Staff & Board

Laura Beaton is a long-time environmental activist turned lawyer, and is now an associate attorney at the law firm of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP. Her work allows her to protect what she loves, and she frequently litigates cases on behalf of nonprofit organizations and community groups to protect wild places, wild animals, and clean air and water, including in the Sierra Nevada. She is also involved in helping to craft renewable-friendly energy policies across the United States. An avid hiker and outdoorsperson, she quickly fell in love with the Sierra upon moving to California, and she and her partner, Justin (a Nevada City native), get out of San Francisco and up to the Sierra whenever they can.

Christopher Wright grew up in rural Calaveras County in the Sierra Nevada where his family has owned land for four generations. He spent his childhood hunting, fishing and hiking in the Mokelumne River Watershed. During this time he developed a commitment to preserving the environment as well as a determination to improve the well-being of people living in the Sierra Nevada. He continues to live in Calaveras with his wife and two children. Chris received a Bachelor’s Degree from Humboldt State University where he studied Natural Resources, Planning and Environmental Conservation. He worked in county government as a planner for Mendocino County and returned to Calaveras to work as the first executive director of the Foothill Conservancy where he fought to protect, restore, and sustain the natural and human environment in his childhood home. Elected in 2012, Chris served on Calaveras County Board of Supervisors until January of 2017. Christopher currently runs a small nonprofit Sierra CPR, working to conserve, protect and restore the “Range of Light”

Lynn moved to the Truckee-Tahoe area in 2010 to work in the environmental non-profit field. She earned her Master’s of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, studying environmental health and safety practices in the nanomaterials industry. Before attending graduate school, she completed a BA in environmental geology at Western Washington University and served as an AmeriCorps member. She has previously worked in outreach, fundraising, communication, research, and as the director for the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership at the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the region’s only environment-focused AmeriCorps program. Lynn is passionate about environmental stewardship, national service, science literacy, and the Truckee-Tahoe region. When she’s not working, Lynn is likely mountain biking, snowboarding, swimming, or reading.

Sarah Buck first fell in love with the Tahoe-Truckee Watershed and the Sierra Nevada on her first trip to California as a participant in the Tahoe Baikal Institute’s (TBI) international watershed management exchange program. The experience opened her eyes to the importance of environmental stewardship and education as well as instilling in her a passion for water that has driven her career since then. After graduating from Middlebury College in 2010 with a BA in International Studies and a double minor in Russian and Political Science, Sarah lived on Lake Tahoe’s south shore for two and half years where she worked for TBI as their Program Director and as a naturalist for the Great Basin Outdoor School. During that time, she enjoyed all of the natural beauty and recreation the Sierra had to offer from kayaking and rafting to skiing and hiking and came to know firsthand many of the region’s challenges and the key players working to preserve it. Sarah grew up in New Hampshire and has since moved back to New England where she lives in the cabin her grandparents built on Long Lake in Bridgton, Maine with her husband, Shawn, and their fur babies (two dogs and two cats). She has spent the last eight plus years working for a national nonprofit network, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), and its regional affiliates, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation, based in West Sacramento, CA and RCAP Solutions, based in Worcester, MA. RCAP’s mission is to improve rural quality of life, starting at the tap through training, technical assistance, and local capacity building. Currently she is the Senior Director of Programs at the organization’s national office where she oversees all their environmental programming. Lake Tahoe and the larger Sierra Nevada changed the course of Sarah’s personal and professional life forever and she is very excited to give back to a region that has in turn given her so much.

Born and raised in the south bay area, Shannon developed a love for the outdoors through exploring the Santa Cruz mountains and visiting Lake Tahoe with friends and family. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon, the education and inspiration to study and protect the environment in all aspects strengthened. Shannon has taken every opportunity throughout the years to get involved in environmental programs including developing science programs for students, leading stewardship and restoration events, and collecting data on water quality, native species, and natural gas emissions. In 2016, Shannon was the communications intern for the Sierra Nevada Alliance and since then her work in the Tahoe Basin spurred, leading to her work with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District and Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships. Today, you can find Shannon living on an organic tomato farm in San Martin, California where she works for the City of Morgan Hill developing their Climate Action Plan and Urban Forestry Master Plan, as well as local ordinances aimed to protect creeks and streams, conserve water usage, and protect trees. Her free time is spent raising the sheep and goats on the farm, cooking together with family, and exploring the coast of nearby Monterey and Santa Cruz.

