RCD & NRCS staff
The work of the RCD is supported with staffing from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Kellyx Nelson, Executive Director
Kellyx has
worked over 20 years with private and public agencies in conservation
planning, program and project development and implementation,
environmental education, conservation
finance,
community outreach, and resolving conflicts between growth
and conservation.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in
Political Science and Environmental Science and a master's degree in
Public Policy from the University of California
Berkeley.
Jim Howard, NRCS District Conservationist
Jim has been managing ecosystem restoration projects for the past 15 years. He
has worked for the U.S. Peace Corps, the private timber industry, two Resource
Conservation Districts, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. He
holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Management from Humboldt State University and a master’s degree in Water Resources
Management from Duke University.
Renee Moldovan, Fiscal Manager
Renee brings 16 years of business experience in commercial property
management and retail, spanning both operations and administration.
She has also been a small business owner of a company that
provided
bookkeeping services. She has served the community
extensively in a volunteer capacity, including serving on
various boards of directors.
Jim Kjelgaard, NRCS Engineer
Jim holds
a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Penn
State and a master’s degree in
Biological Systems Engineering and a PhD in Engineering Science from Washington State University. His research has included monitoring and
measuring wind erosion, dust emissions, plant water use, and ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange. He is a
registered Civil Engineer in California
and a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control. He has published
numerous research articles and is an expert on earth surface energy fluxes.
He’s a former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer (Yemen
Arab Republic),
has traveled extensively, and provides technical assistance for the San Mateo and Santa Cruz
Resource Conservation Districts.
Carolann Towe, Resource Specialist
Carolann brings extensive experience in watershed stewardship with the
Canadian Department of Fish and Game's Stream Keepers, Mount Seymour
Fish Hatchery in North Vancouver, and San Mateo County Chapter of
Surfrider. She has worked with government agencies,
landowners, environmentalists, farmers, and equestrians to protect and
improve water
quality. Most recently, she founded the Watershed Discovery
Foundation to encourage students to become responsible watershed
stewards.
Marti Johnson, Conservation Associate
Marti grew up on her family's dairy farm in northern San Luis Obispo County. She became interested in sustainable
agriculture through the work of Wendell Berry, and consequently worked for Michael
Ableman at the Center for Urban Renewal at Fairview Gardens. She
has spent eight years working with multiple RCDs in the Central Coast region and has served the
Agriculture Water Quality Alliance of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as the regional RCD Coordinator since
2005. She has also worked on the Coast and Ocean Regional
Roundtables with the Planning and Conservation League Foundation..
Karissa Anderson, Conservation Associate (beginning August 1, 2010)
Karissa
was also born and raised on a farm in northern San Luis Obispo
County. She holds a bachelor's degree in Geography from San Francisco
State University. Most recently, she worked at the San Francisco
Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board, where her work focused
on water quality monitoring and data management for the Surface Water
Ambient Monitoring Program. Karissa's claim to fame is being
able to guess creek water temperatures within 0.1 degrees Celsius using only her hands! Beginning in Fall 2010, Karissa will
be using her work at the RCD as part of her thesis project to complete
her master's degree.
RCD directors
Jim Reynolds
Jim owns and manages a Pescadero farm that has been in the
family for nearly 150 years. He brings over 30 years of experience as a management
consultant, communicating in several languages to help diverse industries
nationally and internationally manage organizational change, business processes,
and reengineering.
Neal Kramer
Neal
is a consulting botanist with a BA in botany from the University of
California, Berkeley, and an MS in Forest Ecology from the University
of Idaho, where he studied plant succession and the role of buried seed
banks in the Rocky Mountains. He holds certifications as an arborist
and in wetland delineation. Prior to consulting, Neal was responsible
for potted plant production on 35 acres of greenhouses and fields at
Nurserymen's Exchange. In his earlier years, Neal was a helicopter
foreman conducting wildfire suppression for the US Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management. Neal loves being outdoors and has enjoyed
photography as a pasttime for over 20 years.
Rich Allen
Rich owns and operates a horse boarding, training, and
lesson facility. He is a founding member of the Coastside
Horse Council and serves as Chairman of the San Mateo County Confined Animal
Ordnance Technical Advisory Committee. He is also active with youth
through the Sheriff’s Juvenile Diversion Program and on the board
of directors of the Watershed Discovery Foundation. Prior
to becoming a full-time rancher, he worked for 20 years in multi-media,
film and video production, serving as president of a production company
in San Francisco.
Roxy Stone
Roxy brings over thirty-five years of corporate business experience in the hospitality industry, primarily Sales and Marketing,
and is currently based at Grand Hyatt San Francisco. Prior experience included
managerial responsibilities in Utah with Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone and
Thiokol Chemical Corporation. She is a self-proclaimed "techie", dabbles in
painting and is an avid equestrian. She is active in the San Francisco
Horseman's Association and an active member of the American Quarter Horse
Association. She has co-chaired the Ol' Fashion 4th of July Parade for the City of
Half Moon Bay for the past 10 years.
TJ Glauthier
TJ is a prominent energy industry leader
with a long list of accomplishments in business, government, and technology.
He served in the White House as the Associate Director for Natural
Resources, Energy and Science in the Office of Management and Budget, where his
work included negotiation of the 1997 Farm Bill. TJ has also
been the second highest official in the U.S. Department of Energy and the
Director of Energy and Climate Change for the World Wildlife Fund.
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