At Eastern Sierra Land Trust, we often talk about our accomplishments in terms of lands, water, and wildlife. And yet, at our core, we’re an organization OF the community, FOR the community.
Each member of our Staff and Board of Directors brings unique insights and expertise to the table, and we work collaboratively to ensure that we take into account the many opinions that make our region so wonderfully diverse. By working together, we believe that we can find common ground and develop long-term land use solutions that will benefit all: residents and visitors, ranchers and environmentalists, families and wildlife alike. Together with supporters like you, we’re creating a better future for the Eastern Sierra we love.
Are you interested in joining our team at Eastern Sierra Land Trust? Visit our Employment Page to see current staff openings, and contact us today to share your skills and passions with us. We’re always looking for energized and committed community members who want to have a hand in advancing local conservation.
Eastern Sierra Land Trust Staff
Kay Ogden, Executive Director
Kay was appointed to the position of ESLT Executive Director in May 2013 after working as Associate Director for the Sierra Nevada Alliance. She brings great passion for the Eastern Sierra landscape and experience in project management, strategic planning, fundraising, building connections, and leading effective programs. Kay also has extensive creative experience: she spent 18 years operating her own design and marketing firm, and two years as a board member of the Mono County Arts Council. Kay is a participant in the Land Trust Alliance’s Leadership program, and is a board member of the California Council of Land Trusts. She also enjoys gardening, canning fresh food grown in her garden, and hiking and cycling with her husband, Jeff Boone, and their rescued German Shepherd, Rush Creek.
Susanna Danner, Land Conservation Program Director
Sus protects wildlife habitat through conservation easements, land acquisitions, and collaborative projects with private landowners, government agencies, and community partners. Prior to joining ESLT, Sus spent eight years with The Nature Conservancy’s Idaho Chapter, where she was the Director of Protection, coordinating a statewide program to protect working lands and wildlife habitat. Before her time in Idaho, she spent fourteen years in California’s Central Coast, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and worked for Coastal Watershed Council and The Big Sur Land Trust. Originally from Massachusetts, Sus and her family made frequent trips to the Sierra to ski and visit her uncle in Mammoth Lakes. She enjoys natural history, hiking, flyfishing, bicycling, birdwatching, and watercolor painting.
Heather Freeman, Philanthropy Manager
Working from 2009-2012 as Eastern Sierra Land Trust’s Membership & Office Coordinator gave Heather an understanding of the critical role that ESLT supporters and members play in conserving the Eastern Sierra’s wild and working lands. After spending several years away from the Land Trust further developing marketing and design skills, she returned to the ESLT staff in 2016. Heather is excited to use her expertise and experience to build on and strengthen the great programs in place. Having lived in the Eastern Sierra for the past 10 years, she continues to enjoy exploring the beautiful natural places we have access to by foot, Jeep, bike or snowboard.
Marie Ring, Education Coordinator & AmeriCorps Member
Marie joined the ESLT team in October 2018 and is excited for all of the new opportunities to come. Although she was born and raised in Maine, the Eastern Sierra has always been a place she’s wanted to explore. She recently graduated from the University of Maine in May 2018 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. While serving with ESLT, Marie is looking forward to working with children to get them excited about the environment at a young age and connecting the community to the Eastern Sierra. When not working, you can often find Marie spending time outside exploring new hiking trails, reading in her hammock or trying to become friends with any dogs she comes across.
Sara Kokkelenberg, Land Stewardship Manager
Sara manages the Stewardship Program for Eastern Sierra Land Trust after transitioning from her time as the Education Coordinator and AmeriCorps Member. She is pleased to be living and working in the incredible beauty of the Eastside and to be constantly learning from conservation experts in their fields. Having grown up in the damp chill of Chicago, she couldn’t be happier with Bishop’s heat and sunshine. She spends most of her free time running from one adventure to the next – highlining, hiking, and skiing.
Kristen Stipanov, Communications Coordinator
Back in Kristen’s childhood home, there lies a book full of bad poetry about the Eastern Sierra that she authored as a ten-year-old. Today, she claims that her experiences in these same mountains drove her to pursue her degree in art history and English literature from Stanford University. She focused her studies there on photography and literature from the American West. Kristen is grateful to now work for this land she has returned to all her life. She brings a background in community journalism, photography, and nonprofit work to the Eastern Sierra Land Trust. Outside of the office, Kristen enjoys cycling, hot-springs-soaking, and heading off deep into the wilderness with a backpack full of novels.
Carissa Gospodinoff, Administrative Manager
Carissa grew up 30 miles outside New York City in Greenwich, Connecticut, where her family had operated a tree nursery for four generations. As a kid growing up on this 10-acre property surrounded by nature, the only rule during summer was to come home and eat when the dinner bell was rung. After attending college in New York City, Carissa worked in the U.S. Virgin Islands educating school groups about local ecology and various methods to increase local conservation efforts. Once she returned stateside, Carissa realized she wanted to explore more of the country and accepted a position in South Lake Tahoe as Operations Manager with the Sierra Nevada Alliance. She quickly fell in love with the Sierra Nevada region. Carissa is excited to continue working hard to protect and preserve such a valuable part of the country with ESLT. In her free time you can find Carissa frolicking through streams and rivers with her pup, Samson.