Julia Kim leads the Climate Change Team at the Local Government Commission, a Sacramento-based non-profit working to advance transformative policies and build livable communities throughout California. Julia partners with public agencies and community leaders on place-based resilience initiatives while supporting the advancement of the adaptation field at-large. She focuses on the opportunities that climate change presents to redesign existing systems and processes while collaborating with diverse partners to implement equitable, innovative, and comprehensive climate solutions. Her current portfolio includes some of California’s most prominent adaptation programs, including the Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA) and the biennial California Adaptation Forum. In addition to her service with SNA, Julia serves on the board of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) and several advisory committees including UCLA’s Climate Change Heat Impacts Community Advisory Committee and the 2019 California Climate Action Planning Conference Steering Committee. Julia earned a B.A. in political science and philosophy, and an M.P.P. in environmental policy and international security/economic policy, both from the University of Maryland.

Originally from New Hampshire, Sam Ruderman moved to North Lake Tahoe in late 2016 to spend just one winter season ski bumming before returning to the east coast and getting a “real” job. Five years later, he couldn’t be happier that his love of the great outdoors and tight-knit community led him to the place that he now calls home. Sam has 5 years of experience in the environmental field and has worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He currently works for Ascent Environmental as a Climate Change Analyst and assists local governments with climate change mitigation and adaptation/resilience projects. Before joining Ascent, Sam served as an AmeriCorps’ CivicSpark Climate Fellow for two years at the Sierra Nevada Alliance, where he co-led the climate action planning process for the City of South Lake Tahoe, along with a variety of similar projects in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin. He also worked as a Climate Change Mitigation Specialist at ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Sam earned a B.Sc. in Renewable Resource Management from McGill University in Montreal, QC. Sam currently lives in Truckee, and when he isn't working, Sam enjoys spending time with friends skiing, fly fishing, backpacking, and mountain biking, and advocating for environmental, social justice, and political issues.

The Sierra Nevada has been Coleen Shade’s home for 35 years and counting. From Blairsden in Plumas County to Meyers in El Dorado County and currently Nevada City, Coleen’s work and recreation choices have allowed her to get to know the Range of Light on a personal level. She has passed along to her two daughters a love and respect for the Sierra Nevada. Since 1989 when Coleen accepted her first planning position with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency she has been a Natural Resource, Land Use and Environmental Planner in both the public and private sectors. Though her work does take her out of the mountains, she specializes in rural Sierra, comprehensive and community planning. She is a Senior Environmental Planner for Cardno, in their West Coast Science and Environment group where she leads the Planning, Environmental Compliance and Permitting team. Coleen has always filled in her spare time volunteering in community and resources advocacy.  She has previously been a board member of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, Sustainable Tahoe, South Shore Chamber, USFS Federal Advisory Committee, and taught public policy, biology and wilderness classes at Sierra Nevada College and the Lake Tahoe Community College. Coleen and her husband David enjoy hiking, camping, backpacking, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, and finding new and interesting wines to drink. Coleen received her Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Planning and her Masters in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University.

Steve is a retired scientist now living with his wife Rosemarie in Mariposa County near Yosemite National Park. Steve received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from U.C. Irvine with an emphasis on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and then moved to Pasadena where he was a Senior Research Fellow on the Research Faculty at the California Institute of Technology. In 1974 Steve moved from academia to private industry with Varian Associates in Palo Alto, a major manufacturer of scientific instruments. Steve’s first real taste of the Sierra Nevada high country was when his research group at Caltech took on a 110-mile section of the John Muir Trail in 10 days without use of cached supplies, including a hike to the top of Split Mountain – one of the 14,000+ foot peaks in the Sierra. Now in retirement, Steve and Rosemarie have built a “green” home in Mariposa. In this case, “retirement” for Rosemarie includes serving as a County Supervisor; and Steve stays busy helping a variety of local environmental and community organizations. Steve uses his background in science to help educate the local community about climate change and things we can do to mitigate it. Currently Steve is heavily involved in dealing with the tree mortality issue in the Southern Sierra and trying to find beneficial use of the dead trees via generation of bioenergy and biochar – a way of sequestering forest carbon rather than burning and releasing that carbon. Steve and Rosemarie has enjoyed the Alliance Annual meetings and Steve is excited to now be on the Board of Directors.

Bill Templin is a retired Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Water Resources and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Previously Bill had a 30- year career with the Federal government (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Forest Service). He served as Watershed Coordinator for the North Fork American River Watershed from June 2004 until October 2007, then began his State career. Bill is actively involved as a Board Member on several non-profit watershed and sportsmen's organizations in the Sacramento and Fresno areas.