Friends of the Carrizo Plain Board of Directors
David Chipping
President
David Chipping is Professor of Geology (Emeritus), Cal Poly State University. He was educated at Cambridge, England and Stanford, California. His doctoral thesis addressed the displacements of rocks along the San Andreas fault and the configuration of ocean basins in to which the rocks were deposited. He is active on the Board of the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and has served as the statewide Conservation Director for that organization. He is active in the production of educational materials for the Monument.
Ellen Cypher
Secretary
Ellen has spent over 30 years conducting research on habitat management for endangered plants and animals of the San Joaquin Valley (including the Carrizo Plain) and participating in recovery planning. She is active in the Kern Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and served on the Carrizo Plain National Monument Advisory Committee for more than a decade.
Neil Havlik
Director
Neil has been a natural resource professional during his whole professional career. He worked for several agencies and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area before becoming the first Natural Resources Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo in 1996. He served there for seventeen years, while also being active in the California Native Plant Society and serving on the Carrizo Plain National Monument Advisory Committee for ten years. Now retired from public service, Neil still serves on several boards of non-profit organizations and is a director of the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District.
Dirk Walters
Vice President
Dirk is Emeritus Professor from Cal Poly, where he taught Evolution, Ecology and Systematic Botany for over 50 years. He has served many officer positions on the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and at the state-level, leading many botanical field trips to the Carrizo Plain National Monument. He has worked on developing the botanic educational resources of the Goodwin Education Center. He also has been active in a number of local environmental groups, and has co-authored a college level botany textbook.
Erica Kelly
Treasurer
Erica Kelly is a Research Ecologist with the California State University–Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program. She has been involved in the study and conservation of threatened and endangered species in the San Joaquin Valley, including the Carrizo Plain National Monument, for the past thirteen years. Her primary research focus is the ecology and conservation of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes. She is also an active member of the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
In Memoriam
Kirk Brettschneider
Founding Board Member and Friend of the Carrizo Plain
Ann Chadwick
Goodwin Education Center Coordinator and Carrizo resident and Founding Director
Jon Cooper
Geologist, 2nd generation farmer and Carrizo resident, Founding Board Member and Friend of the Carrizo Plain
About
Help
Volunteer
