Advisors

Tuolumne River Trust
Advisory Committee

John Amodio
John was Executive Director of the Tuolumne River Trust during the 1980’s when 83 miles of the Tuolumne River were declared Wild and Scenic. He then worked for the State of California Department of Conservation. Gov. Pete Wilson appointed John to the Calif. Integrated Waste Management Board to serve as liaison to the environmental community. Over the years, John has served with many environmental organizations.

Karyn Bryant
Karyn now serves as Director of California Major Gifts at American Rivers. She has written about TRT: “As my first river conservation position and after having been employed by TRT for over 7 years, I will always advocate for the health of the Tuolumne River as my favorite river. I believe in the leadership and experienced program staff of TRT and want to see the organization continue to grow and succeed.” 

Sally Chenault
Sally has a lifetime of personal experience along the Tuolumne River having grown up in Modesto. She is an attorney and mediator with offices  located in Sonora, CA and Modesto, CA. With excellent training from the Junior League of Santa Barbara, she brings skills of fundraising, public speaking, and lobbying to the Trust as well as a deep-rooted love of the Tuolumne and Clavey Rivers.

William Collins
Bill has spent over 45 years working on environmental issues and in politics. He has served as the President of the San Diego League of Conservation Voters and was the Water Committee Chair of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club. He served on TRT’s Board of Directors from December 2011 to summer of 2013.

Joe Daly
In 1981, as a founding board member of the Tuolumne River Trust, Joe joined forces with a diverse bi-partisan team of river preservation pioneers who immediately focused their energy on making the Tuolumne Wild & Scenic. On September 13, 1984, Congress rewarded their fervor, granting Wild & Scenic status to the Tuolumne. As Board Chair from Nov. 1984 to Dec. 1997, Joe led a successful campaign to persuade the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject 5 dams on the Clavey – the Tuolumne’s largest tributary. He is a co-founder of Echo River Trips, which brought folks to the Tuolumne for 34 years to experience whitewater rafting. With Tuolumne loyalty still strong, he joined the advisory board in November, 2010.

Tim Eichenberg
Tim Eichenberg is an environmental lawyer and consultant, and teaches Ocean and Coastal Law at the Vermont Law School. As former Chief Counsel of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, he helped develop the nation’s first comprehensive policies and regulations on climate change. He also has served as legal counsel for the California Coastal Commission, The Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, the Marine Law Institute, and Environmental Defense Center, where he engaged in environmental litigation, lobbying and rulemaking. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Baykeeper and Friends of the Sea Otter, and the Board of Advisors of the Center for Urban Environmental Law at Golden Gate University.

Chris Guptill
Is a graduate of Humboldt State University. He is a social science teacher at Grace M. Davis high school and have been a coach for many years. Chris is the coordinator for the monthly volunteer cleanup effort called Operation 9-2-99. He started this effort 3 ½ years ago to clean up the Tuolumne River as it flows through Modesto. He has hosted 33 cleanup events, had over 1800 volunteers show up, removed 334 tons of garbage and material from in and around the river including 904 shopping carts and 883 tires and built many community partnerships. In addition to this effort they have also built a 5-mile multi-use recreation trail along the river refurbished trail access points, established trail markers and signage, and conducted vegetation management throughout the Tuolumne River Regional Park system. Chris is a strong advocate for removing blight from our river, creek, parks, and open spaces and promoting recreational opportunities in its place. I am a proponent of establishing a bike park, connections to our trail systems, an on-water recreation presence, and recreation-based community events to help make Modesto a better place to live, work, and play.

Noah Hughes
Noah teaches earth science and geology at Modesto Junior College. As an avid kayaker, Noah brings an intimate knowledge of the Upper and Lower Tuolumne River and is excited about using his expertise as an educator to further the mission of the Trust.

Cecily Majerus
Cecily is a former Executive Director of the Tuolumne River Trust and has served as an Advisor since 2003. Most recently, she served on the Board of Directors from January 2012-December 2017. Before moving to California, Cecily lived in Maryland and was their Governor’s Coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay and is the former Chair of the Ocean Conservancy.

Jerry Meral
Dr. Gerald H. Meral is the Natural Heritage Institute’s (NHI) Director of California Water Programs. Until the end of 2013, he served as Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. At NHI, Dr. Meral is building a suite of new projects to forge consensus solutions to some of California’s most intractable water management problems, including implementation of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, sustainable management of California’s groundwater resources, realigning public funding for delta levees, and promoting water conservation. Dr. Meral previously served as Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League (1983-2003), Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources (1975-1983), Director of the Western Water Program at the Environmental Defense Fund (1971-1975).

