Board of Directors

Enjoying the natural world has been a life-long passion. Because I grew up in the suburban sprawl of southern California, joining the Girl Scouts made a huge difference in my life giving me opportunities to experience the natural beauty of California’s mountains, deserts, beaches, and islands. In 1980 my husband Jim and I moved to the Puget Sound where I realized I had finally found the perfect place to bring my love for forests, mountains, meadows and my very strong connection with the sea back together. We lived aboard our boat for almost 10 years, enjoying sailing, scuba diving and exploring the myriad of inland waters that make up the Salish Sea ecosystem. Not long after moving to Lummi Island I learned about the work that LIHT was doing to protect and preserve land, and began volunteering to help out with various projects. I became a citizen member of LIHT’s Community Outreach Committee and have taken the lead in organizing several special events and programs for the trust over the years. I am looking forward to continuing to support land conservation and preservation on Lummi Island as a member of the Board.

Our love of hiking, the outdoors, and solitude is what drew my partner and me to Lummi Island in 2019. Since then, it has been the kindness, creativity, and resourcefulness of the people here who have helped us decide that this is our forever home. One of the reasons we moved to Lummi Island was because of the active work of the LIHT, and I am deeply honored to join the wonderful Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers who make this organization the success that it is. I am committed to the stewardship of the wild places on this island. Preserving the nature of Lummi Island means seeing the land as a gift and a responsibility and valuing the plants and other-than-human creatures as much as the humans who depend upon these wilds. These are teachings that Native Americans have held from time immemorial, but their knowledge and stories benefit everyone. I currently teach at Western Washington University, where I have been a professor for twenty-eight years.

Lummi Island’s charm captivated me when I spent a summer on the island in 1993 while in college. I spent the intervening years until I became a full time resident in 2000 working and traveling abroad, but the island’s pull drew me back again and again while home visiting. I’m forever grateful for how the island and its community has shaped who I am today, which is why I find myself volunteering for LIHT in various capacities. I’ve worked as a teacher, graphic designer, and I’ve done just about every job there is to do on the island. All creatures are blessed to call this place home, and I’m honored to play a small role in helping protect it.

I was married on Lummi Island and returned a decade later with my family, drawn by its beauty and the hiking in the open spaces preserved by LIHT. I started volunteering at LIHT events and am committed to preserving nature here.
As a consultant, I apply human-centered design to complex social and environmental sustainability challenges, with a focus on food systems. I have a technical background and have led innovative projects across diverse fields from startups to global companies, mapping gene expression in the brain to creating next-generation analytics tools to developing futuristic products and prototypes.
I love exploring the outdoors—whether biking, hiking, x-skiing, or being on the water—and I’m passionate about using user-centered approaches to create meaningful, positive change.

A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, I have been fortunate to travel extensively and experience natural wonders in many locations across the globe – hiking, skiing, cycling, diving, and sailing. Much as I enjoy new adventures and experiences, I am always happy to return to the splendor of the Pacific Northwest.
It was sailing that first drew me to the San Juan Islands, a pursuit that opened my world to the majesty of the Salish Sea. When my husband and I found a home on Lummi Island, I became familiar with the work of the Lummi Island Heritage Trust and determined to become involved.
I have built a successful career in corporate operations leadership with deep expertise in financial and project management and change leadership. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to apply my experiences and abilities to support the work of LIHT and protect this magical place that we now call home.

My wife Barbara and I discovered Whatcom County during a 2003 backpacking trip to the North Cascades. Determined to experience the water-sport opportunities offered, we purchased a cabin on Lummi Island and, upon my retirement after 41 years in the chemical business, spent 8 consecutive summers on Lummi Island. Upon selling our cabin, we purchased 4 forested acres, thinking it might be the site of our ultimate residence. Though we decided to live for a significant period in Bellingham, we have upgraded our Lummi property with a "tiny house" which we use for brief overnight stays. I have previously served on the Boards of Lutheran Community Services of Wilmington, DE, the Santa Fe chapter of Girls Incorporated, and the Santa Fe Alliance for Science.

After a long search for a location to spend our retirement years, I knew as soon as I got off the ferry for the first time that Lummi Island was the place. Drawn by the forests, water, mountains and perhaps most of all, the community, my spouse Debbi and I became property owners in 2010 and moved here permanently from Nebraska in 2017. Recently retired, I have served as a forester in leadership positions with nonprofits and government in the US and overseas for more than 40 years. I have worked to protect and enhance the health and vitality of forests, to restore severely disturbed lands, and was fortunate to participate in programs to secure and protect threatened conservation lands. I know first-hand the great value of protecting forest land and open space for future generations and am committed to working with the Trust and its great staff to sustainably achieve those goals.

As a child our family camped, hiked and enjoyed nature in the southwest. I have traveled a lot with my IT jobs over the years. On one of our trips our family discovered the beauty of the Pacific NW and we spent a lot of time vacationing in the area. After deciding to move to the NW from Texas we found our current house on Lummi. I have been amazed at the beauty of nature we see on a day to day basis here. After hiking the trails on the island and volunteering, I have learned to appreciate and be impressed by the work of the Heritage Trust. From the people to the nature that surrounds us, we should not only be thankful, but willing to do the things to continue to conserve and protect this special place. This organization allows us to be the stewards on Lummi Island and allows nature to be protected and enjoyed into the future for us and those who will follow.