Board Members
Bob Gardner, President
Bob is the retired Vice President for Administration and Finance for California State University San Bernardino. He is currently on the Mono County Board of Supervisors, and also served on the City Council for the City of Redlands. He is a native Californian and spends time at his cabin in June Lake with his wife Karen. Along with their three sons, Bob and Karen enjoy skiing and exploring the Eastern Sierra.
Marie Patrick, Vice President
Marie moved to Crowley Lake after many years of visiting the area from LA. She founded, owned, and managed the City of Los Angeles Marathon for over twenty years, prior to that organizing and promoting tennis, golf and cycling events in the U.S. and Europe. She and her husband enjoy all that the Eastern Sierra has to offer – hiking, biking, skiing, fishing and the four seasons!
Randy Keller, Secretary
As a youth, Randy visited his parents’ cabin on Little Hilton Creek and spent endless hours floating around Crowley Lake. After joining the Air Force and graduating from law school, he served as a JAG officer specializing in environmental law. In 2000, Randy moved to Bishop and was hired by Inyo County as deputy county counsel. During his final four years with the County, he served as the County Counsel advising the Board of Supervisors and managing litigation and the office. He retired in August of 2013. Randy now enjoys spending his time photographing the Eastern Sierra deserts, hiking in the mountains, and skiing at Mammoth.
Robert Sharp, Treasurer
Robert Sharp was born in Bishop, CA and raised in the Eastern Sierra. He’s 4th generation to the Mono-Inyo counties area with strong historical family ties to Mammoth Lakes, Lee Vining, and Bridgeport. After graduating high school he spent 2 years of various types of traveling and community service. After which he went to study university throughout the US and EU. Among some of his favorite places that he studied are London, Berlin, Paris, and Rome. Robert obtained a bachelor’s degree in European Area Studies from Brigham Young University. After graduation, he started his career, and became heavily involved in the Lake Tahoe area for 5 years. He recently moved back home to the Eastern Sierra where he took a Vice President position of the Eastern Sierra Community Bank division, of Oak Valley Community Bank (NASDAQ: OVLY). His favorite things to do in his spare time are hike and explore the Eastern Sierra, read, learn, and engage in serving his local communities. Robert is the Youth Service Director for the Rotary Club of Mammoth Lakes, and was recently appointed to the Northern Inyo Health District Board of Directors.
Tim Bartley, Director
Tim and his wife Pam moved to Mammoth Lakes in 2010. Tim has been an active volunteer in local conservation, stewardship, and water quality projects. He spent his professional career in biotech research at Amgen, and holds a PhD. Tim is an avid fisherman, and he frequently works with ESLT’s volunteer team to advance important habitat restoration projects in the Eastern Sierra.
Rick Kattelmann, Director
Rick is a mostly-retired hydrologist who continues to work a little with water issues of the eastern Sierra Nevada. In the mid-1990s, he was the principal hydrologist for the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, during which he became aware of the critical importance of land trusts in conservation. That interest contributed to the founding of the Eastern Sierra Land Trust. Rick was on the ESLT’s board from the beginning until 2012 and has returned in 2018. He has served as Treasurer, Vice-President, and Secretary, and has chaired the Lands Committee.
Joanne Parsons, Director
Joanne has lived and worked in the Eastern Sierra for 35 years, serving as Principal of Bishop High School, Regional Lead for the State of California Region 10 After School Programs, Director of the Lone Pine Even Start Program, and as a member of the Mammoth Lakes Unified School Board. For 17 years she also hosted a local television show, Inyo County Update. Although her background is in Education, she has been an avid outdoorswoman for most of her life.
Brynn Pewtherer, Director
As Associate Director of Conservation Programs & Science at The Nature Conservancy in California, Brynn helps align the work of conservation practitioners, scientists, and geodesign staff advancing conservation strategies across the state. Before the Conservancy, she worked in environmental health as Senior Manager for Science and Education at The Breast Cancer Fund and in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance measuring the human health impacts of environmental regulations. Brynn, her husband and two daughters love the Eastern Sierra and visit often from their home in the Bay Area..
Tony Taylor, Board Member Emeritus
Tony has served on the Board of ESLT since the founding of the organization in 2001. He is retired after 29 years in technical marketing and management for the IBM Corporation. He is an active community volunteer and serves multiple organizations in Mammoth Lakes, where he lives with his wife, Sherryl. He has served the University of Redlands in Southern California as president of the Alumni Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees. He also oversees family business activity in Southern California for a large, multigenerational family. Whenever possible, he and Sherryl spend time with their family, including their two married daughters, their son, and their four granddaughters. Tony’s passion for the outdoors expresses itself in his love of cycling, skiing, hiking, backpacking, and fishing. He loves the Eastern Sierra for its spectacular beauty and its amazing geologic history.Advisory Board
Scott Burns
Steve Frisch
Mary Glenn
Rusty Gregory
Linda Hess
Sandy Hogan
Ruth MacFarlane
Paul and Kate Page
Pete Pumphrey
Orrin Sage
Brian Stange