Amy Meyer
Amy is a founding member of the Tuolumne River Trust and was vice-president of the board for several years. She has been co-chairman of People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1971, was vice-chair of the GGNRA’s federal Advisory Commission for 28 years, and was a member of the board of the Presidio Trust. She is currently a chairman of People for the Presidio. She has been an advisor to the Trust since 2002.

Richard Roos-Collins
Richard is an attorney and member of the Natural Heritage Institute. He also served as President and Board member of Tuolumne River Trust for 10 years.

Jon Rosenfield, Ph.D.
Jon is a senior scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper. He brings a wealth of expertise on aquatic and landscape ecology, water policy and water politics of the Bay Area and Central Valley.

Susan Stern
Susan came to know and love the Tuolumne in Tuolumne Meadows and on its Middle Fork at Camp Tawonga. After her children spent many summers at Tawonga, Susan served as President of the Tawonga Board which worked closely with the Tuolumne River Trust on environmental issues in the Tuolumne watershed. She joined the TRT Board in the mid-1990s and served as Board Chair during 2010 and 2011.  Susan enjoys working as an ambassador for the Trust and advancing the mission of the Trust through board development and fundraising.

Ron Stork
Ron is the Senior Policy Advocate for Friends of the River. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Agriculture at the University of California at Davis in Plant Science. In his occasional spare time, Ron can be found ambling around mountain trails or floating western rivers with a hand lens and a large Flora in hand searching for rare wildflowers. Ron served on the Trust Board for 20 years before joining the advisory committee in 2002.

Patricia “Tricia” Sullivan
Tricia studied Biology both as an undergraduate at UC Davis and in graduate school at Harvard. She joined PG&E in 1980, and in 1988, joined the Environmental Affairs Department, where she manages investigation and remediation of historically contaminated sites (such as former Manufactured Gas Plant sites). Tricia’s hobbies included hiking, backpacking and/or camping, bird watching and, in general, being in nature. She is a former Trust Board member and joined the Advisory Committee in 2002.

Steve Welch
Steve joined the Advisory Board of the Tuolumne River Trust in January 2011. As a resident of the Tuolumne River watershed, he has been a strong and generous supporter of the Trust for many years. Since 1984, he has been the general manager of ARTA River Trips (a non-profit since 1963). For the past 15 years, Steve has been President of the Tuolumne River Outfitters Association.

Jennifer M. White, Ph.D.
Former  Director for Education, U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden; former staff Science educator Lawrence Hall of Science; Former member, Advisory Committee to Yosemite Park Concession Services. Jenny is an avid fly fisherman and outdoor enthusiast.

John Woolard
John Woolard is the former CEO of BrightSource Energy and was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board. John is the co-author of a US Patent for web-based Energy Management Systems, and has been a leader in energy technology for many years, meeting several times with President Bush in executive sessions on National Energy Policy. John has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia , and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia . Along with the Trust, John also serves on the Board of the California Clean Energy Fund, the Strategic Advisory Board for Xcel Energy, and is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at the Haas School of Business, as well as many national energy and technology conferences. John served on the Trust Board from 2002 to 2006.

Eric Heitz
Eric fell in love with rivers, and met his wife Brenda, while training as a river guide with Echo Rafting. He currently works in the environmental field as the President of the Energy Foundation, which advances clean energy technologies. He has two daughters, who are almost ready to float the Tuolumne . He has served on the Board since 1996, and was Board Chair from 2001-2009.

Bernard Chen
Bernard is a tech executive and entrepreneur. He can often be found backpacking or overlanding the Sierras, kayak fishing off the Pacific coast, or chasing pelagics in the open ocean.

Shanyn Avila
Shanyn has significantly impacted Stanislaus County through her work with the Center for Human Services, focusing on youth and family support. Her dedication to community service is complemented by her personal experience with the Trust, especially her son Constantine’s growth through TRT’s youth programs. Her work emphasizes the importance of local, accessible community initiatives.

Chuck Piercey
Chuck, with 20 years in Silicon Valley, has led tech product management at startups and major firms. His work spans forest sustainability in Costa Rica to launching 15+ technology products. He’s also an avid outdoorsman and has backpacked the entire upper course of the Tuolumne River from its headwaters to the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.

Updated November 30, 2023