Washington. She also led youth backpacking trips over the summer in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico and organized a student community garden. To add to the mix, Julia pursued her interest in ceramics as part of her senior project. Since graduating she has traveled up and down the coast from Kodiak, Alaska to the Pacific Rim Institute in Washington and now back to California seeking out beautiful habitats and people who share her interest in restoration and conservation. She is happy to be back in her home state as an intern with Park Stewardship. Julia works in the Oceana Native Plant Nursery and helps run volunteer restoration programs with Park Stewardship's San Mateo team.

Navit Reid, Restoration and Community Programs Intern
Navit’s commitment to the natural world took shape early on, while growing up next to a national forest in western Nebraska.  She followed her interests in the sciences to a small college surrounded by apple orchards and farmland in western Massachusetts.  Earning her degree in Ecology from Hampshire College in 2010, Navit complemented her education with three fantastic internships with the Student Conservation Association.  She spent a summer exploring the avalanches and mountains of the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington as a Forest Ranger.  A season at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska as a Jr. Ranger Ambassador brought her back to the prairies and introduced her to the field of environmental education.  A natural resources internship at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont brought about a strong interest in land management and community engagement, leading her to join the Parks Conservancy Stewardship Program in September 2011.         

Elise Hinman , Restoration and Community Programs Intern 
Elise graduated from UC Davis in June 2011 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management. While at college, she spent a year as a Naturalist in the UC Davis Arboretum, educating 2nd through 4th grade students about life cycles, plant and animal adaptations, and Native Californian plant uses. She also spent many quarters involved in research projects, from analyzing scat samples of the endangered Island Fox, to weeding algae as part of an intertidal study on community resilience to disturbance. After college, Elise spent a summer in the undergraduate research program, Collaborative Learning at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology. In this program, she worked with eight other recent graduates to develop and create a mathematical model related to a current topic in biology. Her cohort designed a model that explored the effect of milk composition on the succession of the gut microbial community of human infants. She then spent a month and a half camping around California and Oregon while performing a monkeyflower demography study with an Evolution and Ecology professor from Colorado State University. In October 2011, Elise joined the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy’s Park Stewardship Program. She hopes to fulfill her passion for environmental education and to share the Conservancy’s mission with people of all ages.

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