Eric Wesselman, Executive Director, joined the Tuolumne River Trust in January 2006. Raised in rural Oregon, Eric has been engaged in California water issues since 2001, with an emphasis on urban water conservation. Wesselman served as the Sierra Club's Regional Representative and as the Convener for the California Urban Water Conservation Council and a member of the Water Use Efficiency Public Advisory Subcommittee for CALFED. Wesselman holds a M.S. in Environmental Science from The Johns Hopkins University, a B.S. in Conservation and Natural Resource Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and has specialized training in grassroots organizing from the GreenCorpFieldSchool for Environmental Organizing and the MidwestAcademy.
Patrick Koepele has been with the Trust since July of 2000. He served as our Central Valley Program Director from 2000 to early 2008 when he took on the new role of Deputy Executive Director. Prior to joining the Trust, Patrick worked as a Water Resources and Restoration Planner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he acquired deep knowledge of restoration issues and activities throughout the Central Valley. Patrick's experience includes surveying, groundwater, river and bank erosion studies. Patrick has a Masters of Science in Geology from the University of California at Davis and a Bachelor's in Geology from ColgateUniversity.
Karyn helped create the Trust's first advancement department in August 2008 after having served as Administrative Director since the beginning of that year. She came to us with experience in administrative and small business management and has gained extensive knowledge of non-profit fundraising and organizational development. Karyn was raised in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a B.S. in Zoology. She shares a deep rooted interest in environmental and wildlife conservation with our team and in her free time enjoys hiking, camping, and distance running.
Chris joined TRT in late September '08. He recently made the move from Taos, New Mexico where he gained extensive knowledge of finance and administration with the Hunuman Temple, Lama Foundation, and with Earth's Birthday in Santa Fe. Chris enjoys many outdoor activities, especially hiking, backpacking, rafting, and snowshoeing. He's looking forward to exploring all California has to offer!
Karlha Davies Nature and Neighborhood Project Director karlha@tuolumne.org Karlha Davies joined the Tuolumne River Trust as River Parkway Project Manager and now our Nature and Neighborhood Project Director after working as a land planner at Stanislaus County and a communications Specialist at the Yosemite Community College District. She holds an B.A. in Organizational Communications with an emphasis in Chicano Studies from CSU Stanislaus and is a lifelong resident of Stanislaus County. Mrs. Davies primary focus at the Tuolumne River Trust is to build resident community capacity in underserved riverside communities, engage them in civic decisions, and integrate their views and ideas in the long-term action plans for achieving healthy, economically viable neighborhoods and riverfront parks.
Peter Drekmeier, Bay Area Program Director, joined the Trust in August 2007. Raised in Palo Alto on Hetch Hetchy water, Peter knows the Bay Area well. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1987 with a Political Science degree, and has been an environmental organizer ever since. In 1990 he founded Bay Area Action (now Acterra), and has coordinated two international Earth Day campaigns. He has extensive experience working on land use initiatives, and water is his favorite natural resource. Peter is a whitewater rafting guide and a former mayor of Palo Alto.
John is thrileld to have joined the Trust to guide the 3rd Annual Paddle to the Sea in 2011 and our Fall Canoe Tours. A native of the Midwest, he holds a B.S. in Design from Ohio State University. In addition to his position with the Trust, he works as an architectural design consultant and fabricates custom composites for the paddle sport community. After years of racing sailboats, he took up whitewater kayaking and has been running out of dry clothes ever since! He engages with passion the communitites of coastal kayaking, slalom whitewater racing and river running, sprint kayak racing, surf skis, and occasionally Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling. He has run many rivers and streams of the West and teaches kayaking. When he manages to get off the water, John lives with his wife, Marietta, and their daughter in San Rafael.
A Modesto native, Analisa is excited to be working with the riverside residents in West Modesto. She joined the Trust in October 2011 after gaining experience mentoring and project organizing for various organizations in both New York and California. She earned her BA in Cultural Studies from Sarah Lawrence College and aspires to continue applying her personal and professional knowledge to build positive and productive community partnerships with the citizens of West Modesto.
Karen is a San Francisco native with a passion for environmental education. She joined the Trust in September 2010. Karen got her start in watershed education in 2006 through the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project as the program's Education Team Leader. More recently, she ran the education program at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, an educational low-water botanical garden in Walnut Creek. Karen has her B.A. in Environmental Politics from Humboldt State University and also holds a certificate in permaculture design. In her spare time you can find her backpacking, dancing, or (living up to her last name) gardening.
Meg Gonzalez Central Valley Director of Outreach Education meg@tuolumne.org
Before joining the Trust in January 2007, Meg was with the GreatValleyMuseum, in Modesto, where she managed the Traveling Teacher staff and worked on program development. While at the Museum, Meg co-authored a California science standards-based curriculum Trekking the Tuolumne River which serves as a model for the Trust’s Tuolumne River Outdoor Classroom program. Before moving to California, Meg worked for the Tierrenuestra Foundation in Paraguay, developing curriculum and workshops designed to help poor teachers use their natural surroundings to teach science. She has worked as an educator and field biologist in Paraguay, and Vermont. Meg received her B.A. in Biology from MountHolyokeCollege and a M.A. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont.
Jessie Raeder, Relicensing Coordinator and Paddle to the Sea Director jessie@tuolumne.org
Jessie Raeder coordinates the Trust's campaign to restore the salmon of the lower Tuolumne by getting more water in the river, and she also heads up the organizing of our annual Paddle to the Sea. Jessie cut her teeth organizing clubs on college campuses for the Feminist Majority Foundation, and she has worked on ballot initiative campaigns and voter registration drives in several states. She sits on the board of the SalmonAid Foundation and is active in the movement to restore of wild Pacific salmon to the rivers and streams of the West Coast. It was working with the South Yuba River Citizens League on the Source to Sea project that inspired Jessie's unlimited enthusiasm for wild rivers and wild salmon.
A West Modesto native, Ramsses is excited to be working at the Trust as the Riverside Activities Coordinator. He joined the Trust's Nature and Neighborhood program in November 2011 with many years of experience working with at-risk youth and elementary school age children. His education began at Modesto Junior College and later continued at California State University - Stanislaus where he studied Liberal Studies with a concentration in Child Development. He is passionate about connecting youth to the outdoors and hopes to build personal and professional partnerships with families and children in the Airport Neighborhodd.
Patrick Koepele
Chris Daniels
Karen Gardner
Meg Gonzalez
