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
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 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.
Andrew grew up in New Jersey and came to love nature through hiking with family and friends in and around the Delaware Water Gap. He continued to seek natural spaces when he moved to North Carolina in 2010. There, he took up trail running, volunteered at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and worked in sustainable agriculture. Through his work, he considered the ways that agriculture, conservation, and community can combine to restore habitats and our relation to them. He’s excited to apply everything he’s learned to his work with Eastern Sierra Land Trust and to be working to help the Eastern Sierra community conserve this beautiful part of the world.Board Members
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.
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.
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.
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..
Advisory Board
Scott Burns
Lands Committee
Steve Frisch
President – Sierra Business Council
Mary Glenn
Audit Committee
Rusty Gregory
Chairman and CEO – Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Linda Hess
Attorney at Law
Sandy Hogan
Retired Special Operations Coordinator – Inyo National Forest
Ruth MacFarlane
Development Committee
Paul and Kate Page
Donor Special Events
Pete Pumphrey
Lands Committee
Orrin Sage
Lands Committee
Brian Stange
Finance and Investment Committee